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[DonTom]

While I was up at the Tucson HD shop, 20 miles north of here, I was able to recharge behind their building. By the time I got there, my SOC indicated I only had 44% left, so that was a good thing that I could charge back up there.

I charged  up to 80% SOC indicated before I left, which took less than a half hour, using only the OBC.

Anyway, a strange thing happened on the way back. I am about a mile from this RV park. My SOC  was down to  "02" at the very last mile. But then it started to go UP as I was riding. Up to 10% gain in the last mile (to 12%). So then when I parked the bike, I left the key on for a while and it went up even faster. All the way to 20%  SOC indicated, while NOT charging.

It stabilized at 20%. I turned off the key and back on and it went right back to a 20% indicated.

Another weird thing happened while charging yesterday. When it got to 100%, the "100%" would  no longer display until I turned on the key.  The green light was on solid.

Later in the day I recharged again. Same thing happened, but off and on. I would hear the contactor close and open every few seconds by itself when fully charged. As it clicked off and on, the "100%" would flash off and on with it. The green light was on solid during this time.

Other than these weird bugs, the bike rides and charges as well as ever.

But any idea what is causing this weird stuff to happen?

-Don- (in sunny & clear 75F, Tucson, AZ <RV>)

[shayan]

I have had the SOC climb up a few numbers when i come to a stop and turn kill switch off after a semi-hard ride (more so if its cold). That i always thought was the BMS balancing the cells which would also in turn affect SOC. But i have never had it go as extreme as 2-20%. But from my guess, it could mostly be imbalanced cells.
Have had those kind of experiences with the Empulse though. On that the SOC would drop to zero from 20-30% instantly and cycling the key (or turning it off for a bit) would bring it back to expected levels.

-Shayan

[Richard230]

That sort of issue has never happened to me - yet.   

[Crissa]

Well, batteries have rebound.  Were you moving much slower, like on a rural road at the end?

As the battery heats or cools beyond the range it prefers, it's going to have higher resistance and report a different voltage to the controller.

This can also happen if you have a big draw, like freeway riding or hills, the battery will 'recover' after being more depleted.

This is your older DS, right?  Batteries get less plastic and their voltage will wander as they age.

-Crissa

[MVetter]

Solid green light means BMS is doing cell balancing. Flashing green means charging.

[DonTom]

Solid green light means BMS is doing cell balancing. Flashing green means charging.

Is there any indication that the balancing has completed? AFAIK, the green light  should stay solid green forever while there is  AC  going into the OBC.

Anyway, I just fully charged the bike and it looks normal this time.  The display didn't blank out and the green light stayed on solid this time.

-Don-  in 75F Tucson, AZ (RV)

[DonTom]

Well, batteries have rebound.  Were you moving much slower, like on a rural road at the end?

As the battery heats or cools beyond the range it prefers, it's going to have higher resistance and report a different voltage to the controller.

This can also happen if you have a big draw, like freeway riding or hills, the battery will 'recover' after being more depleted.

This is your older DS, right?  Batteries get less plastic and their voltage will wander as they age.

-Crissa

I have seen  the SOC go up a few points, mostly after a stop after a few miles when the bike was new.  IOW, I would be down to 95% SOC and then stop and ten minutes later it will show 100% SOC again. No longer does that, Could be age or even FW updates.  BTW, it does seem I noticed the largest difference in how my SOC works  right after my last FW update.  Not nearly as steady as it used to be.

I rode it easy all day when this SOC jump happened today.  It was  all in eco mode, no freeways, mostly around 45 MPH. Not many hills. But yeah, I did slow down when the numbers started to raise and the SOC indication increased much faster when  I stopped.  But I wonder what range I really have when that happens, and If I would lose the 18 points as fast as I gained then if I rode faster. Perhaps it  would drop back down even faster.

But I have never seen it gain 18 points in a quarter mile.

I really cannot be sure if it's just flaky SOC indication or if my battery is getting flaky.  I will check the battery balancing numbers in a few minutes.

Yes, my 2017 Zero DS ZF 6.5.

-Don-  Tucson, AZ (RV)

[Richard230]

My 2018 shows a slowly flashing green light while charging.  When the SOC reaches 100% the bike continues to charge and eventually the green light goes solid. At that point the power consumption immediately drops from 1450 watts to 9 watts and then a minute later drops to 4 watts and will stay there until the power cord is unplugged.

[DonTom]

When I first went to  check my bike on the cellphone, the weirdness continued. I had it keyed on with the kickstand down and it reports as "Unknown Zero Model".  Has anybody seen that before? And all the info was incorrect, but it was NOT a demo mode. It showed my 100% charged bike as having an 86% charge, and showed my battery balance at 35.

I tried the obvious stuff first. I unpaired and repaired to no avail. The "Unknown Zero Model" showed on the display again. It did show that I was connected to the unknown bike and if I turned the bike off, it would tell me the connection was lost.

So then I tried the next thing. I plugged in the fully charged bike. I hear the contactor and now I get the normal display on the cell phone and it says my fully charged bike is charging at a full 1,400 watts!  Solid green light, and 100% for SOC is displayed.

But after a few minutes for more charging,  EVERYTHING is then normal. No longer charging at 100%. Then I can unplug and turn the key on and see my correct bike at 100% charged. I then turn the key off and on and all is still normal, just like the above stuff never even happen.  And now I see numbers that I believe for everything. And here they are:

State of charge=100%
Cell balance=4.
Total KWH used=76
Battery Volts=116
Charge Cycles=165

No new firmware updates available.

So now, it all looks normal. But tomorrow may bring more weirdness.

BTW, what does the "76 KWH used" mean? Used since when?

-Don-  Tucson, AZ (RV)

[NEW2elec]

Maybe a BMS reset?  Maybe a pulled fuse reset for the MBB.  Just from the old advice when in doubt reboot it.  Do at your own risk.

My kill-a-watt meter shows a jump to 12 amps after the bike hits 100% SOC.  That's when it's balancing the cells.
The bike might pick up a % or 2 from the battery catching up from voltage lag and regen.
But 18% can't be right.

[DonTom]

Maybe a BMS reset?  Maybe a pulled fuse reset for the MBB.  Just from the old advice when in doubt reboot it.  Do at your own risk.

As long as the bike is running and charging, I won't touch it, at least not during this trip.

Yeah, but I wonder if it's the battery or the SOC that is flaky. I will check the battery voltages on the Anderson connector  the next time it gets flaky so I can get a ruff idea what is happening.

-Don-  Tucson, AZ (RV)

[Crissa]

The SoC is an estimate, it's always flakey.    It is just an estimate from the voltage off the lithium cells, and those have a weird dropoff curve to begin with.

I get an unknown model all the time.  Then sometimes I have to re-pair it.  I don't know if it's my phone being flakey (it is) or the bike.

-Crissa

[Richard230]

That "unknown bike" message on the app is an indication that your phone's Bluetooth-thing is having trouble locating your bike and likely is showing the information from the last time it connected to your Zero.  I see that message on both my app, when trying to connect to my 2018 S and when using my daughter's phone when trying to connect to her 2014 S.  But after a minute or two and turning the ignition on and off a couple of times it finally connects. I just checked the condition of my battery last night and it was showing 99%, 115V and 3-4 mV balancing.

I believe that the "charge cycles" are the number of times that the batteries were recharged since the last firmware update. As for the number of kWh used, I try not to think about what that might mean. It makes my head hurt. 

[DonTom]

I get an unknown model all the time.  Then sometimes I have to re-pair it.  I don't know if it's my phone being flakey (it is) or the bike.

Re-paring didn't do anything for me. What made mine find the bike as turning the bike's key  off and plugging in the charge cord even though I was already fully charged (said the solid green light and the "100%") but it was still charging for around 30 seconds or so, right after I plugged it in.

-Don-  Tucson, AZ (RV)