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[DonTom]

I hope everybody is in the mood for the long version.

Today, I rode My 2020 Esse Esse 9 from Auburn, CA to Grass Valley and there I fast charged to around 85% and all was fine. I was headed here to Reno taking CA Hwy 20.  By the time I got to CA I-80, I was getting hungry so I decided to stop at Cisco Grove and have a meal from the Sunway Sandwhich shop as I used the slow J-1772 charger next to it at the gas station. I charged for around an hour and was up to around 70 SOC when I decided to ride on. The plan was I could fast charge in Truckee. However, when I got to  Truckee a quick look at the SOC shows still way up in the green so I decided to ride all the way home. No more charge stations on the way back until I get into Reno. Most of this is down hill, so I didn't think much of the extra good range.

But I have to climb up a big steep hill to get to my house. And the start of the hill, I look at my SOC again. It still says well in the green, but  at 69% SOC  on the Bike's screen.  It also says my range is 320 miles left on this charge. I got up the hill more than a mile and it stays at exactly the same spot. Then I look at the My Energica App mounted on the bike. It also says 69%, but shows my range to be 24, 526 miles left on the charge (don't I wish!). It also says my average consumption is 999.9.

By this time, I realize part of the screen is stuck where it shows these numbers. But the MPH and all that still works fine.

So then I check the diagnostics. I have a code "P1040" which means "charger fan open circuit". I have not yet checked the fuses, but I will do that right now, so please wait a few minutes, don't go anywhere!  . . .  .

I am now back. . .

The six fuses I can easily get to are all fine. Each has voltage on each side of all six. But I see in the user manual  there is no fuse listed for the charger fan.

Anyway, I charged to 100% when I got home. But it was way too fast to be a real 100%, about 30 minutes to get to full after all that riding.   I looked at the bike an hour or so later after being off, and this time it said it was at 65% SOC. So I have it charging again and it looks like a real legit charge time to full now, as it says 1.5 hours to get to full (240 VAC charging).


I was lucky I made it home, as I have no idea what my real SOC was when I got here. But it was probably down very very low. So I have now learned to notice if the SOC is changing, not just take a quick look, downhill or not!

I do not hear the fan coming on, so the fan  error looks like it is for real. I just now again checked the bike. I am now at 80% SOC, 1hr 26 min to full charge. Charge rate is 2KW, 7 amps (240 VAC x 7 amps is only 1,680 watts, but close enough, I guess). I assume the higher charger heat from no fan running is causing a lower charge rate. I normally get a 3 KW charge at 80% SOC, IIRC.

But now, it looks like perhaps my only problem is the fan. I did notice it was getting a bit noisy the last time I heard the charger fan  run, so that is probably related to the P1040.

So what can I check with this fan issue? A quick look at  the Owner  Manual doesn't say much about P1040 other than "Charger Open Circuit Fault" and the SVC manual says even less!

Any ideas?

-Don-  Reno, NV

[princec]

Don't know about fan, but when I test rode the SS9 last year (13kwh version), it said 65% SOC in the showroom and conked out literally 2 miles later at 0% SOC after a few hundred yards of limp mode. The fact it claimed to have 65% when it was clearly impossible sounds not unlike one of the symptoms you had. (Left everyone in the shop rather embarrassed)

Cas

[BigPoppa]

Sorry to hear about the issues Don. Hopefully Demoni or someone from Energica will see this and chime in. I know it’s a long haul to get your bike back to Livermore for service so I’m following this with interest. If you plan on attempting a ride to Livermore feel free to stop at my place in Antioch for an L2 charge.

I haven’t had your issue but ever since my firmware update I’ve had a handful of instances where I turn the bike on and it shuts off after going through what I’m assuming is a type of power on self test. Turning the ignition back off and on has worked every time so far so it’s more of very minor issue than anything that’s left me with any real concern.

[Richard230]

Years ago my 1986 Honda VFR700FII fan expired due to its bearings giving up, causing my bike to overheat while in stop-and-go traffic. So I replaced the fan with a new one. From then on, at each service I would check the operation of the fan by shorting out the ground wire by disconnecting it from its connector and touching the ground wire to the frame with the ignition on. If the fan started running without making any weird noises I knew it was still good. It is quite possible that your fan has called it quits like mine did and perhaps a replacement can be ordered and installed by you without needing a trip to your dealer.

[MVetter]

I've encountered something very similar before. I was riding North up Hwy 1 and realized that the power indicator at the top of the screen wasn't populated. You know the green bar that shows a sort of representation of amp draw on the right and a blue bar to the left to indicate regen. No activity on it at all, and my SoC wasn't changing even after miles. As the bike continued it grew increasingly confident that because I was traveling several miles with no power draw that I probably had close to 300 miles of range like this.

I pulled off to the side of the road and turned the bike off, waited a minute or two, and turned it back on. the SoC was the same but the bar was now populated. Upon getting back on the highway the SoC and estimated range both started dropping, but I knew it wasn't totally right. I figured the best option would be to charge the bike to full and give it a reset to a true 100%. I pulled into a DC station at probably 20% but the bike thought it was like 65% and initiated a charge.

The station believed what the bike said, that it was 65% or so and after a few minutes I was in the 90s but still going full speed. In reality I was probably at like 40%. Admittedly I became nervous when the bike got to 99% and held the full 70 amps input for 10 minutes. The BMS was still watching voltage, so eventually the charge tapered and evened out. After the charge session the bike was fine again.

So again, the initial indicator that something was amiss was the power bar at the top of the screen not populating. If you see your bike doing this, pull over, turn it off for a minute or two, and see if that restores functionality. After that, figure out some way to charge the bike to full as that seems to clear out whatever glitched it out in the first place.

[DonTom]

So again, the initial indicator that something was amiss was the power bar at the top of the screen not populating. If you see your bike doing this, pull over, turn it off for a minute or two, and see if that restores functionality. After that, figure out some way to charge the bike to full as that seems to clear out whatever glitched it out in the first place.

Thanks to all who replied.

Yesterday, it was quite sunny after Cisco Grove and it made it difficult to see much on the screen, but now that I know  that charge/discharge bar can be an important indicator, I will be sure to check it more often when I can.

I just now, since it's all very cooled off, checked my bike's charging. As I expected, it is now charging at the full 3 KW (13 amp at 240 VAC =3,120 watts) as all is very cooled off overnight.  But I will disconnect the charger in a minute or so before it gets too hot. For now, perhaps I can get my own little 12 VDC fan to use while charging and put it near the charger, since the seat is up while charging anyway.

It looks like it is probably  not  too much trouble to get to the fan, so perhaps I will try that. It won't be the first time I worked on a bike myself that was still in warranty.  I realize  I could be around high voltage, but that is no issue to me, won't be the first time either.

I am leaving for a group ride on an ICE bike in a few minutes, so I won't be back on line until much later in the day.

-Don-  Reno, NV

[MVetter]

I would say that fan is a weak point right now as I have seen more than one need to be replaced. But I do not believe the fan is related to the SoC issue you encountered.

[DonTom]

I would say that fan is a weak point right now as I have seen more than one need to be replaced. But I do not believe the fan is related to the SoC issue you encountered.

I don't think it is related either, unless the extra heat while charging had something to do with it. But both issues appeared at the same time or very close to it.

I was surprised there is no indication of an  error on the main screen until I go to diagnostics, but both issues were during or right after the J-1772 charging at Cisco Grove.

-Don-  Reno, NV

[DonTom]

Getting the Chinese Model OD1238-12HBXC fan out was an easy job. It's a common 12 VDC .95 amp Brushless fan. Easy job to fix myself. And it tests as infinite resistance, even direct on the motor with no wires, so no doubt I found the problem.

Now I just have to get the 4.7"  (120 mm) square fan.

This is the exact fan my  SS9 uses.

I just now ordered it. I would have ordered a few, but they only had one in stock.  With shipping and tax, its real cost is around $40.00

70103398   OD1238-12HBXC      $28.970   
    DC Fan, Square, 12V, 120x120x38mm, 200CFM, 61dBA, 23W, 4300RPM, Wire Leads

-Don-  Reno, NV

[DonTom]

I just completed the toughest part of this job. That is removing the fan from the charging cover after it has been removed as one piece.  It is riveted on with thick strong rivets that I spent the last 30 minutes drilling out. I got all four of them removed.  The four holes from the large rivets are large, will require l washers  to put back together with Flathead screws and nuts. Or screws with very large flat short heads. The heads  probably cannot be up too high or it could perhaps interfere with closing the seat.  The rivet heads were pancake flat, perhaps that was why they were used there.

Anyway, looking at it all, I assume it is this fan we hear coming on during  ALL charging, even DC  fast CCS  Charging. I assume it comes on during a fast charge only because of the way it is temperature controlled. But I do wonder if this fan serves any useful purpose during a DC fast charge. I assume not, or very little as it's mounted right on top of the heatsink of the AC charger.

It doesn't look like it can cool much else and during a DC fast charge, the AC charger isn't being used, so it shouldn't have a need to be cooled.

So I assume I could still ride the bike if I only fast charge. However, I will just wait for the fan to come in as I have many other bikes to ride. But the Energica is my favorite of the ten, at least for the rides that are possible on electric.  And I see some interesting improvements on Plugshare on Hwy 50. I should be able to get all the way to Austin, NV these days, with the new CCS chargers on Hwy 50 which is a lot more east than I can get on I-80 with the same bike!

-Don-  Reno, NV

[ALCLCF]

That fan looks like a PC tower fan....

[BigPoppa]

That it does. Hmmm...it does open up some customization options...RGB fans for the AC charger. 

[DonTom]

That fan looks like a PC tower fan....

Yep, that was also my first thought when I first saw the fan. But not all fans have the same specs and such, so I will stick with the same OEM fan since it is easy to replace even if it does crap out again. And I will later order a spare or two when they have them back in stock.

I will take a ride on the bike a bit later today, to be sure all else is okay.

I don't even have to put any of the stuff back on the bike to take it for a ride. I won't be doing any more charging until the new fan comes in. I am sure that the bike  is now charged up to 100%.  I just want to use up around 20% of the charge to be sure all is okay and then I will let the bike sit until I receive the fan next week.

BTW, I had no idea I had an open fan until I checked the diagnostics. So now I realize we should check for errors there often. I didn't notice any indications on the main screens that there was an error. However, there were the other issues of my SOC being stuck, which I assume was just a one-time computer glitch.

BTW, if it were not for that glitch, I still wouldn't know my fan was defective, which was probably unrelated, unless excessive heat had something to do with it, as all these problems seem to happen while slow AC charging in Cisco Grove, CA.

-Don-  Reno, NV

[MVetter]

I have never had my fan turn on during a DC charge. It would be entirely pointless. Is the fan you ordered potted? I would never use a fan that isn't IP67 when it's exposed to the elements on a rainy charge.

[DonTom]

I have never had my fan turn on during a DC charge. It would be entirely pointless. Is the fan you ordered potted? I would never use a fan that isn't IP67 when it's exposed to the elements on a rainy charge.

I am fairly certain I have had my fan come on during a CCS charge, but the next time I DC fast charge, I will post here if it does or doesn't, after the fan is replaced.

I assume the fan I ordered will be exactly like the one I am replacing in every way. The one I am replacing doesn't look a bit water proofed in any way.

Being located under the seat, I doubt it is likely to get wet, unless raining while charging and even then I wouldn't expect it to get all the wet unless a lot of wind as well.

Isn't your bike a different model?  Is your fan and AC charger also under the seat?


-Don-  Reno, NV