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[Too little too late]

My Zero will never see a drop of water again for as long as I own it. Less than a year after purchase, it was a hot summer day when I gave it it’s first wash and rinse with an ordinary garden hose. Then after hours in the hot sun, I pushed it into the garage at sundown. The next day the warning lights were flashing, but when the ready light would come on for a split second, it would go. So every time I stopped, I would have to wait for the ready light. Forum people said it would dry over time and be okay, but three weeks later something blew up, and nearly tossed me off the bike. Once again, this happened the day after I washed it. I took it to EGMS for repair, but they would not look at the bike until I COMPLETELY removed all the added accessories. I removed everything and took the bike in, then waited, and waited, and waited. Every week brought another call telling me that something else needed to be replaced. They had the bike for months. I sent a letter to Zero, asking if they were going to cover this water created failure. They told me that the electrical accessories I had added caused the problem, and they would not cover it at all. I installed the accessories weeks after I bought the bike, and it failed the day after I washed it. All the accessories were reinstalled as soon as I got it back, and the bike has been working fine for over a year now with all accessories installed. This failure was obviously caused by water intrusion, but Zero will not take responsibility. Just under $3500.00. It’s not fair. It’s not right. But what can I do?  So many people ask me about my bike, and the first thing I tell them is “buyer beware”, and they should consider buying something other than a Zero. I’ve had many issues with this bike, this was just the worst.

[opengl]

Out of curiosity, what were the accessories?

[Too little too late]

A much louder horn. Amber lane splitting strobes. Strobe then solid brake light. LED headlight. Phone charger, part of the holder. Accessory outlet. I know this sounds like a lot of current, but it's under 10 amps even when laying on the horn. And all wiring is pro and in looms.

[rgutt]

They made you remove those accessories? That sounds absurd. That sounds like a card dealer telling you they won't service your car because you left your phone charger plugged in.

[Too little too late]

I totally agree, and I tried to reason with them using ideas just like that, but they wouldn't budge. All the accessories terminate at a two pin bullet connector, so I unplugged it and took the bike in. That's when they laid the law down. In the end, I left the strobes and brake flasher mounted with the wires hanging, and passed the entrance exam. I'm happy to be at this point where I can enjoy the bike. But it's been a long, time consuming, and very expensive road to get here. And unfortunately it started the day after I bought the bike, with only 87 miles on the odometer. It's now my dream machine, but it will never see another drop of water for as long as I own it.

[princec]

In the meantime, the weather's been shit and it's too dark to ride home at night here now for weeks, and I've got covid, so jury's still out on whether all the waterproofing actually really worked or not

Cas

[Too little too late]

Cas,
Any money out of your pocket to make this right? If so, can I ask how much?
Ed

[princec]

Not a bean. The only thing I did pay for - voluntarily - was when they were going to swap my front discs again, I said no let's put some decent ones on instead and got EBC replacements (which not only feel nicer, they look nicer, and a few thousand miles later, show no signs of warping at all, unlike the OEM ones which never got past 1000 miles both times)

I have to say the service has been pretty stellar.

Cas

[Too little too late]

Hey Cas,
Not a bean, that's great. I'm talking with an attorney here. Checking my options. Take care with that covid. Ten days of misery times two here. Hope you feel better soon.
Ed

[zeronimbus]

I'm going to resurrect this thread rather than start a new one.

For two years, my SRS had no problem in rain. And I rode in rain... A LOT. Probably as much or more than any one else, because of where I live. Recently, and shortly after warranty expired, after a heavy rain it had the Isolation Fault until it dried out, and I couldn't charge the battery. Then it happened again in very light rain. As a simple exploration as to what could be done, I stuffed grocery bags around the chargers power connections and particularly at the front behind the plastic cover that has the horn facing out of it, in case water thrown by the front wheel was going in where the chargers are, or perhaps down into where the BMS board is. This did not help so I took them back out. Last week it happened again and I was left at work with just barely enough to get home, and unable to charge there due to the pack being ineligible due to the faults. I had to ride all the way home at 40mph in heavy rain on a high speed highway to get back, ducking off into the emergency lane when cars went by to try to be safer. At home I aimed an electric leaf blower into the front of the bike where the horn is, and let it run for 30 minutes. Then I could clear the faults and charge. The way the faults manifested was I could clear them, and they might come back, but sometimes they didn't. Then when I tried to charge, after about two seconds of charging the fault would re-occur. Also curiously if I turned on the right blinker it worked fine, but the left blinker would set a code that a light was out or something, even though it worked fine. The light housing were dry inside and I also blew out the handlebar control with compressed air but it didnt help. I also made sure the fuses and wiring around the 12v battery were dry, and disconnected my accessories in case they were in issue. None of that was the problem.

So I'm thinking... what changed? What degraded? Looking at the exploded diagram of the battery pack I see there is a potential entry point where the cabling goes in to the BMS at the top front of the pack. At the back of the pack, there is a cable assy that enters the pack from the top too, I suppose connecting to the chargers as it goes out the top, and that brings charger power into the pack and out to the motor controller at the bottom of the bike. The part number for this cabling assy is 12-08163 "Power Bus Hardware Service Assembly".

Now... where it goes in from the top it passes through an aperture with foam as a seal, in the manner of weather-stripping. Foam degrades. Except for the drying potentially of some waterproofing grease that may or may not have been applied when the bike was assembled, nothing has changed or could have changed. But foam definitely degrades over time.

My theory is the water is entering from the top, at the back. The front I already tried stuffing that full of bags and it didn't work. I even set the code with a gentle rinse with a hose while washing the bike and didnt squirt water in that area at all.

If you have any ideas or input feel free to chime in. What Im going to do to test this is stuff as many plastic grocery bags as possible into this area at the back where the charger wires go down, so no water spray can get in there, and see what happens. If that works, I will probably follow up with a heavy application of silicon sealer all over the top seam of the battery at the rear.

Hi, have you solved your insulation problem?
the same for me, I drove for 6 months in the rain, the mechanic had changed the high voltage bus bars.
and there it starts again, I'm thinking of dismantling the controller and the 2 bus bars, and changing the seals and O-rings but certainly not zero parts.

[princec]

The problem is ingress into the cooling fans, the electronics of which inside were protected with absolutely zero waterproofing - literally bare boards exposed to rainwater.

The replacement parts are apparently IP67 rated. Had no trouble since.

Cas

[2020_SRS_Commuter]

I tried a few things to solve the ISO water issues before finding precisely that it was indeed water in the charger cooling ducts that caused it. I used an animal feeding syringe to apply water precisely to various parts of the bike over a month or so when it was completely dry and working, to be sure I had verified it. I had. Just 30ml of water in the port of either charger and BOOM, that's the fault. I made a hokey looking shroud of coroplast and door sealing foam and never had that problem again. I had so many faults after it was parked in rain on the side stand. The side that faces up, opposite the stand,is where water would drip in. If you don't mind how dumb this looks it works well. You could def form one with different materials and make it more stylish. It makes a a kind of tunnel for airflow but doesn't allow water to drip in.

[zeronimbus]

When I took the controller apart, I found the connector plug was not clipped.
the interior seal was bent, and traces of water in the bus bars.
I reassembled everything properly with good grease, checked all the joints.
I think my main insulation problem came from that.
but I will look into your solution of preventing water from reaching the chargers.
I'm thinking of first trying a black super honeycomb synthetic foam that I have at work.
it filters the air but does not impede circulation.
I also installed 2 "PYRAMID" brand sr/s mud flaps front and rear to limit water splashes.


thanks

[2020_SRS_Commuter]

Hmmmmmm
From latest firmware update notice I received today

[zeronimbus]

Hi
thanks for the info.
https://zero-cms-disco.cdn.prismic.io/zero-cms-disco/8204c2dc-0852-4458-ba70-0a4ebddb0f5d_Release+Notes+2.7.24+Cypher+III+MY24+MBB+REV+36_+BMU+REV+14+and+BMS+REV+25+%282%29.pdf