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[Specter]

Hello everyone.
New here, and am seeing several questions about charging etc.

i would like to offer some advice that some may find helpful.

A KW/hr meter for your plug when charging.

Here is just an example of one you can get on E bay, they come in many shapes / sizes / sellers etc so get something that works for you.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/383690139369

I have ZERO interest in this seller / this product etc, just post as an example to show.

These are easy peazy to wire into a receptacle, and in fact they make some that you can plug directly into.

Bottom line, having one of these in place will not only instantly tell you if your bike is charging, BUT how fast, and how much did the battery take so far and for how long it's been going.  ie  It's pulling 8.8 amps at 240 volt which is 2.11 Kw  and I charged the battery 7.65 KW/Hr so far.

so for all of those, well, it said it was charging, and 3 hours later I was still at XX percent, and it didn't do #%^%$ overnight etc etc.  This right here will tell you HONESTLY if there is a charge going into the bike or not.

I already have one of these hooked up and it can tell you a LOT about what's going on.

Aaron

[DonTom]

Hello everyone.
New here, and am seeing several questions about charging etc.

i would like to offer some advice that some may find helpful.

A KW/hr meter for your plug when charging.

Here is just an example of one you can get on E bay, they come in many shapes / sizes / sellers etc so get something that works for you.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/383690139369

I have ZERO interest in this seller / this product etc, just post as an example to show.

These are easy peazy to wire into a receptacle, and in fact they make some that you can plug directly into.

Bottom line, having one of these in place will not only instantly tell you if your bike is charging, BUT how fast, and how much did the battery take so far and for how long it's been going.  ie  It's pulling 8.8 amps at 240 volt which is 2.11 Kw  and I charged the battery 7.65 KW/Hr so far.

so for all of those, well, it said it was charging, and 3 hours later I was still at XX percent, and it didn't do #%^%$ overnight etc etc.  This right here will tell you HONESTLY if there is a charge going into the bike or not.

I already have one of these hooked up and it can tell you a LOT about what's going on.

Aaron

Welcome!


But why not just plug in a Kill A Watt meter?  Here for 240 VAC.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[chisquare]

Welcome!

But why not just plug in a Kill A Watt meter?  Here for 240 VAC.


-Don-  Reno, NV

The 16 amp rating may be a bit optimistic (only peak current, not continuous). I would be more comfortable with a device that has a clearly higher rating (say 24 amps). Plus, I didn't find any information on the presence of a fuse.

[Specter]

Hello Don:

I have seen those new meters. It looks like it's going to be the thing that replaces the Kill-A-Watt that you mentioned.  I have not seen any in the states that would work for 240  VAC though, but if it can be ordered with the correct plug that might make it a bit easier.

One problem though with that is, and I have used the KW devices for many years now so am very well versed with them.  They claim they are good for 15 amp etc, but honestly they don't hold up well over time.  maybe for a few  hours,  but extended times, it ends up melting the plug holes, and the board inside overheats and causes heat damage to the thing.

Imagine the plug in the hole in the wall at your house.  Yah, sure, it's rated for 15 amps too, BUT what if you were pulling that for hours and hours? The little brass tabs get a bit stretchy, one of the plugs gets a bit of tarnish on it so is not conducting as well,... now we have a heat problem, plastic is melting, wires overheating and oxidizing / crystalizing, insulation overheating etc.  You get the idea.

The KaW the current runs through it, the others, there is an external current either shunt / coil, depending on the model you decide to buy.  The carrying component is NOT closed up inside the metering compartment.

Another thing and this is probably just me being nerdy.  The Kill A Watt you see ONE number at a time and have to flip thru menu's and the labels for what the number is, is tiny and super hard to read.  I don't like it.  The meter I linked to (TBH I actually like the earlier versions of that meter genre better) all the numbers are right there, no need to sift screens and the labels are a bit easier to read.

Aaron

[DonTom]

Hello Don:

I have seen those new meters. It looks like it's going to be the thing that replaces the Kill-A-Watt that you mentioned.  I have not seen any in the states that would work for 240  VAC though, but if it can be ordered with the correct plug that might make it a bit easier.

One problem though with that is, and I have used the KW devices for many years now so am very well versed with them.  They claim they are good for 15 amp etc, but honestly they don't hold up well over time.  maybe for a few  hours,  but extended times, it ends up melting the plug holes, and the board inside overheats and causes heat damage to the thing.

Imagine the plug in the hole in the wall at your house.  Yah, sure, it's rated for 15 amps too, BUT what if you were pulling that for hours and hours? The little brass tabs get a bit stretchy, one of the plugs gets a bit of tarnish on it so is not conducting as well,... now we have a heat problem, plastic is melting, wires overheating and oxidizing / crystalizing, insulation overheating etc.  You get the idea.

The KaW the current runs through it, the others, there is an external current either shunt / coil, depending on the model you decide to buy.  The carrying component is NOT closed up inside the metering compartment.

Another thing and this is probably just me being nerdy.  The Kill A Watt you see ONE number at a time and have to flip thru menu's and the labels for what the number is, is tiny and super hard to read.  I don't like it.  The meter I linked to (TBH I actually like the earlier versions of that meter genre better) all the numbers are right there, no need to sift screens and the labels are a bit easier to read.

Aaron[/quote]

Yeah, it is kinda nice to view it all at once. But all the info. we really need is right on the motorcycle screen or with an app. Not much more is often needed.

I do all my home charging from my Tesla Wall connector using a Tesla-Tap.  I charge my Zeros as well as my Energica that way.  Having the exact AC voltages and wattages has never been important to me as long as everything seems to be working normally. I can also convert my Tesla-Tap to a 14-50R using one of these thingies.

-Don-  Reno, NV

[Specter]

That's the point here.  When things are NOT working fine, or you are not sure.  When your vehicle says it's charging but the battery says not so fast, when your vehicle has charged for 6 hours, allegedly, but the SOC has not moved,  this is where this device shines.  It shows you independently if you are actually putting useful juice into your vehicle or not, and is not dependent on some software that bugged out during a recent update, etc etc.

If your bike is saying it's charging, but you see 18 watts of power going to it, you know someone is lying to you
why wait 6 hours to figure out something is NOT working as it appears when you can find out in about 10 minutes.

Aaron