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[LeftieBiker]

   I can't find a topic for general questions about charging 2013+ Zeros, so I'm starting one. Hopefully I didn't miss an existing one.

   My 2015 SR Demo is supposed to finally arrive tomorrow morning, after being hauled from California to Upstate NY. Hopefully it will have somewhere between 50% and 90% charge, but in case I have to charge it immediately, I'd like to know if a surge protector (2100 joules) outlet strip plugged into a portable GFCI outlet is the way to go, or if I should just plug the surge protector strip directly into an outlet. I'm very concerned about charger failures, and that is my #1 priority, rather than the extra personal safety a GFCI offers, so I'll cheerfully leave the GFCI out of the circuit if necessary.

[firepower]

Charger failures are not due to surges, any AC outlet should be OK.
Failures are due to poor quality of components or manufacture quality.
basically we are seeing out of box failures. It is cheaper to mass produce
and send to customer untested than pay for testing and burn in.
hopefully OEM will check faulty units and upgrade faulty part or manufacture.
Eventually we get a charger that works or Zero will change OEM or design.

[MostlyBonkers]

+1

I was thinking of buying a surge protector for my socket at home, but have decided not to bother. I've never needed them before for televisions, computers or any other equipment around the house. I've known televisions to last over twenty years. All electronic components should be designed to be plugged into the grid and cope with it's normal fluctuations.

I've also noticed that there's a delay of a few seconds between plugging in and the start of charging. Therefore there isn't an immediate rush of current just as you plug in.

I hope that puts your mind at rest.

[LeftieBiker]

"Charger failures are not due to surges, any AC outlet should be OK. Failures are due to poor quality of components or manufacture quality. basically we are seeing out of box failures. It is cheaper to mass produce and send to customer untested than pay for testing and burn in."

   I've been reading here about chargers failing after weeks or months or years of use. I didn't realize that at first and was hoping that getting a demo bike would eliminate the OOB failure problem. Now I'm not so sure...

   MostlyBonkers, I think that whether or not you need a surge protector depends on your local grid reliability. I'm not worried about minor fluctuations so much as I am about thinks like a tree falling on the line nearby and multiplying the voltage. We get that during thunder and even ice storms here, and it can  fry *anything* not surge-protected. I realize that the issue is poor quality - I'm just hoping to reduce the stresses on those poor components.

   So back to the GFCI question. Do I leave it plugged into one and just see if it trips it, or not use a GFCI box at all?

[firepower]

A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) or Residual Current Device (RCD) is a device that shuts off an electric power circuit when it detects that current is flowing along an unintended path, such as through water or a person. (I had to google as i did not know what GFCI is)


If you have surge protectors and GFCI, no harm in using them, electronics should be designed to use them. GFCI is designed to protect users from electric shock, best to use if you have one.
but any major power line disaster (lightning strike, shorted phases/cables touching) will most likely blow the crap out of surge protector and device it is protecting.

[LeftieBiker]

   I should have written that I have a good basic knowledge of this stuff. I'm looking for opinions and experiences on Zero charger weaknesses. I seem to recall that some of them trip GFCI outlets even while they still work.

"but any major power line disaster (lightning strike, shorted phases/cables touching) will most likely blow the crap out of surge protector and device it is protecting."

   A lightning strike to the house would certainly do that, but we've had lots of reports of power line surges that killed unprotected appliances but not those with surge protection. I consider surge protectors to be a basic defense system for all expensive electronics. Sure, they *should* be able to handle normal power fluctuations, but we're talking about poor quality chargers here...

[Kocho]

CFGI is fine, but occasionally it might trip and turn your charge off for no good reason. So for things that I don't want to get interrupted, like my internet service or my electric scooter's charging, I avoid CFGI circuits. Surge protector is always a good idea.

[LeftieBiker]

CFGI is fine, but occasionally it might trip and turn your charge off for no good reason. So for things that I don't want to get interrupted, like my internet service or my electric scooter's charging, I avoid CFGI circuits. Surge protector is always a good idea.

   Thanks. Those false trips were what concerned me. I haven't figured out, from reading here, if only the faulty chargers are causing them, or if all the chargers are. Maybe I will skip the GFCI component of the charging setup.

[benswing]

Where in upstate New York do you live?  I live in New Jersey near New York City and regularly ride up in the Hudson Valley.

[LeftieBiker]

   Near Mechanicville, about 30 minutes North of Albany, on the Hudson. I've been driving a Leaf for close the three years, and have had electric bikes, scooters and bicycles for much longer.

[benswing]

Oh, you have some nice riding around there!  I passed by your area on the way to Montreal. I hope to get some riding time in the green mountains someday.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kocho]

I don't have a Zero, ride a Vectrix. On my first charger, I used to be able to charge at a certain CFGI outlet no problem. When that first charger burned out, the replacement charger would trip that CFGI almost every time. But would work fine on a bunch of other CFGIs and on regular outlets. So the charger is working fine, that one CFGI seems overly sensitive for some reason... And these chargers don't draw much current at all at the beginning of the charge, just perhaps 2-3A, so I'm not sure what's causing it...

CFGI is fine, but occasionally it might trip and turn your charge off for no good reason. So for things that I don't want to get interrupted, like my internet service or my electric scooter's charging, I avoid CFGI circuits. Surge protector is always a good idea.

   Thanks. Those false trips were what concerned me. I haven't figured out, from reading here, if only the faulty chargers are causing them, or if all the chargers are. Maybe I will skip the GFCI component of the charging setup.

[LeftieBiker]

   I guess I'll try it with the GFCI outlet (unless I don't ;-) and remove that if it trips.

[Electric Terry]

I've said it in a few other threads, if you have to charge from a GFCI outlet, break the ground pin off your charge cord and it will work fine every time.  Also from ChargePoint stations.  It trips the level 1 each and every time for me unless I use a plug with the ground pin broken off and then it works each and every time.   Someone also posted that you can buy a cheater adapter from the hardware store that allows grounded devices to work in old houses that only have a 2 prong outlets.  I haven't tried that but it should work too.  It's just easier to me to take your thumb and push the ground pin off.  Takes 2 seconds.

[LeftieBiker]

   I really, really wouldn't break the ground pin off. get a grounding adapter! The damage to the plug could extend beyond the broken pin.