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[MostlyBonkers]

Don't upset Terry, Leftie! I'm sure breaking the pin off won't harm the plug. [emoji4]

I'm a little surprised that you're so worried about all this charging stuff. I'm definitely not bothering with any surge protection or other fancy equipment. If my charger fails again I'll get it replaced under warranty.  Once it's out of warranty I'll be ready for a change no doubt.

[LeftieBiker]

   I have no dealer near me. Even if I did I'd want to avoid the hassle of having major components replaced, and I generally prefer to protect vulnerable electronics instead of testing them to their limits. Thus this evening I placed a good quality, UL-listed grounding adapter in the tank bag with the charging cable. Now I have the option of charging with no ground circuit, should that be necessary, with no damage done to anything.

[MostlyBonkers]

Fair enough. What does UL-listed mean Leftie? Any chance you can post a link so I can check it out please?

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Fair enough. What does UL-listed mean Leftie? Any chance you can post a link so I can check it out please?

http://ul.com/marks/ul-listing-and-classification-marks/

[LeftieBiker]

Fair enough. What does UL-listed mean Leftie? Any chance you can post a link so I can check it out please?

http://ul.com/marks/ul-listing-and-classification-marks/

   I had also picked up a pair of new, non-UL-listed adapters, but the prongs were actually loose in the plastic. Junk.

[MostlyBonkers]

Thanks Brian. I'll have to take a closer look.

[Erasmo]

Don't upset Terry, Leftie! I'm sure breaking the pin off won't harm the plug. [emoji4]

Only yourself.

[Doug S]

...this evening I placed a good quality, UL-listed grounding adapter in the tank bag with the charging cable.

Make sure it's rated for 15A. Many of those cheaters (like a lot of the cheaper PC-style power cords) are rated for 10A or less, and will overheat if you use them on one of Zero's bikes. The Zero charger can draw in excess of 12A when it's bulk charging, and some people have had issues with cheaper cords.

Really, Leftie, you're making problems where none exist. My charger was one of the ones that failed, and it did so charging at home just like it always did, just like it had for several hundred cycles already. I'm an EE, I'm familiar with line voltages and their pathologies, and I'm convinced no GFI or surge suppressor would have saved it -- it was a marginal design, like many cheap Chinese products these days, which was redesigned to be more rugged when they had excessive field failures.

As Terry says, if you do use one of the overly-sensitive charge statiosn, breaking the ground connection is an easy (and safe) way to ensure there will be no current on the ground wire. I've had a digital oscilloscope that's run with no ground prong on the power cord for 20 years now.

[Erasmo]

Regarding to your last paragraph I am not a big fan of removing the ground plug. On an oscilloscope it makes more sense because it can interfere with the measurements but on a Zero you're dealing with heavier loads and it there will be times when you are charging when it rains.

[LeftieBiker]

   Needless to say, I agree with Erasmo.

"Really, Leftie, you're making problems where none exist."

   I'd say that a problem does in fact exist, and I'm doing what I can to avoid it, even though my actions probably won't prevent a failure. I see no reason to think I'm doing any harm by using a surge protector, and if there is an actual power surge, why would I not want the charger cushioned from it?

   Anyway, I took my first ride, the bike is fantastic, and it's now charging. However, the master warning light is flickering every few seconds. I noticed it doing that shortly before I arrived home. The pack temp on arrival home was 124F, despite the ambient temp being about 55F and me not having pushed the bike hard. I waited until it dropped to 104F to start charging. Is that flickering warning light normal for charging, normal for charging with a warm pack, or abnormal? The charging section of the manual doesn't mention it...

[MrDude_1]

Everytime I hear someone sing the praises of surge protectors I laugh a little.
Have you ever looked at a varistor from a surge protector? It's amazing it does anything.  If you were truly worried about it, you would be better off with a digikey order of a handful of varistors... and stick them all on the wiring on the bike leading to the power supply input.

[LeftieBiker]

   You folks can laugh all you want, especially if someone deigns to tell me whether that flickering master warning light is normal while charging. It flickers 5 or 6 times every few seconds.

[Kocho]

I don't know about flickering lights, but the battery temperature rising to 124F (50C) in light riding in 55F ambient seems unusual. Others with Zeros - is this normal and should it be rising all that much? Or maybe your riding was more enthusiastic than suggested  ?

In trying to answer my own question, I found this video: If indeed the battery temperature is what was showing on the screen, I'm very surprised - it fluctuates very quickly! There is no way the actual internal battery temperature changes that fast, especially cooling down. The sensor must be somewhere on the outside of the battery and near the wires... 

   You folks can laugh all you want, especially if someone deigns to tell me whether that flickering master warning light is normal while charging. It flickers 5 or 6 times every few seconds.

[MostlyBonkers]

Check out section 6.3 in the manual, it should help you diagnose the error. You should have a flashing green light when charging, not the red light that comes on when the kickstand is down.

The first thing I would try is plugging the bike directly into your wall socket at home, just in case some of that extra equipment is confusing the charger somehow. When keyed off, the display should boot up, you'll hear the click from the contactor and the green light flashes to indicate charging has started.

It's worth checking the battery temperature in the app when the bike has been standing for a few hours. On my bike I reckon it reads at least 6C higher than ambient. That's at this time of year when it's cold. So the other morning it can't have been more than 2C ambient and the battery temp was reading 8C. During my 24 mile ride to work it maxed at 24C after a few miles of fast riding. It had dropped to 23C by the time I got to work because the last 8 miles are relatively slow city riding.

Is there any chance you could have confused pack temperature with motor temperature? The display on the bike only gives motor temp. 50C is normal for very sedate riding. It usually hovers around that if I'm riding in eco mode around town.

I hope that helps you a bit leftie. You could take a video clip of your charging, upload it to YouTube and post a link here if you like.

By the way, where does leftie come from? I assume a left wing political persuasion? Are you left handed? Just curious.

[LeftieBiker]

   I did check out the manual a couple of times. My best guess is that I'm seeing a 5-5 "miscellaneous error" code. I'll look into it tomorrow. How do I retrieve error codes, again? I know it's in the manual, but that isn't always really clear. And yes, I was reading the motor temp - I'm still very new to the display, and forgot what I was seeing indicated. That motor really does need more air flowing over it!

  I'll left-wing politically, and was born left-handed, but switched when I was young. Now I'm ambidextrous, but that's not a very catchy monicker...