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[pacificcricket]

Just happened. Came home, plugged my '14 DS to charge, went upstairs to change. Came down - lights are out. Went into garage to check the breaker - smell of burned plastic... Sure enough, onboard charger went out.

2.5 years, 18 thousand miles. Standard warranty seems to be 2 years only. Anyone replaced it via a dealer out of pocket ? What's the damage like ?

July 2017 update: replacement charger burned out, just 8 months after replacement.

[2014ZeroSR]

pacificcricket - Another charger failure? Fascinating. I just posted an update to my 'Not Charging' thread. San Jose BMW has it right now awaiting a replacement charger. When I get the bike back, I'll post an update. I'm also extremely curious as to what my out-of-pocket expenses will be. Good luck.

Note on shops, I've been to SF Moto, Contra Costa Powersports and now San Jose BMW. On SF Moto, Richard230 commented not long ago about no parking being available as well as a few other things that I also experienced. Contra Costa Powersports I don't care for them because they had my 14SR for nearly 6 months for a rear-end collision. San Jose BMW has been good, thus maybe that's a good choice for you as well.

[pacificcricket]

pacificcricket - Another charger failure? Fascinating. I just posted an update to my 'Not Charging' thread. San Jose BMW has it right now awaiting a replacement charger. When I get the bike back, I'll post an update. I'm also extremely curious as to what my out-of-pocket expenses will be. Good luck.

Note on shops, I've been to SF Moto, Contra Costa Powersports and now San Jose BMW. On SF Moto, Richard230 commented not long ago about no parking being available as well as a few other things that I also experienced. Contra Costa Powersports I don't care for them because they had my 14SR for nearly 6 months for a rear-end collision. San Jose BMW has been good, thus maybe that's a good choice for you as well.

Yeah, just noticed your thread as well. Thanks for reply!

Well, I'm in Portland, OR... only one dealer here doing service (two selling the bikes?), and it's on the other side of town from me. NOT FUN AT ALL.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I just noticed something surprising: Calex manufacturing's address is in Concord, less than a mile away from Contra Costa Powersports.

[firepower]

Known fault, especially with 2014 models many bought the police model on sale, and had chargers fail and even replacements fail. Contact zero or aaronmoto, think it reasonable charger should last as long as the power train. What the point of 5 year warranty power pack if you can't charge it!

[pacificcricket]

Known fault, especially with 2014 models many bought the police model on sale, and had chargers fail and even replacements fail. Contact zero or aaronmoto, think it reasonable charger should last as long as the power train. What the point of 5 year warranty power pack if you can't charge it!

I agree with you. I am going to the dealer today. Bad thing is they will probably keep the bike in the shop for 2-3 weeks. That's how long it took when I took the bike for motor replacement due to recall.

[jheth]

Where are you taking it? I recommend SJ BMW if you're in South Bay.
Charger failures is known issue, I got mine replaced too (in warranty). They said it is an $840 part, but there's a good chance Zero will replace yours for free (you're just barely out of warranty).


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[pacificcricket]

Where are you taking it?

I'm in Oregon, not much of a choice where to take it - Sports Plaza in east Portland is one of the two dealers in Portland Metro (3 dealers in Oregon altogether), and the only one that services them.

[pacificcricket]

Took the bike to the dealer. Told them what happened. The guy wasn't enthusiastic at all. "We can take it for diagnostics, it's going to be 90 dollars, but we don't have the tool, it's at another dealer. You can go there..."  Dude! The charger is blown! And it's not like they have chargers in stock. Finally he agreed to take the bike for service.

It has been a bit over 2 years, and second time I am screwed. Makes me really worried thinking about what will happen when the power pack is out of warranty.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

They can't perform basic diagnostics on site? How far is the other dealer?

If your SoC isn't terrible, at least get the logs off with a mobile app, send them to Zero, and also decode them for yourself (or post them for decoding) just in case. That technically could give them enough reason to order a part.

I wish I could point somewhere to buy a Calex as an end user, or a diagnostic setup. I wondered idly whether the 2013 configuration of 2x2 Meanwell chargers could be set up for a 2014+. If you look on the forum, Meanwell builds seem reasonably achievable, e.g. http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=3949.0

[pacificcricket]

They can't perform basic diagnostics on site? How far is the other dealer?

If your SoC isn't terrible, at least get the logs off with a mobile app, send them to Zero, and also decode them for yourself (or post them for decoding) just in case. That technically could give them enough reason to order a part.

I wish I could point somewhere to buy a Calex as an end user, or a diagnostic setup. I wondered idly whether the 2013 configuration of 2x2 Meanwell chargers could be set up for a 2014+. If you look on the forum, Meanwell builds seem reasonably achievable, e.g. http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=3949.0

First one is 15 miles away, with acceptable public transportation (took me 45 mins to get to work from there). Second one is 25 miles away, and I'm not sure how to commute from there. But the point is, even if they can run the diagnostics sooner, they don't have replacement chargers in stock either. That is totally on Zero, not ensuring that scarce dealers they have provide a decent service. Anyway, I left the bike with the first dealer, will update the thread once I know anything.

[pacificcricket]

Got a call from a dealer. Apparently the first dealer I took my bike to decided not to bother with it, and took it to the second dealer. Second dealer confirmed that the charger is blown, and they also
determined that my rear shock is defective. I felt the shock was weird, but I didn't realize how serious it was. Either way, the charger would be $800, and they confirmed that the bike is out of warranty.

I then made a call to Zero customer service, and suggested that they should take care of these repairs, since there are way too many major problems with this bike caused by defective manufacturing creating a major inconvenience for me. Customer service manager agreed that charger is something they could take care of, though the shock they would need to look into a bit further, since that is a new one.

Few minutes later I got a follow up call from the dealer, informing me that Zero called them and instructed to do all the repairs at no cost to me. I guess that's what was needed to restore my faith in Zero

[MajorMajor]

That's great news!

[pacificcricket]

Yeah, that's certainly better than I expected. Zero owes us that much - good warranty service, if they can't ensure defect free manufacturing.

[ATM]

As a prospective buyer I'm glad Zero did the right thing!