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[George Cowly]

I had my chargetank installed last summer, but I never made a full charge through the charge tank until February. I charged my SR with my Chevy-Volt wallcharger. After the charge I realised that both the display and charging indicator were dark. I checked the circuit breaker of the wallcharger and found it tripped. The battery was 100% SOC after the charge. The log file did show nothing special.

Since then I had a closer look to the charging behaviour of my SR. When I charge through the standard C14 socket the bike charges to 100% and remains connected (charging indicator solid green). When I charge through the chargetank the bike charges to 100% and disconnects after a while (charging indicator off) and during this disconnection the circuit breaker tripped twice out of four charging processes.

Can any chargetank owner confirm this “disconnection” habit?

Furthermore I’ve noticed that the charging indicator went from flashing to solid at around 96% and the whole display was flashing 7 times at 97% SOC (C14 charge) and 7 times at 100% SOC (chargetank shortly before disconnection).

Has anyone else seen his display flashing for a short while during charging?


And there is on more thing: my SOC is jumping from 97% to 100% and the log file shows

SOC adjusted for voltage   old:   3393837uAH (soc:97%), new:   0uAH (soc:100%), low cell: 4143 mV


I will bring my SR to the dealer next week but nevertheless your comments are highly appreciated.

[mrwilsn]

It's normal for the whole display to flash right at the end of the charge cycle before it opens the contactor.

It's also normal to see big jumps in charge %, especially towards the end of the charge cycle. 97% to 100% is nothing unusual.  I have seen much bigger jumps. It happens even with the onboard charger but more so with fast charger.

The onboard and charge tank or any CV charger will draw the most power from the wall at the end of the charge cycle which is a little counterintuitive.  I suspect you are hitting the limit and blowing the breaker. Do you know how many amps the circuit can provide and are there any other outlets on the circuit?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[scorpion32]

I can also confirm that % jumps after disconnecting the charge cable are normal.
Biggest jump i have noticed was from 83% up to 91%. Thats also a bit odd to me, since on other EVs this is not the case. So not sure if this is normal. Maybe its a fault, who knows? That we all have these jumps does not automatically mean its normal behaviour.

I never charged to 100% while using the Type1 cable. I more often use the normal black power cord to charge to 100%. Here also the charge tank is used and it never triggers the breaker.

Some other strange behaviour: If i start to ride from 100% and stop by 98%, 2 hours later the display reads 100% again without charging.

[Richard230]

My 2014 S with PT charges to 98% then shuts off, 36 hours later it turns back on and finishes charging to 100%.  I have never charged the pack except via the 120V wall plug and on-board chargers.  It has never failed to fully charge the pack, other than a couple of times when the indicator showed 92% when the charger turned off, then showed 100% when the ignition was turned on - so that was just a display malfunction. Both times were at my daughter's home where the voltage was 118V, instead of the 125V at my home. My bike has never tripped any on or off-board breakers.

[George Cowly]

Thank you guys for your answers.

There is only one outlet on the wallcharger circuit - the wallcharger itself. Max current for this power cable is 16 amps.

So there is only one question remaining: is the charge tank disconnecting normally at the end of a charge cycle?

@mrwilsn: any idea why the charger is drawing the most power at the end of the cycle?

[Delnari]

OP

Are you using the 120V Wall Charger provided with your Chevrolet Volt?  I tried using that on my '17 SR with charge tank and it wouldn't accept charging from it.

I normally charge at work using a standard EV ChargePoint station that can support up to 30 amps output, but as you know it is reduced to the max. charge rate our Zero's support.  My charging light flashes normally during the charging cycle and when I go to unplug it after hitting 100% it is a steady green.  A couple occassion when I was late to unplug the light was completely out.

[mrwilsn]

@mrwilsn: any idea why the charger is drawing the most power at the end of the cycle?

First, I should clarify that it will draw the most power at the end right before entering CV mode....once it enters CV mode you will see power start to ramp back down.

Second, I think the reason is the charger is more efficient at higher output voltage so it can deliver more power.

There is only one outlet on the wallcharger circuit - the wallcharger itself. Max current for this power cable is 16 amps.

You are using a 16 amp cable?  But what is the rating of the breaker?  Typically I think you would either have a 15 amp or 20 amp breaker for a 120V outlet (at least in USA).  Is this a 120V outlet?

Since then I had a closer look to the charging behaviour of my SR. When I charge through the standard C14 socket the bike charges to 100% and remains connected (charging indicator solid green). When I charge through the chargetank the bike charges to 100% and disconnects after a while (charging indicator off) and during this disconnection the circuit breaker tripped twice out of four charging processes.

When the light is solid green it just means the charger is plugged in and the bike is at or near 100%.  When using the onboard charger, once charging is complete the BMS will open the contactor on the bike to disconnect the battery from the charger but the light will stay solid green.

When you say the "circuit breaker tripped" are you talking about the breaker in the circuit breaker panel of your house or a breaker or fuse in the wall charger itself?  Does the indicator turn off before or after this circuit breaker trips?

It sounds to me like the problem is with the wall charger but I don't have a Zero charge tank so I can't speak to the specific behavior you are seeing.

[Lenny]

I can also confirm that % jumps after disconnecting the charge cable are normal.
Biggest jump i have noticed was from 83% up to 91%. Thats also a bit odd to me, since on other EVs this is not the case. So not sure if this is normal. Maybe its a fault, who knows? That we all have these jumps does not automatically mean its normal behaviour.

Don't forget that the SOC is an algorithmic approximation based on both voltage and current measurements and the individual battery charge/discharge characteristics. You can't compare it to a water tank, where you can have a physical look at the level. By the time cell behavior changes, voltage and current sensors loose their calibration which results in SOC calculation differences. Those are adjusted under certain circumstances, in this case i.e. when all cells reached max voltage, which is the only physical indication of 100% SOC. Current sensor recalibrates from time to time, you can also see that in the logs.

[gyrocyclist]

Some other strange behaviour: If i start to ride from 100% and stop by 98%, 2 hours later the display reads 100% again without charging.

As I commented in a different thread, I also see this behavior: jumps from 97% to 100%,
sometimes if the bike's only sitting for a few minutes. I think it's nothing to worry about.
(2016 SR).

[George Cowly]

You are using a 16 amp cable?  But what is the rating of the breaker?  Typically I think you would either have a 15 amp or 20 amp breaker for a 120V outlet (at least in USA).  Is this a 120V outlet?

Here were I live we usually have 10 amp cables with circuit breakers tripping at 13 amp (240V) for our regular house sockets.

 A 16 amp cable was required for the wallcharger (3.7 kW (16A/240V)).

When you say the "circuit breaker tripped" are you talking about the breaker in the circuit breaker panel of your house or a breaker or fuse in the wall charger itself?  Does the indicator turn off before or after this circuit breaker trips?

Im talking about a circuit breaker in the circuit breaker panel.

In the meantime I found out, that this is a circuit breaker combined with a "residual current operated circuit breaker". So I presume there is a false current sensed when the contactor opens at the end of the charge cycle. I've charged with a portable charger yesterday and no circuit breaker tripped at the end of the cycle.

My conclusion: the described "disconnection habit" is absolutely normal, as I have to switch the key to ON position prior to initiating a charge cycle for powering the motorcycle’s on-board charger and the J1772 Interface Board (JIB) and then keep charging with the key to OFF position, the on-board charger and the JIB will lose power as soon as the contactor opens. Therefore the bike will be found dark after charging.

[Delnari]

I take back what I said about using my Chevrolet Volt portable 120V charger on the Zero Charge Tank.  Since I had my software updated I can now charge using the Volt charger.  Just tried it tonight as a test and it worked just fine; took it from 74% to 100% in less than 2 hours.  Now I only need to have one charger connector setup in the garage for both car and motorcycle.