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[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I've been gradually asking around about the question of onboard charger reliability and what might underly the reported issues.

The obvious constraint as Zero owners is that we generally shouldn't try to open charger cases ourselves, and that the charger products from Calex AKA GreenWattPower are not available for individual sale or service requests, so it's not yet reasonable to expect charger problems to be resolved outside of Zero's service pipeline.

So, I honed my question down to: what can an owner do to avoid problems? The best simple answer I've heard so far is: prevent cable heating at the C14 inlet.

There are some basic recommendations we've had for this like applying contact cleaner fluid to the prongs to wash off dirt and dust and maybe tarnishing, and note when/if the prongs are damaged. There are less obvious treatments like routing the cable to avoid strain and bending near the plug, and the recent hack of using a right angle bend cable and tying it in place caught my eye.

Does anyone have a better or different recommendation? Dealers who see a lot of Zero issues would probably know best right now. And it may differ by region because of hot or wet weather.

In any case, I'm inclined to put a clearer recommendation about this cable attention in the unofficial manual specifically as charger maintenance.

[Kocho]

The stock charger gets quite warm. I try to always have a desk fan pointed at the bottom of the bike while charging. Drastically reduces the temperature. That of course works only in my garage ...

The charger heats-up the battery near it, which I don't think is good for the battery either. The fan prevents this too.

[JaimeC]

Since I live in a fairly humid climate, I thought covering the pins in dielectric grease periodically might help prevent corrosion.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Since I live in a fairly humid climate, I thought covering the pins in dielectric grease periodically might help prevent corrosion.

Yes, I think so, too. I've been wanting to put together a dielectric grease application maintenance routine, but want to make sure I get a good specific list of where to apply it, why, and how to do it cleanly to avoid causing problems like trapping dust or moisture in the process.

[Burton]

Still using my stock meanwells and they work just fine; they are tanks.

I did arc weld my C14 outlet though and replaced both it and my C13 plug with PP45's from anderson. I also got in the habit of blowing out the connectors on both sides when it rains, then connecting them, then plugging the 5-15 side into the outlet. If I could then also flip a switch I would ...

Connections at terminal ends will always create more heat than others by default it seems given there is more resistance.

Currently i don't use dielectric on the connections which get daily use but all other connections on the bike get it for sure. If this is really the main 'issues' with the newer stock chargers then I could see upgrading the outlets to those used on airplanes to transfer power (they cost about $15-50 for each side depending on amps/voltage) and acquiring the covers for them as they are water proof when connected and when the covers are on. Outside this ensuring the stock covers stay on and you have covers for both ends of your 5-15 to C13 cable would be advisable.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Still using my stock meanwells and they work just fine; they are tanks.

Same: my 2013 Meanwells perform well and my 2016 Calexes have been fine. I have been cleaning my inlet contacts occasionally - basically every time I feel the connection being made a little poorly (dirt friction or a little spark sound) which happens more often in wet/winter conditions than in the summertime. Rarely does it happen frequently than monthly.

I think Zero moved to another design because they needed more CAN bus firmware features in the same form factor. They probably even expected it to be more reliable, but it's not commodity hardware so I think the "front line" of QA is us in the wild (versus industrial vehicles like trucks and forklifts for Elcon/etc hardware) so we're getting some uneven experiences because of that.

I did arc weld my C14 outlet though and replaced both it and my C13 plug with PP45's from anderson. I also got in the habit of blowing out the connectors on both sides when it rains, then connecting them, then plugging the 5-15 side into the outlet. If I could then also flip a switch I would ...

A mini circuit-breaker would be nice to have.

Connections at terminal ends will always create more heat than others by default it seems given there is more resistance.

Currently i don't use dielectric on the connections which get daily use but all other connections on the bike get it for sure.

Could you briefly list "all other connections" in this case? Any concerns if you were suggesting this to someone intimidated by or unfamiliar with electrical work?

If this is really the main 'issues' with the newer stock chargers then I could see upgrading the outlets to those used on airplanes to transfer power (they cost about $15-50 for each side depending on amps/voltage) and acquiring the covers for them as they are water proof when connected and when the covers are on. Outside this ensuring the stock covers stay on and you have covers for both ends of your 5-15 to C13 cable would be advisable.

Okay, let's source some covers for our cables, and also figure out how to get a replacement C14 inlet cover, at least. Do you know some offhand?

[JaimeC]

Since I live in a fairly humid climate, I thought covering the pins in dielectric grease periodically might help prevent corrosion.

Yes, I think so, too. I've been wanting to put together a dielectric grease application maintenance routine, but want to make sure I get a good specific list of where to apply it, why, and how to do it cleanly to avoid causing problems like trapping dust or moisture in the process.

My primary concern is the cable I leave folded up in the swingarm tube.  I filled the female side with grease, and coated the pins on the male side.  It may pick up dirt, but it should at least keep moisture off of those parts and prevent corrosion.  Same with the male pins on the left side of the bike frame... covered those pins too, even though they're covered by the rubber plug when the bike is in use.

Since I don't have the home quick-charger that Zero sells, i've never uncovered that connector by the swingarm pivot.  It should be good until such time as I decide I need to use it.

[Richard230]

My 2014S on-board charger has always worked perfectly, as has my daughter's 2012S - and that bike has spent its entire life always plugged in. That leads me to believe that Zero may have used different brand chargers over various model years and some of those may not be as durable as chargers sourced from other vendors. 

[Burton]

A mini circuit-breaker would be nice to have.

I have been thinking of something like this myself lol

Could you briefly list "all other connections" in this case? Any concerns if you were suggesting this to someone intimidated by or unfamiliar with electrical work?

When I say "ALL" I mean everything not tied down by a screw on the bike. You unplug it, apply dielectric liberally, and replug it back in. The biggest concern is if someone tries to force a plug off because they didn't press a release tab. One could look at my wire diagram to get a list of the main ones. It takes about 10 minutes to do all the pluggable items on a bike after you gain access to them.

Anytime I remove a plug of this type to I typically apply more dielectric and simply wipe off excess around the plug after inserting it again ... I still get impedance faults in the rain though but I suspect it is because of some other wires being exposed.

Okay, let's source some covers for our cables, and also figure out how to get a replacement C14 inlet cover, at least. Do you know some offhand?

I spent a couple hours the other day sourcing some and couldn't come up with anything looking like the stock ones :/

[NEW2elec]

Well a rigged up cover could just be a cut off female end from an old smaller gauge computer cord filled with grease.

Blue Sea makes some marine battery switches which I thought would be nice to replace or be a manual over ride  for the battery contactor.  It would be nice to be able to isolate the battery from every thing while working on the bike.  I doubt stock switches could handle Zero's set up but they could be beefed up as needed.

[Killroy]

I took my 2015 SR to the dealer because the onboard would not charge.  Good thing I have the DigiNow as another way to charge, else I would of had to drive my gas burning, slow, traffic clogged car.   

Anyway, the dealer called the day I dropped it off and said that they are replacing it under warranty.  Another one bites the dust. 

[Erasmo]

So, I honed my question down to: what can an owner do to avoid problems? The best simple answer I've heard so far is: prevent cable heating at the C14 inlet.

So I guess for Americans that means charge with 230V if possible?

[NEW2elec]

Since this thread has popped back up, has anyone with a 2013 had to change their meanwell charges?
Mine has had 19k miles and no issues.  The later charges dying has kept me from looking too much at the 15s and some 16s.

[Doctorbass]

So, I honed my question down to: what can an owner do to avoid problems? The best simple answer I've heard so far is: prevent cable heating at the C14 inlet.

So I guess for Americans that means charge with 230V if possible?

Yes charging at 230 work fine. i connect mine to the J1772 while charging with quick charger. it draw half the current and work fine.  I also observed that the IEC plug  cord that the Zero supply have a given quality.. if you use other IEC plug that dont have the right wire size or amp rating the  male plug of the Zero might overheat and melt.

even more.. i had another 15A rated cord that i tried and it was heatig alot while the other cord was not..

I think  overheating plug  is often more related to the cord itself than the male plug of the zero..

Doc

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Since this thread has popped back up, has anyone with a 2013 had to change their meanwell charges?
Mine has had 19k miles and no issues.  The later charges dying has kept me from looking too much at the 15s and some 16s.

I'm at 22k miles with no issues, although the onboard plug/inlet gets hot lately and I'm preparing to replace that if necessary. The 2013 CCU that makes the Meanwells play well with the bike is its own potential source of failure, from what I've gathered, so it's not all roses for everybody.

My 2016 charger again is fine but there definitely was a range where the failure rate was higher.