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Author Topic: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?  (Read 1308 times)

caza

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Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« on: January 04, 2019, 06:15:22 AM »

Bike has been sitting for a couple weeks at 95% charge.

Rode it to work today. Cold morning. SOC dropped more rapidly as you'd expect. Still got home with 8%, normally I'd be at 16-20%. Plug-in, nothing.

The contactor doesn't click on, screen doesn't turn on, and if I key it on the bike gives no error codes aside from the kickstand and killswitch.

If I plug in the quick-charger I get the red flashing light on the quick charger and the red battery light flashing on the dash.

The BMS  lights read as normal and healthy.

It's a 2015 SR, so the charger is out of warranty.

I've looking and I can't find any other examples of chargers that are totally unresponsive like mine.

Does anyone have experience getting an out of warranty charger replaced? What are my other options?

The installation of a diginow isn't too intimidating, but from what I see on the website 10kw seems to be the only option for the v2.5? Fast charging is nice, but not necessary at all for me, and frankly, too expensive.

I'm going to drop it off at the dealer on Saturday and we'll see what they say.
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ashnazg

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2019, 06:22:02 AM »

The onboard charger on my '15 SR went kaput the first month I had it (bought it used one year ago).  Its symptoms were no response except a flashing red dash icon shortly after plugging in. Luckily I have an Elcon already from my '15 FX days, so it's been my only charger. If I have the onboard plugged in with the Elcon too, it prevents the Elcon from working.
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2011 Zero XU (previous bike)

caza

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2019, 07:37:56 AM »

Thank you!

I honestly hadn't thought to plug in the accec. charger without the main charger. I wasn't even aware it worked on its own, had only ever used them together they way the previous owner had showed me.

I plugged it in on its own and the bike is charging! That relieves a lot of anxiety. At least I can still use the bike.

I still feel that I'll need to replace the stock charger somehow. I work in 2 different places, when I go to SF I can make the trip back without charging, when I go to SJ I need to charge for a couple hours to make it home.

Did you look into replacing your charger at all?
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ashnazg

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2019, 08:49:34 AM »

First step I took was to confirm that the bike was out of warranty 🤦‍♂️

Second step was to order DigiNows in a bellypan.  Expecting those to arrive next week 😎👍
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2011 Zero XU (previous bike)

MVetter

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2019, 09:17:27 AM »

UPS tracking says yes on next week. I personally tested every component on your setup; I know you'll be a happy camper once it's on.
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Electric Cowboy

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2019, 09:17:44 AM »

The big thing about replacing the charger is to remember you will need to replace it again in a year or so. Also, remember, it cooks the battery. Removing it is a good idea even if you dont get DigiNows. The investment in the 10kw system is an investment not just in fast charging but the longevity of your motorbikes battery life. Zero gives a 5 year warranty, and our testing shows lab life of new batteries extended upto 20 years, real world is probably more like 10 years though.

Just food for thought. Looks like as it stands you are atleast mobile with the offboard unit you have so that is good. Good luck with whatever you choose!

ashnazg

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2019, 10:00:05 AM »

I'll definitely be a real world test of ease of installation... if Programmer Geek Chuck can't fix it by hitting Backspace, he can't fix it 👨‍💻
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caza

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2019, 10:56:11 AM »

Thanks for the feedback and info. Really curious to hear how your diginow installation goes.

Just to be clear I'm not saying diginow is overpriced, for the amount of work that goes into it, how specialized it is, and the capabilities it gives you I do think the price is fair - but it's a large investment.
And for me, buying my bike used, it's hard to swallow paying half of what I paid for the bike on one component, even if it is a good product and a critical one.

So this is my main question and sorry if this would be better in a different thread: Why is there no option to buy a 3.3kw or 6.6kw diginow kit?  Is there something critical about having all 3 modules in the bellypan? For me personally, 3.3 would be plenty for everything I want to do with the bike. 2 would be the max I would use.



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ashnazg

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2019, 05:42:04 PM »

You *can* buy just one or two in the pan... I'd bet you could buy one without the pan even... ping MVetter.
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dennis-NL

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2019, 06:23:47 PM »

Or just buy the pan.... put your normal charger in there or a replacement or Diginows....
At least your battery will not be as hot as before while charging:
• air between charger and battery
• charger montage on the bottom of a thicker and aluminium bellypan (heatsink).
I got 2x Digi in new bellypan ( & 1 old oem in the middle of them)
 8)
« Last Edit: January 04, 2019, 06:25:40 PM by dennis-NL »
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current:  DS2013 12.5 50500km 22-feb-2019
previous: MotoGuzzi 1100Cal-96, Yamaha TDM850-00, Honda Magna700-86, Honda Shadow500-86

8) Enjoy each ride, now you can hear and feel everything around you !!!!
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=8098.0;attach=9471;ima

caza

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2019, 08:23:37 PM »

Dennis - if I'm reading that right you have 2 digi's and the stock charger, all that fits in the new pan? Sounds like the best of both worlds since you can get faster charging and still plug into regular outlets without having to configure anything. It's also probably the heaviest solution, but sometimes flexibility costs weight.

AF1 Racing has the stock charger for $800 and new zerolands video makes me confident I could do the swap myself.  But undoubtedly the diginow is a better option. It's really a matter of if I want to go "cheaper" or "better" at this point. And to be honest part of me is thinking of going cheap so this bike can last a few more years before upgrading to another bike on the horizon like the SR-F or the Livewire. Something with better charging built in, and a warranty. But if the cost can scale down for a single diginow + bellypan I wouldn't mind doing that.
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dennis-NL

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #11 on: January 04, 2019, 10:49:59 PM »

Dennis - if I'm reading that right you have 2 digi's and the stock charger, all that fits in the new pan? Sounds like the best of both worlds since you can get faster charging and still plug into regular outlets without having to configure anything. It's also probably the heaviest solution, but sometimes flexibility costs weight.

AF1 Racing has the stock charger for $800 and new zerolands video makes me confident I could do the swap myself.  But undoubtedly the diginow is a better option. It's really a matter of if I want to go "cheaper" or "better" at this point. And to be honest part of me is thinking of going cheap so this bike can last a few more years before upgrading to another bike on the horizon like the SR-F or the Livewire. Something with better charging built in, and a warranty. But if the cost can scale down for a single diginow + bellypan I wouldn't mind doing that.

Not exactly.
I got 1 of the 4 OEM chargers wich were replaced still active.
It is powered not by the normal lead, but by the Diginow supply.
It's only 350W......
I just did it because it could.... better would be 3rd diginow charger.....but money....
But the 4 (or 2 + 1 bigger or 1 unit, all depending on the year) could fit in the new pan  for better cooling.

So even only the pan would reduce heat on the battery.

see this for pictures:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/zmcowners/permalink/1954290271306838/
« Last Edit: January 04, 2019, 10:54:02 PM by dennis-NL »
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current:  DS2013 12.5 50500km 22-feb-2019
previous: MotoGuzzi 1100Cal-96, Yamaha TDM850-00, Honda Magna700-86, Honda Shadow500-86

8) Enjoy each ride, now you can hear and feel everything around you !!!!
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=8098.0;attach=9471;ima

ashnazg

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2019, 11:56:38 PM »

Note that Dennis' bike is a 2013... which I think had different onboard chargers than 2015 forward... is that right, guys?
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caza

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2019, 06:01:06 AM »

So after getting a quote from Morgan and looking at my own finances I just can't justify the diginow.

I went for a stock charger.

I grabbed the part number from AF1Racing's catalog, which is such a useful resource. Brought it into my local Zero dealer. They wanted to verify it was the right part, and I'm glad they did.

The catalog for the 2015 Zero an AF1 says the charger is 45-08123. This part is discontinues and has been superseded by 45-08234, the same charger used in newer bikes. An order for the 8123 part would have just sit in limbo and never been filled.

The part has a NOTE: Includes additional ferrite. Please contact Zero
Motorcycles customer service if you need additional help with
routing.

I know ferrite is for signal noise, would that change anything about installation of the charger? Newzerolands video made it seem pretty simple but I don't know if the ferrite played into that.

I will document the swap when the part arrives.

Interestingly the parts dept. manager at the dealer says that they've had problems with Zero as a dealer in the past, but in the last 6 months or so they've been much more responsive and helpful, at least from the dealers perspective. So that's good to hear.
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dennis-NL

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Re: Charger seemingly dead? What are my options?
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2019, 12:13:48 PM »

At least they made some improvement it seems.
Would be nice to do this improvement for all bad OEM chargers.
Not saying for free, but do inform us.
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current:  DS2013 12.5 50500km 22-feb-2019
previous: MotoGuzzi 1100Cal-96, Yamaha TDM850-00, Honda Magna700-86, Honda Shadow500-86

8) Enjoy each ride, now you can hear and feel everything around you !!!!
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=8098.0;attach=9471;ima
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