ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: droidish on January 23, 2025, 04:43:21 AM
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Greetings,
Recently my clock has been losing time. I reset it and the next time I ride the clock shows incorrect time again.
Prior to the above issue I was commuting 4 to 5 days per week on my bike. Full charge at work, ride home, repeat. I retired recently, and my rides are less frequent and usually shorter.
I did a search and found a thread from ‘23 started by Don Tom. He ends up modifying his dash with an external replaceable battery. I want to make sure that I understand the gist of it correctly.
The battery in the dash is not rechargeable and powers only the clock? So if I do nothing about it, at worst I’ll have no clock. The change in how I use my Zero isn’t causing the clock issue. Do I have this right?
I will appreciate any feedback. :)
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That's correct, the dash has its own battery for the clock because when the bike is keyed off and the contactors are open there's no power going to it. I think the timestamp that shows up in the logs comes from a clock in the BMS or MBB (possibly set when connecting a phone to the bike via the app) so I don't think you'll have any issues with that.
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Thank you.
I guess I’ll keep an eye out for a decent looking clock that attaches to the bars or something.
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They make very small clocks, like an inch or two square, rectangle ... you get the idea. velcro the thing anywhere on your dash, on the inside of the wind screen, there are plenty of places you can place it.
Aaron
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Few weeks ago I started to notice the same in my 2018 SR. The clock shows random times. But it's been near freezing lately and I've not been worried about it. Thought that maybe it would fix itself when it gets warmer. Looks like I need to check into the dash.
Edit. Link to Don Toms thread. Does not seem too complicated for people who've worked with PCBs. https://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=12532.0
Why would Zero use regular button battery (soldered in 2032)? And it's "not replaceable". Or at least no motorcycle dealer that I know of has the know-how or equipment to do that. These have high enough self discharge to never last more than about 10 years. So either you fix it yourself or fork out for new dash.
Can anyone confirm if the later TFT dash (in SDS platform) can directly replace the older dash? And if the mileage would change?
Edit, edit. According to a YouTube video it is basically a bolt on. Bit of disassembly required though. Apparently the TFT dash doesn't have a clock. :)
Unconfirmed part number for the original dash. "40-08156 - DASH LCD NOTE: Supersedes 40-08119". And the TFT one 45-08322.
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There's a few other little things that the new dash is missing, I don't remember what exactly. It's not really an upgrade at all. I think the mileage may be built into the dash, can't say for sure, but it's also in the logs somewhere (shows in the app too I think) so not lost completely. There was someone else on here who swapped there's if you wanted to search for that and ask them.
As for why Zero chose to use a non-rechargeable soldered in place battery, they didn't. The dash is made by another company and used on other bikes. It was probably intended to be used on bikes that have a constant power source and the battery would only be used in situations where the main battery was removed.
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That's good to know. I was probably mixing it up with my KTM, I was looking at replacement dashes for that too because they have an issue with water ingress. Makes more sense with that as the dash itself is the main bike computer controlling a lot of the stuff.
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So far, the clock of my 2018 Zero S (built in November 2017) is still working and keeping time fine. I hope it continues to do so. :)
I might add that the last time I checked the clock of my daughter's 2014 S (built in December 2013) was also keeping time fairly accurately, too. ???
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The mileage is kept in non volatile memory. If your clock is dead, and it was being kept by the same battery, common sense would dictate that the mileage would be dead as well right? It's actually a law so it is kept non vol so that it can't be toyed with very easily to keep folks honest.
If the battery is soldered on, a lot are just so they don't shake loose or get jarred and cause issues, just unsolder the two points and put a new one on it's not that hard. Use a point iron don't go at it with a 100 watt monster tip or a squeeze and squeege instant on iron.
If you really don't like that, unsolder the battery and get a battery like a 123 or something that fits into a holder, solder the holder back in place of the battery (watch the polarity so it's correct) you now have a replaceable battery. You can tape it or velcro it or silicone it in place so it don't bounce around. You can also get holders for the 2032 and likes lith battery buttons that have two wires on them, and use that so you can put the original size battery back in if there are space limitations.
It's might be a long shot depending on where you live, but look for old style electronic repair shops, generally you'll find an old hammie around :D who would be happy to help you out with that, explain they are only replacing the battery and don't worry about code or chips and crap and they'll be like, oh okay i can do that !! I do repairs for folks from time to time on stuff, if you want me to 2m / 3m it, no guarantees but little stuff like that, . a lot of people can do.
Aaron
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The mileage is kept in non volatile memory. If your clock is dead, and it was being kept by the same battery, common sense would dictate that the mileage would be dead as well right? It's actually a law so it is kept non vol so that it can't be toyed with very easily to keep folks honest.
Well the clock isn't losing time because of where the time is stored, it's because a clock just doesn't work without power (except for a sundial). The time could be stored in non-volatile and all it would mean is it would start from the same point once the bike is keyed back on, but it would still have lost hours or days during the time that it was keyed off.
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thats kind of my point, the clock having it's time lost shows that power is lost from the bad battery. concern was about losing mileage when taking the battery out. if the battery also powered the mileage memory it'd be dead as well as the clock, it isn't, so its safe to take the battery out and not harm your mileage reading.
storing time in nvm or anywhere for that matter, makes no sense, it's constantly changing, time is live, unless you are storing it in an event log or something and need to know when it was lost.
Aaron
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The concern was losing the mileage from changing the dash, not removing the battery.
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Greetings,
Recently my clock has been losing time. I reset it and the next time I ride the clock shows incorrect time again.
See my thread here. (https://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=12532.msg119794#msg119794)
-Don- Reno, NV