ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: caza on January 04, 2019, 06:15:22 AM
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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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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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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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First step I took was to confirm that the bike was out of warranty 🤦â€â™‚ï¸
Second step was to order DigiNows in a bellypan. Expecting those to arrive next week 😎👍
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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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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!
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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 👨â€💻
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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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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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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)
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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 - 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/
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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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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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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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Charger just arrived. Props to zero for shipping it so quickly. Ordered Saturday. They probably shipped it monday.
Well packed, but barebones. Doesn't come with instructions, and interestingly, the dealer didn't have any instructions on the dealer-site either. No worries though, install should be simple.
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Performed -most- of the install today.
For the most part taking the old charger out was OK. Taking apart the anderson connector was a little tricky, and reaching the two bolts behind the power plug was extremely frustrating. I ended up taking off the passenger peg just to help reach the bottom one.
The little green wire (charging cutoff switch) coming off the plug goes up underneith the seat.
I had never taken the seat off before, and in my case it was more annoying than it should be. I had to remove the top case and the quick release plate for the top case in order to slide the corbin seat enough to get it off.
The little hole that the Anderson connector goes through is frustrating. It is really almost wide enough for the connector to fit though, but at the bottom of the connector it gets caught up on the welding, forcing it to angle right into the battery cover so it won't slide in any further.
I'm a little bit more nervous about taking apart the connector on my new charger than I was the old one. I haven't taken it apart yet, I don't want to damage it in the process.
The differences between the old and new charger are minor but noticeable. The new one is waterproofed with silicon at all the seams. The old one is not. There are little capsule shaped rubber spots on the top of the charger. The new one has a plastic adhesive sealing those as well.
The other noticeable difference is a big block sealed in with the cable, near the plug. I'm assuming this is the "additional ferrite" mentioned in the notes. It's big, and the last 4 inches of the cable are much stiffer after it. This makes it difficult to form the cable back to where it needs to be to install the plug in the stock position. Luckily I'm not doing that anyways.
There is a much easier way to get the charger on and off the bike than what new zeroland did in his video. Instead of shimming up the charger and removing all 6 bolts, only loosen the 3 bolts on the left side a little bit. Then take off the three bolts on the right side while holding that side up. Then you can easily slide the charger towards the right and take it off. The reverse to put the new charger on. Slide it onto the three bolts on the left and then quickly put in one bolt on the right, now it's in place and you can add the other bolts and tighten everything up.
EDIT: IT LIVES!
After looking up a video on how to take apart the anderson connector I felt I had a better understanding and went for it. Easy as could be. Plugged it in, and the bike charges normally.
Still need to button everything up, put new zip ties on the cables, etc. but the charger install is a success so I'm thrilled.
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Great ! Maybe you can update the unofficial manual wiki with pictures & explainations ?
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I'm glad you succeeded.
The unofficial manual has a procedure page:
https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Calex_Charger_Replacement
Of course, like any procedure we've assembled, there is always an amount of effort worth putting in to review and compare it with experience for the sake of making it easier or safer.