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Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: ohhaidere on January 28, 2020, 10:53:42 PM

Title: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: ohhaidere on January 28, 2020, 10:53:42 PM
hey everyone,

Been lurking for about a year now so I figured its time to sign up and make my first post.

I have a 2015 Zero SR and like an idiot I left my bike outside (covered) for about a week and I when I came back it was dead. My neighbor kept telling me he would see the headlight come on occasionally (which I found bizarre and didn't believe him) but in either case I came back to an unresponsive bike.

I plug the bike in and nothing (no lights on dash, no charging light nadda), when I switch the key to "on" same thing, no response

I have a bunch of spare parts from a 2017 bike and I swapped in a new DC-DC converter and nothing
Swapped in a new charger... nothing
Swapped in a new controller ... nothing

popped off the top box of the monolith and tested at the contactor and got 96V, checked all blade fuses as well as the tube fuse within the wiring harness, they all checked out as good.

Anything else you all can suggest before I cry myself to sleep?





Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: Crissa on January 29, 2020, 12:34:03 AM
Isn't it only the main board which can turn on and off subsystems?  I would expect that is the culprit.

-Crissa
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: BrianTRice@gmail.com on January 29, 2020, 01:43:10 AM
Maybe there's a cascading effect where the ignition or DC-DC converter experienced faults and then those propagated (from the reports about the headlight coming on).

I think the MBB suggestion is probably the best bet, and that'll require a dealer/OEM intervention. Good luck.
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: DonTom on January 29, 2020, 01:49:03 AM
hey everyone,

Been lurking for about a year now so I figured its time to sign up and make my first post.

I have a 2015 Zero SR and like an idiot I left my bike outside (covered) for about a week and I when I came back it was dead. My neighbor kept telling me he would see the headlight come on occasionally (which I found bizarre and didn't believe him) but in either case I came back to an unresponsive bike.

I plug the bike in and nothing (no lights on dash, no charging light nadda), when I switch the key to "on" same thing, no response

I have a bunch of spare parts from a 2017 bike and I swapped in a new DC-DC converter and nothing
Swapped in a new charger... nothing
Swapped in a new controller ... nothing

popped off the top box of the monolith and tested at the contactor and got 96V, checked all blade fuses as well as the tube fuse within the wiring harness, they all checked out as good.

Anything else you all can suggest before I cry myself to sleep?
Leaving the bike outside shouldn't hurt it.

Sounds like the contactor was stuck on when you left the bike or it''s keying itself on intermittently. If it were not for the fact that you're seeing normal voltages, I would expect the ignition switch being flaky, which could even  explain the head lamp going on and off.

Can you measure that DC voltage under some type of load? It could be dropping close to zero under a light load which will explain a few things. Perhaps you have a battery MUCH more discharged than you think.

I think it even has to have enough voltage to accept the charge, IIRC, which would  still there when the bike is driven to the end of its range. But you could even be below that voltage if the head light was on for a very long time.

I think I recall if the voltage is low enough the contactor will not close, even while charging. Perhaps somebody else here can confirm, as I do not recall where i got that info.

-Don-  Auburn, CA

Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: TEV on January 29, 2020, 08:46:02 AM
Try resetting the BMS and the main board. You can find the procedures in the Unofficial Zero manual.
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: ohhaidere on January 29, 2020, 10:15:06 AM
I'm going to try all of the mentioned suggestions, thanks all! Will come back with an update
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: ohhaidere on January 30, 2020, 04:03:45 AM
Try resetting the BMS and the main board. You can find the procedures in the Unofficial Zero manual.

I tried that and I get a single flashing green light, looks like the battery is at about 15% SOC according to the voltage.

I'm going to try measuring voltage at the DC to DC converter next.

Anyone on here do any custom setups where the mbb is bypassed and its just the controller to the battery? I just want to manually close the contactors.
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: DonTom on January 30, 2020, 04:15:20 AM
Try resetting the BMS and the main board. You can find the procedures in the Unofficial Zero manual.

I tried that and I get a single flashing green light, looks like the battery is at about 15% SOC according to the voltage.

I'm going to try measuring voltage at the DC to DC converter next.

Anyone on here do any custom setups where the mbb is bypassed and its just the controller to the battery? I just want to manually close the contactors.
Did you say 96 volts is what you measured?

See here. (https://zeromanual.com/wiki/File:Voltage_vs_soc.png)

Looks like you could be below where the bike will operate--or even close the contactor to start the charge.

-Don-  Auburn, CA
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: BrianTRice@gmail.com on January 31, 2020, 08:40:48 AM
96V is not too low to accept a charge. It would definitely be a good idea to expedite that by the safest means available (dealership is ideal).

In the meantime, try to keep the bike warm and dry and confirm whether the MBB is working safely.
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: DonTom on January 31, 2020, 09:25:11 AM
96V is not too low to accept a charge. It would definitely be a good idea to expedite that by the safest means available (dealership is ideal).
I did kinda think it would have to be quite a bit less, but I  wasn't sure.  Do you know what voltage is too low to accept a charge?

And if that does happen, what is the fix?

-Don-  Reno, NFV
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: TheRan on January 31, 2020, 10:39:28 AM
96V is not too low to accept a charge. It would definitely be a good idea to expedite that by the safest means available (dealership is ideal).
I did kinda think it would have to be quite a bit less, but I  wasn't sure.  Do you know what voltage is too low to accept a charge?

And if that does happen, what is the fix?

-Don-  Reno, NFV
According to the manual, and assuming my math is correct, the theoretical lowest safe voltage would be 56v. The minimum output voltage on the internal charger is 70v and I don't know enough about them to be able to say what would happen if it attempted to charge from less than that, however the Delta charger supposedly has deep discharge recovery down to 24v.

https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Battery/Cells
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: Joseph on February 01, 2020, 12:14:08 AM
ohhaidere
as my SR 14 i rode down to 0% till power off,  it last about 4 hours to successfully start again for the last mile,
charging on 220V.
be patient.

good luck
Joseph
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: ohhaidere on February 01, 2020, 01:11:07 AM
Thanks everyone for the help!

The fuse in the doghouse where the contactors live must have not been secured properly, after I good twist I was able to hear the contactors click and get it going again!

it now charges!
 8)

Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: BrianTRice@gmail.com on February 01, 2020, 01:37:35 AM
Well, that's a relief - can you show what you adjusted in the doghouse? It's been a while since I opened one up for review.

That's certainly an interesting quad project - I think I saw your post on the FB group as well recently.
Title: Re: Left bike outside now its Unresponsive, is it too far gone?
Post by: ohhaidere on February 07, 2020, 02:41:20 AM
I dont have any photos handy but its the fuse on the outside of the doghouse, viewable in plain sight. Its a little black fuse that fell out and you can barely tell.