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[nastronaut]

Hi all, been reading a lot on this forum and the wiki and it's helped me purchase a used Zero FX 2016. Only issue it had was the onboard charger not working, pretty well documented issue.

I snagged a used 2022 FXE Charger, the EVC-116-725 as they seem to not have the same failure rate and it's listed as a replacement for my bike. But swapping it in and it seems like it works even less than my original broken charger.

The original would flash the green charging light for a second, then flash error 47 - "MBB Charger Connected Disable"

The new charger doesn't do anything at all, no attempt at charging and no error messages.

Does this mean my original charger isn't dead but instead this is the 10A charge fuse, as mentioned here: https://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=11400.0 ? The bike does charge with a Quiq charger, so the 100A charging circuit fuse should be fine I believe

[Curt]

It's definitely worth trying the fuse replacement. I also bought a used charger before figuring out it was the fuse, so now I have a spare charger too.

When a charger does fail, the symptom most often reported seems to be that it charges up to a reduced maximum like 92%, which then drops further over time.

[nastronaut]

Well just got the new fuse in last evening and swapped it plus some electronics cleaner in the fuse holder and nothing changed.

What were your symptoms for the fuse? My charger doesn't charge at all

[Curt]

Well just got the new fuse in last evening and swapped it plus some electronics cleaner in the fuse holder and nothing changed.

What were your symptoms for the fuse? My charger doesn't charge at all

My details were in this thread/post: https://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=11400.msg117462#msg117462

When I plugged in, the green battery light blinked a few times then stopped. It's cycled codes 45 (Sidestand), 47 (MBB Charger Connected Disable), and (sometimes briefly) 15 (Charger Attached But Not Charging).

It's not the fuse but rather the fuse holder. I'm convinced they came from a bad batch or a version with design flaws. I tried cleaning the fuse holder contacts with a nail file and contact cleaner and bending them out a little. In my case, that did restore charging, but only for a matter of months.

[nastronaut]

Dang yeah, that's like the exact symptoms I'm experiencing. And I noticed when changing the fuse if I jiggled and pushed it in further the green charging light blinked on quite a few more times than it did before. So yah, sounds like the fuse holder is my next step. Thanks!

[Specter]

Do this at your own risk but if it is one of those spring loaded fuse holders, wad up a little ball of tin foil and smush it down in there, that'll take up the slack that a weak spring may be giving you and get a good connection, but still allow the fuse to blow if there is a fault.

Aaron

[gt13013]

Here is another thread on the same subject:
https://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=12576.0

[nastronaut]

Well, I finally got in there and replaced the fuse holder and.... still the same problem with charging. Green light goes off and on, time to charge stays at 0:00 and then goes blank. So guess indeed my onboard charger is busted and the replacement is bad too

[TheRan]

It sounds more to me like it's the MBB's control of the charger that is bad, your original may have even be good. Hook it up to another Zero if you can. Or with some research there may be a way to dupe the charger into turning on, with older models it was fairly simple and just required a certain voltage on a certain pin and a resistor or something like that.

[nastronaut]

It sounds more to me like it's the MBB's control of the charger that is bad, your original may have even be good. Hook it up to another Zero if you can. Or with some research there may be a way to dupe the charger into turning on, with older models it was fairly simple and just required a certain voltage on a certain pin and a resistor or something like that.

Unfortunately don't have access to another Zero though I have been bugging my friends to get one haha

First I've heard of the MBB control of the charger being off. Do you have any more info on this? Would this be something I need to connect to the OBD2 port for?

[TheRan]

Well you said in your original post that you had error 47, which from the description seems like the MBB has disabled the charger or isn't enabling it because it doesn't know it's connected. The charger is controlled over CAN bus although it's optional, all that's required to get it working is a charger connected, enable, and ground wire to the control connector. I don't know what is sent over those wires though, whether the charger is looking for a voltage, resistance, a certain signal. You can read more about it in my thread about adding a second charger and figuring out how to get it working: https://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=12729.0

[nastronaut]

Ah thanks for the link. Yeah, that's an interesting set you have. I think maybe I can just try doing an MBB reset and see if that helps. If not I think that's some definitive proof the charger is in fact dead

[TheRan]

I wouldn't be so quick to write it off, chances are lower that you'd have two of the same failed component especially when once is only a couple years old and one would assume the person that sold it to you wouldn't have done so if it wasn't good, it probably came off a wrecked bike and was functioning before being removed. Also your symptoms don't sound like what others have described for a failing charger, usually it just fails to fully charge the battery or does so at a slower rate (depending on the exact charger) and gets worse over time, not just suddenly dies completely. Also I don't think you would usually get any error codes, the communication between the battery and charger is basic and the bike would think it's functioning fine.

[Richard230]

The OBC can fail without warning as shown in the attached photos of mine. 

[TheRan]

Well yeah, but that's not the more common failure mode from what I understand. I'd imagine it's fairly obvious when something like that happens, like a pop and a smell, and someone wouldn't then try selling it on. Did you get any error codes when that happened and a momentary green charge light?