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[MVetter]

The fan direction thing turned out to be a bust aka no change. There are really only 2 other things I can think of, diagnostically. The first is to clean and reapply the thermal grease that is between the hot sides of the chargers and the heat sinks and ensure solid contact. The second, if that fails, is to replace the fans with higher power versions that are the same form factor.

[DonTom]

The fan direction thing turned out to be a bust aka no change. There are really only 2 other things I can think of, diagnostically. The first is to clean and reapply the thermal grease that is between the hot sides of the chargers and the heat sinks and ensure solid contact. The second, if that fails, is to replace the fans with higher power versions that are the same form factor.

Are you sure is is not designed to run that hot?  Have you compared it to other DSRs? Many electronic thingies are cheaper to build if they just let them run hot to a point.


Or could there be something else wrong causing it to overheat?


Edit:Disregard, I just read it shuts off in 20 minutes.


-Don-  Verdi, NV

[MVetter]

From personal experience I measured the units I used to build. Without active cooling they would reach thermal limits and start throttling output in ~30 minutes. Zero's units don't appear to be that smart and just shut off if they reach thermal limits. Which is a damn shame and poor design. And yes, they get HOT. Well over 150F.

[TheRan]

That's a bit of a shame, I suppose flipping the fans may have made a little bit of difference but a degree or two isn't going to be enough to stop it shutting off. If they're 40mm fans then the Artic S4028-15K look like they can move a decent amount of air and not a bad price in a 5 pack on Amazon, they draw about 6W each.

[ESokoloff]

I pulled the tank plastics off and tried charging it to see if the plastics were causing airflow problems. Nope, same result. Inspecting the unit closer reveals that it is, in my opinion, a less than optimal design. There are 4 fans in the 4 corners of the unit on the face closest to the rider (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right). The pull air from back to front along two sets of heat sinks: one on top, the other underneath. The bracket that holds the Charge Tank in place partially blocks the airflow on the top 2 fans. By design.

I took the mounting bracket off and perched the Charge Tank on the frame of the bike and started a new charge session. It works perfectly. There were also no obstructions/debris/rats nests anywhere

Interesting but unable to troubleshoot without seeing how warm air is not able to be purged. 

Or more likely it would seem that the air is short cycling due to a/the reason(s) unknown. 

Can you experiment a bit with smoke to observe the air flow? 

Hot air rises so I would think it’s most important that the discharge (hot) air is encouraged to vacate the area without making its way back to the inlet.   

[MVetter]

On Thursday I plan to visit a friend who has been extremely helpful attempting to diagnose this with me and we're going to attempt to remove the chargers from the housing, clean off the old thermal grease from the contact points where they meet the cooling fins, and apply a new layer of thermal grease. We're theorizing potentially that the now 8-year-old initial layer of thermal grease may have been improperly applied or has dried/separated. If that doesn't work then the next (last?) idea is putting in more powerful fans as they're just Delta server fans in the first place.

[ESokoloff]

Sooo this charger is fairly common with Zero’s?
If so, no one else is stepping up to report issues with their’s having issues so the design must be sound but not robust.
Fracturing of the thermal paste likely would explain a significant ability to properly reject heat.
While you’re taking things apart maybe pick up a roll of aluminum tape.
If you see a path for the hot air to recycle you can seal it off/redirect.
Also instead of replacing the fans could you just augment them with a fan that vacates the enclosure?

Wish I could see it first hand but I won’t be by those parts (Hollister) till next month.

[MVetter]

Oh. I'm like 45 minutes from Hollister. Going to get a seat?