Hi All
I've been scouring the forums and website to try to find the answer to my questiosn but, for some reason, I find this site very difficult to navigate, find answers to questions and generally get around. So... if you don't mind, I'd like to ask a question....
I've arranged to buy a Vectrix (this Friday!) which has a NiMh battery in it. It's a 2008 'original' Vectrix on the OEm battery. My questions are: what should I do/watch out for when charging the battery? I want to look after the battery (and the bike) but I'm not familiar with how one should treat a NiMH battery. I'd be grateful if people could enlighten me on how to ensure longevity, good charge, avoid damage through incorrect use or incorrect charging etc. Basically, sensible battery care...........
Any input will be appreciated. As would anything general about caring for the bike...
Thanks!
You may want to move your question to the Vectrix sub forum to get more attention.
To answer you question. It is very difficult to assess the battery health without spending a lot of time testing.
Make sure you ask how often it was driven (daily, weekly or even less). The more regular, the better.
Also ask if the bike is still used or currently stored. If stored ask if it is regularly charged and how. It should not be stored at full charge.
Ask how many times it was driven to the red battery light. The less the better...
The quick tricks:
Check the firmware version by switching off the kill switch and pull the left brake. If in the left dashboard colum the trip and est range values change to voltage and temperature reading, you have the latest stock version.
If the bike is fully charged and you do this voltage and temperature reading, make a note of these values.
If possible ride the bike empty and note those values again.
You will at least have the current range tested.
Check the rear brake pads, they are known to wear fast.
While driving listen for the motor whine. It should not be extremly loud.
Check the front forks for leaks.
Good luck!
Once you go EV, Gas is history!
While you're waiting for actual Vectrix owners to give you more details, I think I can answer another of your questions, even though I don't own one.
Don't recharge it while the battery pack is hot, and try not to fully recharge it in hot weather. It may be best not to fully recharge it at all, but that's a question for the experts. The problem isn't so much the pack as it is the charging software, which gets the cells too hot. At any rate, let the pack cool before recharging it, especially in warm or hot weather. NiMH cells aren't like lead-acid cells, in that they don't need to be recharged immediately after each use to prolong life. Quite the opposite, as long as they aren't empty.
All I can say is what I've been doing with mine for the past 4 years/16,000 miles.
I almost always let the bike complete the full charging process until it switches off. I know almost nothing about electronics, so I work on the philosophy of 'unplug and play'.
I try to never recharge straight after a ride, regardless of ambient temperatures. In later software updates, you can set a default charge delay. The left brake lever is user programmable and the right brake lever is, from memory, set at 30 minutes.
If the bike hasn't been used recently, or only for fairly short distances, the range may not be what you expect. Simply use it more, discharging it to a lower level, fully charge it and you will find the range will increase as the battery pack 'wakes up'.
Discharging to the red light at least once a month has been recommended before now and it seems to work for me. Later software uses this as the reset point, so ideally the fuel gauge should be showing as close to 0 bars as possible.
The below thread also has useful info for a new Vectrix owner:
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/12815-newbie-questions-2008-vx-1
Once you go EV, Gas is history!
Hi. For some reason, I'm not allowed to make a new post on this forum. I can't figure out why..... does anyone have any idea?
Also, could someone please tell me what the finned thing is just above the swinging arm of the bike? It looks like some sort of heat sink and mine is pretty filthy, so I'm wondering if cleaning it would be a good idea?
The site software was recently tweaked to reduce "spam" postings. Your posts will get reviewed before they appear, at least at first.
I try not to answer Vectrix questions because I don't own one, but until you get a definite answer, anything with fins on an EV is a heat dissipator, usually on the controller unit but sometimes on a built-in charger, and should be cleaned occasionally, but carefully.
This is the heat sink for the motor controller. On top of it there is a fan which provides addittional cooling.
So if you clean it make sure you are not pushing debris into the fan. Also never use a pressure washer on the Vectrix because it will cause problems with the electronics.
Once you go EV, Gas is history!
Batteries have the tendency to leak charge. Also the more often you use them the better they charge. I can go from a 1 mile range back up to 45 miles by simply running it thru 3 to 4 complete cycles. After that they are good to go. They like to be used. Unfortunately my health has kept me from using mine to its potential but I make sure to keep the batteries up.
2008 and 2007 Vectrix VX-1
While it's true that batteries in general lose charge over time, there are big differences in self-discharge rates among different battery chemistries. Lead-acid and Lithium batteries hold their charge quite well, although the former often appear otherwise because of parasitic drains from vehicles and also from cold weather slowing their reaction rates substantially, and the latter from their battery management systems when they have them. NiMH batteries are far and away the worst to leave sitting around: except for the specialized Eneloop-type cells, they can self-discharge up to 30% in a *week*, although that's the extreme case. Vectrix made multiple errors with the battery pack design, and one of the two biggest was using NiMH batteries. (The other was instructing their chargers to cook them.)