New Zapino Owner

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alandf
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Joined: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 11:40
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New Zapino Owner

I purchased a Zapino scooter about a month ago and now have it registered, with title, plates and insurance. I live in Austin, Tx and was able to register it as a moped. I don't have much experience with electric motors so this is all new to me. Based on some of the email strings in this forum I tried to keep my mileage and speed down for the first two weeks (key word tried!). My only real comparison is to a 50 cc gas moped. So far I prefer the performance of the Zapino. Besides not having to smell the odor of the blue fumes, the scooter is quicker with a higher top end. A second rider doesn't seem to drag the scooter down much either. The scooter is quite a bit heavier. It has two modes, moped and motorcyle. The moped mode limits top end speed to 30 MPH on the speedometer while in motocycle mode I am able to take it to 47 MPH on the speedometer. I have not verified the speedometer to be accurate but the dealer said that they had. While I did't tear the scooter down for a thorough inspection, superficially it was in pretty good shape with only a few minor surface blemishes on the plastic body. The only obvious workmanship issue was the plastic pieces that cover up the frame down by the rear wheel which seemed to be an after thought and required some dremil work. I'd be glad to share any information that I can.

I do have a question. On two occasions after about 5 miles with two riders (total weight 300 lbs vs. spec. max of 283 lbs)and while at an extended wait at a stop light (once in moped mode and once in motorcycle mode) the scooter gave me a troubleshooting code of 3 blinks followed by 2 blinks - translation: turn moto off and wait for it to cool down) and stopped running. After about 20 minutes everything was fine. Is this expected and if so how can I avoid this situation in the future. In both cases I was in traffic and it became almost dangerous to get out of the flow when the light turned green. To me this is the biggest obstacle to having an electric scooter.

Thanks,

Mik
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Last seen: 8 years 1 week ago
Joined: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 15:27
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Re: New Zapino Owner

I purchased a Zapino scooter about a month ago and now have it registered, with title, plates and insurance. I live in Austin, Tx and was able to register it as a moped. I don't have much experience with electric motors so this is all new to me. Based on some of the email strings in this forum I tried to keep my mileage and speed down for the first two weeks (key word tried!). My only real comparison is to a 50 cc gas moped. So far I prefer the performance of the Zapino. Besides not having to smell the odor of the blue fumes, the scooter is quicker with a higher top end. A second rider doesn't seem to drag the scooter down much either. The scooter is quite a bit heavier. It has two modes, moped and motorcyle. The moped mode limits top end speed to 30 MPH on the speedometer while in motocycle mode I am able to take it to 47 MPH on the speedometer. I have not verified the speedometer to be accurate but the dealer said that they had. While I did't tear the scooter down for a thorough inspection, superficially it was in pretty good shape with only a few minor surface blemishes on the plastic body. The only obvious workmanship issue was the plastic pieces that cover up the frame down by the rear wheel which seemed to be an after thought and required some dremil work. I'd be glad to share any information that I can.

I do have a question. On two occasions after about 5 miles with two riders (total weight 300 lbs vs. spec. max of 283 lbs)and while at an extended wait at a stop light (once in moped mode and once in motorcycle mode) the scooter gave me a troubleshooting code of 3 blinks followed by 2 blinks - translation: turn moto off and wait for it to cool down) and stopped running. After about 20 minutes everything was fine. Is this expected and if so how can I avoid this situation in the future. In both cases I was in traffic and it became almost dangerous to get out of the flow when the light turned green. To me this is the biggest obstacle to having an electric scooter.

Thanks,
------------

Hi, congratulations and best wishes, may you have lots of fun with your scooter!

Is it the model with ABS brakes?

What was the ambient temperature during the drive?

Mr. Mik

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

alandf
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Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 11:40
Points: 15
Re: New Zapino Owner

All,

Thanks for the feedback!! Here are my responses:

Ambient temp: 60 deg F one day and 75 deg F the other day.

Here are the troubleshooting codes starting with the code for my issue:

2 flashes, pause, 3 flashes - overheat protection, leave to cool
3f,p,3f - probem with throttle spring, it didn't come back to throttle position
1f,p,1f - problem with brake, check brake level for kick stand released or not.
1f,p,2f - problem with connection of throttle, boken wire is loosened.
1f,p,4f - problem witih voltage,battery too low (charge)
1f,p,5f - battery too high voltage
3f,p,1f - problem with motor, overloaded
0f,p,3f - problem with motor, overloaded
0f,p,2f - the battery overload can't release enough current to motor.
0f,p,10f - motor thermal sensor problem.
3f,p,2f - problem on controller current sensor. restart the key or repair controller.
2f,p,1f - motor rotated hold back,release the motor.
2f - brake light on, brake stuck on or broken circuit.

I am not sure how to tell if the brakes are ABS. They appear to be disc but have no markings. In general the brakes work well and have plenty of stopping power. The manufacturing date for the scooter is 25/09/2007.

Adding cooling fans did cross my mind. Would that be worth pursuing?

Mik
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Last seen: 8 years 1 week ago
Joined: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 15:27
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Re: New Zapino Owner

All,

Thanks for the feedback!! Here are my responses:

Ambient temp: 60 deg F one day and 75 deg F the other day.

I am not sure how to tell if the brakes are ABS. They appear to be disc but have no markings. In general the brakes work well and have plenty of stopping power. The manufacturing date for the scooter is 25/09/2007.

Adding cooling fans did cross my mind. Would that be worth pursuing?

Regarding the ABS brakes (or not): usatracy wrote:

Look at the brake calipers to be 100% certain, can't mistake the non-ABS from the newer ABS on the new one, it is obvious, has a weird looking caliper with more hardware than non-abs including a cylinder looking thing at the end of the hose run but built onto the caliper that says ABS.

In regards to the fans and temperatures: If you experience problems at 60-75 Deg F, then you will of course have more problems in summer if you continue to take passengers along. Better sort it out soon.
And if the problem only occurs when you are stationary at traffic light for some time, then I guess it is lack of wind = cooling for your motor and/or controller.
But I don't know if fans are a viable option, I've never even seen a Zapino.

Some scooter owners on these forums have described that their scooter needs to be prevented from running off by pulling the brakes: "it starts as soon as I let go of the break". If that is the case with your Zapino, then that is what you need to fix to stop the heat build up.

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

sgmdudley
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Last seen: 8 years 4 months ago
Joined: Saturday, December 22, 2007 - 08:04
Points: 211
Re: New Zapino Owner

We have scooters manufactured the same day. My VIN plate also has 25/09/2007.
I just had a symptom that was Diag light flashed two times, repeating. Tried following the troubleshooting guide for an hour, then raised the sidestand (it was on the center stand but side stand was down). The Owner's guide did not refer to the sidestand as causing a diag blink condition. Your codes are different, but perhaps they left something out of the ownr's manual for your condition. My brakes are NOT ABS ether.

Robert Dudley
E-Scoot Tech

alandf
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Last seen: 14 years 5 months ago
Joined: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 11:40
Points: 15
Re: New Zapino Owner

All,

Thanks for the comments,

Here is some feedback,

Responses to general questions:
1. I do have a 2007 Zapino without ABS and www.erider.cn written on the motor casing.
2. My tire size is 8.5 x 10
3. I used a GPS to confirm my speed and found that at a speedo reading of 30 MPH I was going about 28 on the GPS and at about 45 MPH I was going around 34 MPH on the GPS (may be off a little bit due to eyes watering when I looked down at the GPS ;-).

Specific feedback on the overheating condition:
1. The scooter does not need the brake to hold it back from moving when at a stand still.
2. I am not getting the 0f,p, 10f troubleshooting code for motor thermal issue.
3. I am curious as to how Ben was able to ride a Zapino under stressful conditions without the overheating issue.
4. Immediately after I was safely off the road, I touched the outside of the motor and the controller and they both were slightly warm but not hot.
5. The passenger does not interfere with airflow around the controller.
6. I am seriously thinking about hooking up the computer fan to the controller. Question: Where would I put the fan since the controller housing is completely closed in.

Ben
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Joined: Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 06:35
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Re: New Zapino Owner

I can answer that.. The bike I rode in China was mine. Fresh out of the factory. It was the first of it's kind, built to my specs... Read prototype. They have improved since the prototype as you would expect. So what I rode in China was a FEVA DeJaVu 3000a not a Zapino as such... It is not the same as yours, because you have the previous model Zapino anyway, different manufacturer to my DeJaVu. I think you will find your model is 2500w which peaks at 3000w give or take.. DaJaVu is 3000w motor which peaks at 4100w+. I love this scooter. Having said that.. The older model Zapino that you have should not overheat in real world riding unless there is a fault somewhere. You would really have to be stressing it. Oh and my speedo is more accurate than you have too.

FEVA DeJaVu 3000a specs:
Retro styling
3000w motor (peaks at about 4100w)
Choice of AGM or LifePO4
Choice of motor spec. Higher Torque (65km/h) or Higher Speed (70km/h+)
ABS dics brakes front and rear

usatracy
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Joined: Sunday, July 22, 2007 - 14:10
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Re: New Zapino Owner

Well, one thing right off the bat.

If its not getting hot, but says it is, the thermal that triggers the event could be bad.

First we need to confirm..

1- There is a thermal in the controller (THERE IS)

2- There is a thermal in the motor (DONT KNOW, there is in the 2008 with ABS, dont know about 2007 without ABS)

If the thermal is only in the controller and not one on the motor, then no matter how hot the motor gets it will go round and round until it melts so the problem would be the controller.

If it is only the controller, either it IS getting hot, or the thermal is defective and sensing too low a temp and basically I could fix it but you may have to replace it.

I would contact ZAP and provide them a copy of this and tell them the best thing is send a replacement controller, but not sure if that is the problem or not because we dont know if there is a thermal in the motor or not.

So you will try controller, but you may be asking for a motor next if there is a thermal in there too.

[b]Disclaimer: [i]Free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it[/i] :)[/b]

sgmdudley
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Joined: Saturday, December 22, 2007 - 08:04
Points: 211
Re: New Zapino Owner

I have the same model of Zapino that you have.
1) the motor is supposed to 3000watts. Mountain Chen posted a picture of his motor which has the erider cast on the hub and the file name is 2500_motor.jpg. I suspect the comment about it being 2500 with max of 3000 to be accurate.
2) tire size is 3.50 X 10 Kenda. I am replacing with 100/90 X 10 Michelin S-1.
3) my speedo is off 26%. I measured with GPS and a radar sign when the indicated speed was 30mph. Both my devices showed actual to be 22mph. At an indicated speed of 47mph (max speed) my GPS showed 34.7 actual. The odometer is not so bad. I drove 19.2km indicated, 10.32 by GPS. The conversion of the indicated 19.2KM to miles = 11.93miles.

Robert Dudley
E-Scoot Tech

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