Well of course I had to ride my vectrix to work on Earth Day, so I made sure to plug it in last night for a full charge. I went out this morning and unplugged it. All seemed normal. Only a couple of seconds after turning the key to the on position, the charging fans started to run. I hadn't even gotten on the bike yet. The kickstand was still down. But the charging fan/s were blowing just like it was plugged in and charging. I turned the key back to the off position and the fans stopped. So I tried turning it on again and the fans came back on.
So at this point I'm a bit perplexed. I get on the bike and ride it about 10 feet, then turn it off. All is quiet. I turn the key on again and the fans start blowing. I back it into the garage and turn it off. Now the fans keep blowing. So I plug it in and they stop, then it goes through the initial charging switching and they come back on like normal. So I unplug the cord and they go off for a few seconds and then come right back on again.
At this point the charging fans were running with the key on or off.
I finally plug it back in, thinking I'll let it top off the charge again and see what happens. It took only about 5 minutes and the charging cycle ended... and the fans turned off. I unplugged it and turned the key on... quiet, finally. At that point it continued to act normal again. I drove it around the block (.25 miles) and brought it home. Turned it off and back on. All seemed normal again.
So what just happened this morning?
My guess is - software bug.
Do I need to pursue a SW upgrade?
As a software developer, I can only speculate, that a sort of special condition was met, that this error occurred.
If it doesn't repeat anymore, I wouldn't bother.
It's called a "Fluke".
Maybe the onboard computer thought it was hot, and it took a little fiddling to get it to recheck.
If you've had an update since last October, you can check the temp with the kill switch and left brake, but I wouldn't even worry about it unless it happens again.
Was it hotter then normal on the day this happened? When the batteries are hot (just after charging) the fans might come on for a while when you start to ride. You might also notice the fans running after a hard run. What seems strange is the fact that your fans stopped when you plugged the thing back in. Maybe all the on-off cycling with the key confused the software. I would keep on eye on it and see if it does it again--the initial way the fans were operating seems quite normal.
I have seen on several occasions how the charger and the display can get confused and be out of sync with each other.
Once the display claimed that charging was under way (but with speedo needle at zero)when the bike was unplugged and turned on. If I remember correctly, nothing fixed this except for plugging the charger back in for a moment.
On another occasion I saw that the display shows that the charger is in CP mode, when the actual charge stage was different. The speedo needle was again showing the correct current, verified by checking the ingoing current with my always connected Voltcraft Energy logger. The charging seemed to continue in correct order, just the display was incorrect.
Sometimes the software "hangs" when the charger is turned off at the wrong moment, particularly if it has just been turned on only a few seconds ago. The scooter might not respond to the key position in that state.
There is also the random early charging termination problem; on the Vectux it is always at 16/17th; I have caught it on the logger a few times, the charging just drops from CC to EC too early for some reason.
The scooter behavior retrodog describes is what happens when the temp sensors report that the battery is too hot, but not so hot that the warning telltales are turned on.
Did you check the temp display after you plugged the charger back in?
If it happens again, you could leave the bike turned "ON" with the key, and plug it into the power supply to start the charger again. That way it will show the highest reported temperature (from one of the 12 sensors in the battery) immediately.
The fans will always turn off when the charger is turned on, even if the battery is really hot and they are running whilst the scooter is off, but only for a few seconds whilst the system checks what is going on. Then the fans (or rather, the impellers) start to run again when the charging sequence is about to start. This is the same as if you plug it in when the impellers are not running: There is always a delay of a few seconds between plugging in and the startup of the cooling impellers.
I think these different scenarios might all be related to a safety signal that needs to be sent to the MC or the ICM via the CanBus. The signal announces that charging is over and that the scooters driving functions can be re-enabled.
It's to prevent driving off whilst charging; but it cannot detect if the lead is still plugged into a socket which has been turned off by a timer!
In practical terms: It seems that there is a hierarchy of what constitutes a "Reboot", and turning the charger ond and off again is the highest form of reboot that can be performed without Scooter diagnostics software and Can-USB cable. Turning the scooter off and an again does not fix problems introduced during charging, or more likely introduced during incorrect termination of the charging process.
There s of course the possibility that retrodogs battery - or a cell in it - has become sufficiently damaged to get hotter than the others during charging.
Did this whole thing happen after a deep discharge prior to the recharge after which it happened?
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
The temperature here was pretty low on Wednesday morning, at about 73F. I haven't done a deep discharge ever. I think the lowest that I've ever gotten the battery indicator down to was three bars, and that was only once. They usually never get below 4-5.
I was driving it again today and noticed two occasions when I was destinated and about to shut it off, that the charging fans were running. The temperature here was about 75F and I was not riding over fast, but just city driving.
I use the Vectix strictly as a cummuter and don't push it very much. If any of these things persist, I'll try some of the check-out methods that you guys have described. Thanks for taking the time to post.
Well it made it almost a whole month without happening again but this morning it started again. I turned on the key and everything was ok (silent) as I hit the brakes to get it into the "GO" mode and pulled out of the garage, I heard the charging fans come online. I tried to kill it but they kept running. I started it again and they turned off till I put it back in the "GO" mode and they started up again. The only way to get them to go off while the key was turned off was to plug it in.
I haven't called the dealer yet so I don't know if they are still selling/servicing them but I guess I'll do that in the near future. I had to come to work today so I just left it plugged in at home. I hope to catch it doing this some time and ride it around for a while to see if the fans will cut off eventually. I just didn't want to ride it to work and have to let the fans run till lunch if they wouldn't cut off.
This occurred after leaving a half-discharged bike plugged in all night long. So it was probably cooled off just about as much as it could be.
The old firmware did not have a post charge cool down session. A just charged battery assemblie will stay hot for a very long time. I had an instance with the old SW where my charge ended at 11:00 PM and immediatly upon Ready-Go at 7:00AM the cooling fans came on (not the motor controller fan). I drove 1/2 mile and the batt hot indicaror came on. My garage temp was about 60 deg F. With current SW installed there is a pre and post charge cooling periods. The newest SW versions are : BCR 3001, MCR 1017, and ICMR 1008 .
Heh, my problem is, that battery cooling fans won't turn on while riding and the battery getting hot (BATHOT). They do while charging.
See the other thread.