Battery light flashing

My guess is that a sensor got read wrong, perhaps in startup sequence or otherwise. If it was a one time thing, probably nothing to concern yourself with (remember, these things run off computers that were developed ten years ago!). If it becomes a consistant issue, then you might have a bad sensor. If there were a true overheat or low battery issue, your performance would have been considerably reduced.

Maybe an equalization charge just finished heating your battery before the ride?

In a situation like this, where it is not likely that the batteries are actually hot, the most probable cause is a bad sensor on one of the modules or the interface PCB for either the front or back pack is having a problem. The flashing of those icons indicates that there is a big difference in temp readings between the highest and lowest. Alot of times the culprit is the front PCB that is mounted just forward of the front pack. It may have gotten wet. Let us know if it continues.

In a situation like this, where it is not likely that the batteries are actually hot, the most probable cause is a bad sensor on one of the modules or the interface PCB for either the front or back pack is having a problem. The flashing of those icons indicates that there is a big difference in temp readings between the highest and lowest. Alot of times the culprit is the front PCB that is mounted just forward of the front pack. It may have gotten wet. Let us know if it continues.

Do you agree that the holes in the frame can be taped over to fix the problem?

Yes they can. I have mine blocked!

Yes they can. I have mine blocked!

Thank you!

Corey-

Let me know how your problem progresses. My Vectrix did the same thing, and is now refusing to charge. It begins the charge cycle when plugged in, but then shuts down. Anyone else have ideas about this? My dealer is putting me on hold due to the bankruptcy, etc. If it's a simple fix, I'd love to know about it. Thanks!

It is due for it's 500 mile service anyway.

That's news to me. Apart from when a technician came to replace my blown fuse beginning of May, it's not been looked over by anyone in 11 months/4,800 miles. The only maintenance I do is cleaning/polishing and checking/inflating tyre pressures as and when necessary.

It is due for it's 500 mile service anyway.

That's news to me. Apart from when a technician came to replace my blown fuse beginning of May, it's not been looked over by anyone in 11 months/4,800 miles. The only maintenance I do is cleaning/polishing and checking/inflating tyre pressures as and when necessary.

You must go every 6 months during warranty anyway. Check on your user/warranty book. In my case, they didn't know what to do and just verified mechanic parts and that was it, 15 minutes and 10€ later she was back.

Hey Silas

I think you may have corrosion on the front BMS card.
I had exactly the same simptoms which I have called 'rainy day software lockup' and this presented as flashing battery and temperature lights and prevented charging.

The fix is to gain access to the card (remove panels, remove battery bin lid, remove battery packs) then clean up the card and seal it from further water damage. The job took me about 3 hours to dis-assemble, repair the card and put the whole thing back together again.

Sealing up the large holes under the head stock will help to prevent further damage. When you have it all apart, I sugest using duct-tape from the inside and outside to get a good seal.
As for a photo of the holes, well it's all a bit crowded and hard to see in there and I have been unable to take an effective photo...sorry.

Not suprised the service guys balked, this is a labour intensive fix. With Vectrix Corp in such a sorry state, who pays?

Cheers PN

Does anyone have any pics of the holes that I should tape shut? I noticed this suggestion in other threads, but it would be very helpful to see a pic.

I would like to see it too!

The elusive holes in the front of the frame!

This picture is taken from the floor, looking up and back from the right side of the front wheel, you can see the right fork leg on the top of the photo. The Vectrix compliance plate is just out of shot below the smaller hole.
The two large holes can be seen in the aluminium material under the headstock and are about 25mm diameter.
I have removed the duct-tape from the holes for the photo and will replace the tape to cover the other smaller hole also.

Hope this helps.

It helps a lot. Thank you Paul

Thank you Paul !!

I am on my way down to the bike to get this probloem resolved too. Hope not too much damage happened yet.

Thanks. I'll look for it...

This thread has been added to the Vectrix Collaborative Handbook, please stay on topic!

The elusive holes in the front of the frame!

This picture is taken from the floor, looking up and back from the right side of the front wheel, you can see the right fork leg on the top of the photo. The Vectrix compliance plate is just out of shot below the smaller hole.
The two large holes can be seen in the aluminium material under the headstock and are about 25mm diameter.
I have removed the duct-tape from the holes for the photo and will replace the tape to cover the other smaller hole also.

Hope this helps.

Mine does not have the bigger holes, only the smaller ones! Anyone like me?

Hi
I'm not having much luck with the 'flashing battery and temp. light' fault.
Yes, I've taped up the holes (inside and out), cleaned up the BMS cards and sealed with clear laquer (twice!).
Trouble is, we have had a very wet winter so far and riding in the driving rain causes the fault to re-occur despite my best efforts!
May be another part causing the fault? Will require some more dis-assembly and cleaning/sealing of the electronics.

The V will just have to be a fine day ride for now.

Paul
If you cleaned up both PCBs then the problem is probably with one of the sensors mounted in the battery pack. Its not too difficult to disassemble the packs, but take lots of pictures so you can reassemble correctly. I bet one of the sensors has some corrosion on it and is giving a false reading.

My bet is it is the sensors. I had the same problem shortly after I got my Vectrix. VUK exchanged the sensors. It seems that some sensors are failing (bad batch?). I remeber to have a similar problem with my car where the external temperture sensor failed and provided readings of >40C. This might be ok in some parts of the world but not in the UK. My car dealer came back with the same story, the sensor is faulty. Perhaps a very easy repair if you find the same make of the temp.sensor.
Norman

Good idea X
I have had the packs apart a couple of times already to replace cells, not too big a job.
Did look at the temp sensors at the time and saw no signs of corrosion, but at the time I thaught the problem was the BMS cards.
So, yes it's worth another look.
As for the temp sensors themselves, I suspect that they are a Vectrix original part, is that right X?

They are original parts, but you can clean them up if they are not too bad.

They are original parts, but you can clean them up if they are not too bad.

I'm sure you can even make your own.

I tapped into all the battery temp sensors; a AU$20.- digital thermometer reads the sensor output and displays degree celsius.

They are negative coefficient thermistors, less than a dollar a pop at Jaycars.

I think they are the 10kOhm negative coefficient thermistor type, but I need to look up the details when I'm home.

BTW Paul
What do you get for a temperature reading when you press the left lever with the kill switch off?

Hi X
At the moment, on a cold evening with a cold bike, I get 11C, which is about the same as ambient temperature.
The last few rides when I checked battery temp. after the trip home, the temperatures did seem a little high. For a cold winter's day, of about 15C tops, I had up to 27C at the cells. Now, even on the hottest days last summer, cell temperatures over 25C were rare.

Are the cell temperatures averaged out for diaplay purposes? Beacuse if so, can one faulty, over-range sensor out of 12 take the average up to 'dangerous' levels and result in flashing temp. lights?

The dash displays the highest temperature of the 12, so I wanted to see if it was showing a real value, or something obviously wrong (like 60 or something). Since those values seem reasonable I think the sensors are detecting one or more modules that are alot hotter than the rest. The battery and temp icon flash when there is a big difference between the lowest and highest temp (about a 10 degree difference). I suspect one of the modules may be on its way out, unfortunately.

Paul
If you cleaned up both PCBs then the problem is probably with one of the sensors mounted in the battery pack. Its not too difficult to disassemble the packs, but take lots of pictures so you can reassemble correctly. I bet one of the sensors has some corrosion on it and is giving a false reading.

I have had some trouble with the temp sensors 2/11 (rear battery, middle layer sensors) since about two weeks now.
The battery warning light came on only once and briefly during charging, but I was alerted to the problem by the unexpectedly high battery temperature shown during charging after several days of standing still (27degC when I expected 18degC). Therefore I took readings of the 12 temp sensors through the M-BMS https://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/download/file.php?id=40868 and found that TS2 and TS11 are the ones causing the problem.
The problem could be because I tapped into the temp sensor cables, or due to a genuine temp sensor problem. I assume it is a temp sensor problem because the tapping has not caused any problems during the 7500km and almost 2 years that it has been connected.

What I get to see with the M-BMS is that TS 2 reads too high (only by about 4-5degC) and TS 11 reads too low - but way too low, sometimes something like -7degC when the actual temperature is around 20degC.

This is not a software readout (I still use old firmware) but rather a direct measurement of the thermistors (and interpretation of the result into a temperature display by a little digital thermometer). All the other temp sensors still give me plausible measurement results.

The temp sensors are (IIRC) 10kohm negative coefficient thermistors and are arranged in pairs, with three cables going to each thermistor pair.

Because I have tapped into these cables between the thermistors and the PCB connected to the other end, I figure a defect in the thermistors or cables is more likely than a problem on the PCB.

Could it be corrosion?

Moisture should have disappeared by now because the battery got to 33 degC a few times but the erroneous readings continued despite dry conditions and extended impeller running times.

How would corrosion cause one thermistor in the pair to read high and the other one low?

Or could this be malfunction of components on the PCB, so that something is "stuck" in reading one of the thermistors, thus providing an additional current path for the measurement current coming from my external digital thermometer?

Thanks for your thoughts and help with this!