Hi all
So here's my story:
I bought my EVT4000e second hand 3 months ago and have had a steep learning curve...2 days ago I was stranded in north Paris with a very low battery. I charged the batteries the night before but it seems the charging didn't work at all! So I tried another charging point in Paris, went back the next day only to find the same problem. The charger leds were on so I was really at a loss to understand the problem - especially given my lack of experience of electric scooter and, erm anything electric to be honest. Finally I checked the fuses leading from the charging port (in yellow casing) and noticed that one was blown. BINGO! Solved my problem. So for all you newbies out there, CARRY SOME 6.3Amp 250V FUSES WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES!!
Now for the dilema:
My charger (not sure if it's the EVT 4000e stock charger) has just 4 led lights that flash yellow when charging. They don't seem to display anything when the batteries are fully charged. So when I set out I never now how full my batteries are - as we know the battery monitor on the 4000e dashboard isn't really accurate! I don't want to carry the charger with me everywhere I go as it might get damaged or stolen. If I don't I might get stranded again. So how do I know if my batteries are fully charged? Will they be hot to touch maybe?
Thanks in advance for any help
One thing you might try is putting a Kill-A-Watt type meter behind the charger. This device will record how much current flows through it, and can be reset at a touch of a button. You can then see if a reasonable amount of power has passed through the charger, given the battery size and the amount of riding you did.
When I first set up my bike to charge overnight using a timer, I wanted a way to verify that the bike had gotten a full charge, and that was the simplest way to verify it. I could look at the meter in the morning and see that 1.2kWh has passed through the charger, which was about the power I'd consumed the previous day. If the meter had said something like 0.05 kWh, then I'd know it was doing little more than keeping the charger lights lit.
This also allows you to get a better understanding of the actual power consumption of your bike, which helps spot problems as well as allowing you to calculate your 'fuel' costs per mile.
My electric vehicle: CuMoCo C130 scooter.