Main Fuse - Now clarification for ICL (inrush current limiter)

You can. Its also alot easier. Assuming you have replaced the fuse and reassembled everything, before reconnecting the big blue connector, disconnect the positive lead from the battery. Then reconnect big blue connector. Now, using some alligator clips or similar, connect a 10K resistor between the positive lead and the battery. Position the clips so you can still re-attach the main lead. Wait 5 seconds then connect main lead. If you are paranoid and need to see the electricity flowing, use an LED with the resistor. Or you could wait 5 seconds then turn on the key. If the dash comes on for a second you know the current is flowing. Turn off key and wait 5 seconds again then connect main terminal. Dont touch any other part of the battery when connecting the main lead.

You can. Its also alot easier. Assuming you have replaced the fuse and reassembled everything, before reconnecting the big blue connector, disconnect the positive lead from the battery. Then reconnect big blue connector. Now, using some alligator clips or similar, connect a 10K resistor between the positive lead and the battery. Position the clips so you can still re-attach the main lead. Wait 5 seconds then connect main lead. If you are paranoid and need to see the electricity flowing, use an LED with the resistor. Or you could wait 5 seconds then turn on the key. If the dash comes on for a second you know the current is flowing. Turn off key and wait 5 seconds again then connect main terminal. Dont touch any other part of the battery when connecting the main lead.

I do not think the capacitors would be fully charged after 5s with 10kOhm in series. It takes them that long with a 40W (240V) light globe in series, which has a cold resistance of about 320 Ohm (IIRC) and a hot resistance of a few thousand Ohms, but way less than 10kOhm.

I'd use a globe, it gives you feedback. See eyeinthesky's recent debacle, where the use of an ICL with feedback would have stopped a nasty spark!

And, it's not necessarily the fuse that blew in you Vectrix! I have never experienced or heard of a VX-1 fuse blowing during regen breaking, and I have never heard of a loud popping sound occurring at the same time.

I think you might have blown a capacitor instead! But that's just guessing.

The fuse might have blown, but it might have blown for a reason!

The reason for the Andersons connector is that it allows to minimize handling of a "live" system as much as possible.

I'd strongly recommend to connect it last, and then keep your hands off everything except for putting the battery container cover back on!

I understand the description X-Vectrix is giving, and yes, it is seems easier, but it is also much more dangerous.

Once the Andersons connector is closed, there is lethal voltage easily touchable on the temp sensor board for the front battery. The tabs 1, 28 and 76 go there, without any fuse or resistor to stop.

75 * 1.4V = 105V = Potentially lethal, but unlikely to flow through your heart.

But whilst you are using both hands to put the positive lead back on, as X-Vectrix suggests, you are working very close to that tab 1 on the temp sensor/BMS rear battery PCB. And that means that the full battery voltage has every chance to kill you by getting in through one hand and out through the other!

Anyone with enough skill to safely use this shortcut would also have enough skill to connect an ICL across the Andersons connector, with next to no extra time / effort!

And anyone without the skill, or just learning it, should either leave it alone or at the very least use EVERY safety precaution possible, particularly this main safety feature of the VX-1!

You could try a 20W (120V) globe. That should have the same hot resistance as a 40W (240V) globe, i.e. 1440 Ohm.

But I do not know what cold resistance that globe has. I measured the cold resistance.

I don't think 120V globe would blow due to the brief over voltage situation when used as an ICL.

But I have not tested it, and I lack the theoretical knowledge for most of this. It's all based on very cautious experimenting (and a little bit of Ohms law here and there).

I don't have any formal electronics training, so I do indeed mean it when I write "use at your own risk"!

Hi guys, you are on the right track and please do heed all the safety warnings!

Below is a diagram for the ICL I use and hasn't given me any grief. Simple to make and use. You may have difficulty sourcing the piercing clip, also known as a BON or Bed of Nails type. Make sure all connectors have insulating sheaths. In a pinch thumbtacks/drawing pins can be substituted to pierce the ribbon cable from the rear battery along with normal clips.. The diagram shows the way the batteries are as you would sit on the bike +POS on the left -NEG on the right. Do not pay any attention to the Anderson connector as the symbols are backwards. Connect in this order, +POS ribbon cable then +POS bolt on front battery THEN -NEG ribbon cable followed by connecting to the bolt on the -NEG side. As you do this the bulb(s) will glow slightly and then go out. Now quickly connect the Anderson plugs and remove the ICL. I found using 2 bulbs works best as using just one bulb (even 60 watts) the plain wire would get very warm. Good luck and work safely!!

Also check the 3 posts on the Motor Controller which the motor wires connect to. Look for evidence of heat on the nuts and at the base of the posts. If there is any the M/C will need to be replaced.

On many of the bikes the cable to the anderson connector is very difficult to access for the front pack (actually you cant access them). The only thing protruding from the frame is the connector itself. I have always found that trying to reach thru the plastic battery cover to access the terminal with a clip is very clumsy and hair raising as you cannot clearly see what you are attaching to. Thats why I noted that it is easier (and in some ways less dangerous) to use the main lead. BTW...Ive been zapped by these packs quite a few times over the years.

Hi guys, you are on the right track and please do heed all the safety warnings!

Below is a diagram for the ICL I use and hasn't given me any grief. Simple to make and use. You may have difficulty sourcing the piercing clip, also known as a BON or Bed of Nails type. Make sure all connectors have insulating sheaths. In a pinch thumbtacks/drawing pins can be substituted to pierce the ribbon cable from the rear battery along with normal clips.. The diagram shows the way the batteries are as you would sit on the bike +POS on the left -NEG on the right. Do not pay any attention to the Anderson connector as the symbols are backwards. Connect in this order, +POS ribbon cable then +POS bolt on front battery THEN -NEG ribbon cable followed by connecting to the bolt on the -NEG side. As you do this the bulb(s) will glow slightly and then go out. Now quickly connect the Anderson plugs and remove the ICL. I found using 2 bulbs works best as using just one bulb (even 60 watts) the plain wire would get very warm. Good luck and work safely!!

Also check the 3 posts on the Motor Controller which the motor wires connect to. Look for evidence of heat on the nuts and at the base of the posts. If there is any the M/C will need to be replaced.

Thanks, Doug!

I think this is the best ICL setup I've seen so far.

Using a globe (=resistor) in each cable guards against the potential shorting of one or several cells once the Andersons connector is closed. Therefore, it is then not as critical to connect the alligator clips to exactly the right tab on the font battery and therefore much easier. It's idiot-proofing the single globe design a fair bit!

The possibility to connect the front connectors to the wrong tab was IMHO the reason for the failure of at least one of the "official" ICL's. I have even been shown instructions telling you to connect it to the wrong tab, causing the ICL fuse to open once the Andersons is closed.

Here is a diagram showing what I mean:

Here is the correct way to connect them:

EDIT: Picture urls updated

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

Does anyone have a higher-resolution copy of Doug's ICL diagram? It looks great, but I can't read it. I emailed him but it bounced back. :-(

Does anyone have a higher-resolution copy of Doug's ICL diagram? It looks great, but I can't read it.

I tried to recreate Doug's diagram as best as I could, but even when I zoomed in I still couldn't read what type of bulbs he preferred.
I have shown standard tungsten filament incandescent bulbs as I don't think LED bulbs would work due to the high resistance or their typical capacitive dropper power supplies.

Perhaps, if you are using 240V bulbs, a 240V 40W bulb could be used in place of a 110V 10W bulb as it would apply a similar resistance.
At working temperature, a 240V/40W bulb has ~1440 Ohms resistance, a 110V/10W bulb has ~1210 Ohms resistance whereas a 240V/10W bulb has a much higher ~5760 Ohms resistance.

I also found this video on YouTube demonstrating a similar precharge procedure using a single bulb and no crocodile clips.

Hope this helps.

Alan

Thanks very much Alan! The updated diagram plus the short video is exactly what I needed.