Question about XB-700Li Charger

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DarkHorseRyder
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Question about XB-700Li Charger

Hey there

Just got an XB-700Li and was wondering what the deal with the charger is? It has two lights and one is constant red and the other blinks from red-to-green, red-to-green constantly about every second

Does this mean it is charging? Or fully charged? Or is it indicating something else?

I figured it would be a steady GREEN when charged...but who knows. I certainly didn't invent it.

Any explanation would be greatly appreciated

DarkHorseRyder
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Another thing is that I cannot seem to turn the key all the way to the left to "lock" it when getting off. Even when i push down on it and turn, it doesn't go all the way to the "lock" setting and you cannot remove the key when you turn it as far left as seems possible.

Am i missing something?

I gotta say the manual for this thing BLOWS!!!! Hahahaha! It's horrible.

Me and a couple buddies managed to completely assemble it and get it working in a little over an hour, but much of it was trial and error.

Once again, any help will be appreciated!

snowryder
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Darkhorserider, I recieved my new XB-700Li with the LiFePo4 batt pack about 3 weeks ago. Solutionsgem(retailer) had a much better manual that they e-mailed me. My charger is doing the same thing and x-treme has not returned my support ticket, yet! Is your charger a metal rectangular charger? I ran the scooter after giving it a 8 hour charge and it only went 19 miles then I tried to charge it for 12 hours and it didn't go a block. I then took the battery pack out and charged it for 18 hours(second light just cycles thru red/green and never stops) and it only went 100 yards. I started charging the batt pack thru the charger port with my LiFePo4 2a charger(bought last year with a 48V 20ah LiFePo4 pack) and it didn't charge. Then I charged the batt pack in the house for 12 hours with the 2a charge and the scooter went 33 miles in the hills/mtns. of Vail,CO. I think my charging port is not working and the New XB-700Li charger is also not working !!!!! I will call x-treme tommorrow and update you on their comments. The scooter has been working fine except for those to problems. Good Luck

DarkHorseRyder
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Yeah man that sounds like the charger mine came with: metal and rectangular.

I talked to Al from Solutions Gem and he said he would talk to Extreme and see what the cycling through red/green lights mean on the charger.

Honestly i don't know if it works or not. It seems to have a full charge now, but it could have come from the manufacturer already charged, etc.

So where can I get one of the LifePo4 2a chargers if i need one?

Hoping mine will work on its own, but not sure. I also haven't tried charging through the charger port as i live in an apartment complex.

Thanks for your help! Please keep me posted

snowryder
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Darkhorse, You will know if it is charging after you run that battery low and try to ride after a thorough charge. I believe I proved my batt was partially charged on delivery and did not charge with the XB-700Li charger! I will check this again when the batt is low and I don't have to be somewhere important. I reccommend buying a 48V 5a LiFePO4 battery charger on ebay from VPower.hk or Cammy_CC or Volgood? for $48.99 w/ free shipping. It will charge much faster, my 2a amp charger is from a 48V 20ah LiFePo4 batt pack I bought last year and am trying to hook together with a new 48V 20-25ah LiFePo4 batt pack I just received to create a 100 + mile range scooter for the mountains where I live. V forum : How do I connect two LiFePo4 batteries into one? - I am still waiting for parts to arrive!

mf70
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Another thing is that I cannot seem to turn the key all the way to the left to "lock" it when getting off. Even when i push down on it and turn, it doesn't go all the way to the "lock" setting and you cannot remove the key when you turn it as far left as seems possible.

Am i missing something?

On my XB600, there are two ways to leave the ignition lock. The key can be removed at the first point where the voltage has fallen to zero (power switched off) and the steering is still functional.

The key can also be removed if the wheel is turned fully to the left. Sometimes you have to jiggle the wheel position to get the lock bolt into position.

I gotta say the manual for this thing BLOWS!!!! Hahahaha! It's horrible.

Yeah, all you can do is laugh. There's a book of "Chinglish" that explained the process: The non-English speaking manager of the Chinese factory calls in his best English speaker to do the manual. Said English speaker uses a Chinese-English translation program for the text, but the manager has no way to verify it, and out it goes. (related: http://www.engrish.com/ )

About charging y'all, GET a VOLTMETER! You can do a lot by checking the resting voltage, the voltage under load, and the voltage at various stages of charge. You can check to see if the connection to the charging port is good as well.

MF

solutionsgem
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Hi Everyone,

We are one of the dealers and happy owners of the XB-700Li. We just finished talking with x-treme technical support about the lithium battery flashing red and green lights of the new 2010 version XB-700Li Scooter. We have the first version of the scooters and our charger is very different that the new LiPo4 charger.

The asnwer we got about the lights is that the charger is set up to the wrong voltage. In order to fix it, you would have to flip a switch right on the middle of the back of the charger. Right now is set up to 220 volts and it should be set set up to 110 volt. According to x-treme support they have got many support messages asking about the same thing. They will be taking the necessary measures to let everyone know about the issue.

We just spoke with one of our customers and in fact the switch was set to 220 volt. The quick flip of the switch fixed the problem.

We will post some pictures soon.

The new version of the scooter has the new LiPo4 battery with BMS. The previous version before 2010 had LiMn battery packs. We have that version with almost 2000 miles and still running strong.

We asked the technician if the new battery pack was compatible with the 2008 2009 versions and he stated the battery was compatible. The only thing is that the battery would have to be bought with the LiPo4 battery charger.

That is great news for us. We do not need a new battery but the new battery will be a nice addition for additional range. They do not have any stock yet but they will in about a month or two. We will have them available for our customers as soon as they do. They could not tell us about price but we figure the batteries would cost about $599 shipping included and about $89 for the charger. We will keep you posted.

By the way the new LiPo4 battery is made by this company: http://www.fe123battery.com/English/

Happy Scooting. Do not forget to wear a helmet.

Energy Independence For A Bright Future.

www.solutionsgem.com

snowryder
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Thanks mf70, What and where can I get a good small voltmeter and how do I hook it up so, I don't weld myself, again. I tried to touch the 2 probes from my multimeter to the 48V SLA batt on my XB-600 and melted the ends of the probes when it arc'd. I would also like to know if anyone has pictures and instructions to hook a voltmeter to my XB-700LI scooter(the dash voltmeter stopped working after 11 miles) so, I can see when I am getting low and try to charge before I kill the batt?
Thanks Al, I just pushed the switch to 110V - I'll let you know if it is charging tommorrow. I like the scooter and I really like the charger,seems well built and now I see it can run on 110V or 220V - who knows where I can get a 220V plug that converts to the US 2 prong 110V so, I can plug this into a 220V outlet? Al, I am not able to get answers from my 3 x-treme support tickets? Two major things are the voltmeter not working, there are four holes behind the dash/voltmeter and 2 wires are soldered to a screw in one hole(it's loose) ( and the other 3 holes are empty) and a single wire w/ an eyelet is on the same hole below the 2 wires soldered screw, is that correct? And the charger port isn't working - I think it is because the 2 wires on the back of the outlet(under the seat box) are not wired correctly - red wire is connected to one of the two regular terminals and the black wire is hooked to the upper(ground) terminal. The other regular terminal has no wire on it - I think it should have the black(neg.) wire on it? Thanks AL,

snowryder
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

AL, I probably voided my batt warranty( batt is working fine but, I needed to know about batt make up and measurements) - The 17ah? batt(in the batt box,total) weights 17 lbs., The batt measures 5.5" x 6.5" x 8.25" with 1 - 8 pin balancing plug and a 7 pin balancing plug. It doesn't hook into anything so, I don't think it has a BMS unless it is in the shrink wrapped batt pack. I believe that you will be able to take out some of the foam padding and turn the batt sideways and fit another x-treme 17ah pack into the batt box. Batt box seems to be 12.67" x 8" x 6.5" - maybe a tight fit, though! I don't remember if the 8" on the batt box is really bigger? I am getting 30 - 33 miles in range off a full charge in the mountain roads of Vail, CO. at 8150 ft. vertical valley floor with passes that are 1000 - 1,500 feet higher, I believe that is great! I will be adding two 20 ah batt packs to a 4 position marine battery switch( off, batt 1, batt 2 & batt 1 + 2) and will charge the two batteries separately by first turning the two new packs off and I will use the new XB-700LI batt as a Back up and will have to plug and unplug it separate from the two 20ah packs.

snowryder
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

AL , I am now charging with the XB-700LiFePo4 charger switched to 110V and it seems to to be running correctly! THANKS that solved that problem !!!! "PEACE OUT" snowryder

mf70
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Thanks mf70, What and where can I get a good small voltmeter

Harbor Freight and their ilk will sell you one for around $4.00. They are preternaturally accurate. Spending 20 times as much for a pro meter gets you some bells and whistles, and more resistance to accidental destruction, but little more accuracy.

and how do I hook it up so, I don't weld myself, again. I tried to touch the 2 probes from my multimeter to the 48V SLA batt on my XB-600 and melted the ends of the probes when it arc'd.

Oh my! That could make anyone gunshy! You do need to make sure the electricity doesn't come out all at once. We're used to dealing with the danger of gasoline, but batteries seem so innocent, with flashlight batteries as our mental model.

The key to keeping the electrons where they are safe is impedance. As long as the only way for electricity to get from the + to the - is THROUGH the meter, AND you have the meter set on the correct range, you'll be ll right.

I would also like to know if anyone has pictures and instructions to hook a voltmeter to my XB-700LI scooter(the dash voltmeter stopped working after 11 miles) so, I can see when I am getting low and try to charge before I kill the batt?

I'd check the connectors inside the steering head. Voltmeters are simple, and rarely fail on their own.

Mark

mf70
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Thanks mf70, What and where can I get a good small voltmeter

Harbor Freight and their ilk will sell you one for around $4.00. They are preternaturally accurate. Spending 20 times as much for a pro meter gets you some bells and whistles, and more resistance to accidental destruction, but little more accuracy.

and how do I hook it up so, I don't weld myself, again. I tried to touch the 2 probes from my multimeter to the 48V SLA batt on my XB-600 and melted the ends of the probes when it arc'd.

Oh my! That could make anyone gunshy! You do need to make sure the electricity doesn't come out all at once. We're used to dealing with the danger of gasoline, but batteries seem so innocent, with flashlight batteries as our mental model.

The key to keeping the electrons where they are safe is impedance. As long as the only way for electricity to get from the + to the - is THROUGH the meter, AND you have the meter set on the correct range, you'll be ll right.

I would also like to know if anyone has pictures and instructions to hook a voltmeter to my XB-700LI scooter(the dash voltmeter stopped working after 11 miles) so, I can see when I am getting low and try to charge before I kill the batt?

I'd check the connectors inside the steering head. Voltmeters are simple, and rarely fail on their own.

Mark

hi-tech_mod-monkey
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Yeah man that sounds like the charger mine came with: metal and rectangular.

I talked to Al from Solutions Gem and he said he would talk to Extreme and see what the cycling through red/green lights mean on the charger.

Honestly i don't know if it works or not. It seems to have a full charge now, but it could have come from the manufacturer already charged, etc.

So where can I get one of the LifePo4 2a chargers if i need one?

Hoping mine will work on its own, but not sure. I also haven't tried charging through the charger port as i live in an apartment complex.

Thanks for your help! Please keep me posted

When I got mine about a month ago, the charger did the same thing. The charger is set to 220V by the manufacturer... switching it to 110V should be all that is required to get the charger to work properly.

PzlPete
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Hooking up a new digital voltmeter is more simple than you think. But before you buy a 4 dollar one from Harbor Freight, consider whether you want a self powered one (two wire) or one that requires external power (four wire). The two wire is more expensive. I spent 50 dollars on a nice two wire, 24v to 75v range, self powered digital voltmeter that required nothing more to install then unhooking the wires to the current dash voltmeter, and hooking them up to the new one. I then cut a square hole in the dash to exactly match the size of the voltmeter and glued it in. I now get exact reading to the tenth of a volt. You will see that voltage varies greatly standing versus under load. At full charge I read about 53 volts, and my low voltage cutoff from the computer is right around 42.7 volts. If you are interested I will find the link to the company that supplies the nice 2 wire voltmeters.

You could install the less expensive 4 wire as well, but would then need to run the additional two wires to a power source. I know others have done this.

snowryder
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Thanks PLZPETE, If you get a chance - that would help if you can find the link!!!! What do you think about an ammeter or a combo meter(voltage / ammeter)? Is that just a multimeter? Thanks, "PEACE OUT" snowryder

mf70
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

If you are interested in tracking your power usage (a GOOD THING), I'd recommend the Cycle Analyst. It will trak your power usage and speed more ways that I can think of. I've been VERY happy with its ancestor, the DrainBrain, which I've been using on my XB600 for a year now.

It offers

  • Amps
  • volts
  • Amp hours
  • speed
  • ODOMETER
  • Total cycles
  • Total power used
  • and many more...

Mark

marylandbob
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Re: Using Meters-CAUTION!

When using electrical meters to measure operating parameters, NEVER connect an AMMETER, or multimeter set to read AMPS, across your battery! Doing so produces a short-circuit, with sparks, arcs, and melted test leads, with possibility of injury! Be sure the meter is set to read D.C. VOLTAGE, and also be certain that the test leads are inserted in the VOLTAGE jacks, before connecting across a battery or other voltage source. If measurement of AMPERES is desired, your meter should be connected in SERIES with the voltage source. (Between the battery/power source and the load) Making amperage measurements requires breaking the circuit, to allow this series connection, and the meter, and its connecting leads, must be rated to handle the expected amperage, or damage may occur.--Bob

Robert M. Curry

PzlPete
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Re: Question about XB-700Li Charger

Here is the 2 wire voltmeter I used. It mounts nicely in the dash if you cut the hole to the exact size.

http://parts.digikey.com/1/parts/1591541-dpm-led-self-powered-dc-red-dms-20pc-7-dcm-c.html

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