Bikes dead? Won't charge... in Seattle

Hi, in my case it was necessary to open the plug itself, because outside everything looked
tight and solid, but inside where the wire is tightened on the plug-contact with a screw,
this screw had gone loose and i had to tighten it again.
I tried several outlets too, becaus i thought they are to weak and the circuit breaker had
opened.
Greetings and good luck
Mike

...
...
I tried several outlets too, becaus i thought they are to weak and the circuit breaker had
opened.
...
Mike

But in your case (I guess) the breaker had NOT actually opened - you just thought it might have, right?

I'm afraid that this big spark at the plug that norcal has experienced might have been accompanied by a big fry inside the charger. The "cascading damage" in the charger that has been mentioned before and that has so far been described as unfixable.

However, hopefully I'm wrong about this, otherwise norcal needs a new charger.

I would check the plug, like mikemitbike suggests.

Thanks Mike and Mik, Your replies prompted me to loosen the 3 screws and pull down collar to reveal just the screws connecting wires to the 3 tines and they all looked fine. Screwed all back together, plugged it in, got a good spark, but no charging and no circuit tripped.
I opened the plug again and pulled the collar further down to reveal the wires inside the plug and saw exposed wires along with what looks like some areas of melted away insulation. My guess is the manner that I fearfully shoved the plug, with my hand back partially on cord vs plug, might have shoved the wires inside the plug close enough to touch, and when it came into contact with outlet it sparked. Maybe it is just a plug short? I can hope?
Is there any shock danger when taking the plug wires apart and cleaning up the end before reattaching to the plug, as long as key is off? Is there any way for the batteries to get to me while I am working on the end of the plug?

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Is there any shock danger when taking the plug wires apart and cleaning up the end before reattaching
to the plug, as long as key is off? Is there any way for the batteries to get to me while I am working
on the end of the plug?

Hi Greg,
as the contacts of the plug are not isolated, there should be no danger. But to be sure just take a voltmeter
and measure between each of the contacts, same procedure with the wires in the open plug.

Pressing thumbs - good luck Mike

Hello,
Sorry for the absence, family visforvacation not visforvoltage to heart! All clear with voltmeter, so I opened up the plug and the two black wires being held to the plug looked like they had arced, melting the insulation and frying the copper inside. The only thing keeping the plug and wires together was a little leftover insulation and the ground wire. Ground still looked good. There is a 4th wire just sort of "there", not attached or tightened down to anything. I cleaned up the wires to the prongs, reinserted them, and retightened the screws. Charging cord is about 2 inches shorter, but if it works...I'm OK with that. Should I wrap the 4th wire's exposed copper end with some tape before I put the plug back together?

I am hoping the no charging issue was because some exposed wires within the plug came into contact when I cowardly pushed the plug into the socket from 6 inches back along the cord after the first spark incident. My thought is to cover up the exposed copper to reduce chance of internal plug shorting. Still pressing thumbs that it is only plug issue! I won't plug it in until I hear back about the 4th wire inside charging cord.
Thanks,
Greg

absolutely cover up that 4th wire....its connected to ground, through a resistor

if it contacts with anything, your RCD will trip.

Matt

Hi, the european models don´t use the 4th wire. On the Vectrix Plug its connectet to a connector called "pilot". I remember it has something
to do with the use of italian high power outlets, which are using this "pilot" to activate themselve. To charge the V on a normal plug we
have an adapter which "pilot" isn´t conected to anything.
Greetings Mike and good luck or reanimating your V

Vielen Dank!! Die Daumen drucken hat geholfen!
Thank for all the help.. It was just frazzled wiring inside the plug. Now that it is cleaned up with covered 4th wire, and put back together, my vectrix is humming nicely, filling the bars back to the top!!!
After seeing where everyone is from, I understand why I was having difficulty with some of the electrical acronyms as I read posts from over the last few years. Not just electrical acronyms are different. My wife is from germany, so I knew when Mike said "pressing thumbs", I was able to translate that into meaning he was "crossing his fingers". We do both simultaneously in our household and it seems to work.

Thanks again for the help.
Greg

Great that your V is now operaing normal!!
Greetings Mike