I still have the original 125A fuse in my bike at 15,000 km. It has NOT blown yet. Every time I ride it's always in the back of my mind so I end up babying the bike and choosing my routes which will place the less load on the electrics. I have had the replacement fuse for sometime and now I have some time to change the fuse myself.
There are some very good ideas here on how to do it posted by oatnet:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=17071&start=30#p335632
I want to make sure that the capacitors are dead in the MCB. (in the event of any errant tool making a new and unwanted circuit) Would the best way to do this be turning on the key after the Anderson connector is broken? (I understood the Anderson connnector connected the batteries to the MCB.) Would this drain the capacitors and everything else in the MCB to render it completlely safe?
Thanks as usual to you all
Jonathan
Hello All,
Does anybody have anything to add? I really don't want to fry myself or the MCB in the process.
Many thanks,
Jonathan
I'm afraid I don't know. Let's hope some of the masters of the vectrix universe throw some light to your question.;-)
Thats what I'm hoping for - thanks for your thoughts!
Hi Jonathan,
No need to discharge the capacitors as they will discharge themselves. It is those capacitors which give rise to the need for the 'inrush current limiter' or in true electronic language 'Surge limiter' when re-connecting
The capacitors will discharge into the motor control board in less than a minute or so. If you are nervous about it, just unplug the Anderson Connector and go have a cup of tea. By you return those capacitors will be empty.
If you really want to see them empty, then after disconnecting the Anderson Connector, connect a mains voltage electric light bulb across the battery connecting terminals. These are the ones which connect the battery to the motor control board. There should be no signs of life/light. If the fuse (the 125Amp) has blown, then check for any voltage between the ends of the fuse and the battery terminals. There should be zero volts, if you find any, then just use that light bulb to dissipate the power.
When you come to re-connect the Anderson Connector, don't forget to use the 'inrush/surge limiter or you might just do that new fuse a mischief.
Take care and stay healthy,
The Laird.
Thank you "the Laird" - this is exactly the sort of information that I was looking for.
Best regards,
Jonathan
the mains voltage light bulb can be your current limiter.
so leave the negative lead disconnected from the battery, connect the big anderson, and put a light bulb between the negative lead and the battery, and keep it there until you bolt it back on.
Matt
Daily Ride:
2007 Vectrix, modified with 42 x Thundersky 60Ah in July 2010. Done 194'000km
Hi, here is a good video how to use an ICR with the anderson connectors.
BUT I would use thicker plastic gloves to prevent elecric shock! Using current limiter
Greetings Mike
On Saturday I finally did the fuse job and all went ok. I used the instructions as mentioned earlier by Oatnet in this thread. You do need a lot of patience and time to do this job without removing the batteries but in the end it went well.
A couple of points that I noticed:
Tools that you do need: one of those 4 pronged spring loaded grabbers, the magnet that comes with the grabber, a couple of small sockets and screw driver bits, and lots of patience - Oatnet pretty well covered this...
Even after I had disconnected the Anderson and all the connections on the motor controller board (MCB)I still had a persistant 19V running around the system - I don't really know where it was comming from. In the end I refused to let it worry me and worked bare handed but standing on a rubber mat for the entire job. It was fine. I used the rubber gloves to connect the batteries - more on that later.
Try and catch the bolt sleaves (if you can) as you undo the cover for the motor contoller - again I used my hands and the grabber or any idea that came to my head. I even cut a bit out of the cover plate to enable better access...
The real pain in the ass is the lower nut to the fuse. Lots of "using the fingers" with the cover prised open, and then with the socket - cover pulled closed - otherwise you have no clearance from the battery box to get socket through the hole and therefore access to the nut. Quite a bit of juggling here.. Same thing to get it back on. Again with patience you will succeed.
Finally the new fuse was installed and in position. Now to connect the Anderson - ahh - I don't have any clearance at the forward end of the Anderson to get the light bulb cables in from the back. (unlike Oatnet) First I put on my rubber gloves. Standing on 2 rubber mats..so I did what Mat said above - I disconnected the negative from the battery - you have to be carefull as there is a little sensor cable screwed in to the negative terminal as well so I moved and taped it out of harms way. I did a couple of practices before I connected the Andersons to make sure that it could work. I used a 110V light bulb in a socket just with bare wires. I finally had the courage and connected the Andersons. Then I connected the light bulb to the negative cable and negative battery terminal - it just flicked on and went out. I tried again and this time there was no light so I figured the capacitors were close to being fully charged. I did my best to hold the wires from the negative cable through the globe and back to the negative battery as I manipulated the negative cable into position on the battery. There was just the tiniest of sparks as I got the battery cable onto the battery terminal and screwed into place. So I was pretty happy with that - I turned the key on for a quick check and all seemed fine.
So there you have it. If I had a chain block and a strong point in my garage roof I'm sure it is quicker to pull the rear batteries out - but I did'nt and it worked fine.
My fuse was only attached at the 2 ends, nothing in the middle but there was quite a big rubber boot on the lower end that had to be removed.
Anyway I can now ride in comfort knowing that the fuse should not blow. It will be nice to give it a good serve!
I'll upload a few photos for reference...
Could not figure out how to upload images - how do you do that??
Did you manage to use a torque wrench in the confined space?
If not, then you may well have ruined/damaged your MC board. Watch out for the pungent smell of burning PCB material.... 3.5Nm is difficult to guess by hand even when you have enough space to move.
The remaining voltage was probably entering through the voltage divider (co-located with the rear battery temp sensor circuitry). That little board on the left side of the battery has the full battery voltage across the input pins, no fuses, no resistors. Potentially lethal, particularly when the Andersons connector is closed. Did you measure the voltage before disconnecting the temp sensor board?
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
Hello Mik,
Thanks for your input...
No I did n't - I was not working at all with the Anderson closed. Only right at the end with the globe to connect the negative on the battery...
So far everything seems fine...
Below the reply box click Insert image. upload a picture. Once uploaded, send the link to the text area.
Here are some photos of the fuse change - I hope that it may be of interest to some.
Best regards,