Hi,
I've had my Vectrix for almost 2 years now, and I thought it might be interesting to see it's history in one thread.
I've bought my vectrix in April 2009 (I think) in Antwerp, www.evstart.be
in the course of the two years after that, I've only had a few minor problems:
-(date unknown): distance travelled: +-2500 kms (?) => 125A fuse blown, replaced (under warranty) -> 200A
-23 july 2009: distance travelled : +-6000 kms => instrument panel swapped (under warranty) because of a minor problem with the Odometer
-November 2010: distance travelled: +-7000 kms => changed rear tyre.
-01 march 2011: distance travelled: +-8000 kms => seat swapped for lower seat.
Yesterday I checked the voltage of the battery pack one day after recharge: 144V. the pack seems to be healthy for now.
(I almost never do deep discharges, if I have to, I do it slowly)
I'll update when applicable..
greetz..
Turok
fyi
I installed the lower seat yesterday and had the opportunity to test it.
the lower seat is great for me, even though I'm 1m80 (6 ft).
(On top of that, my wife (1m55 / 5 ft) is willing to give a try again..)
It lowers the point of gravity quite a lot, and I immediately felt the difference when taking turns!
It also puts me out of the wind a bit, wich is good on days like today when your xss freezes off :-)
"doing nothin = doing nothing wrong" is invalid when the subject is environment
Thanks Turok, that's some interesting info for a new owner like me. Interesting to see that you avoid deep discharges and your battery is still healthy.
I'm using my Vectrix daily for commuting 25 miles. Depending on my route and speed I can either make the trip with 6 bars remaining, or run it down completely - which I only did once inadvertently when the last few bars disappeared in the space of a mile! Mine's done 5000 miles and as far as I can tell is on it's original battery.
Hi guys,
long time no see, I know :-)
I must admit most of my spare time is going to a new hobby lately. I had been actively (daily) reading this forum up until a few months ago, but I always was a bit frustrated that I couldn't understand some of the technical details (electronics mostly).
So I made electronics my new hobby. (by discovering arduino! It's something I'd recommend to anyone btw)
Since then, I'm a lot more familiar with a lot of stuff that's in our Vectrixes :-)
I hadn't forgot about you guys, but I was getting kind of behind on the reading part :-) I was rather surprised that I didn't have to read very long to be back up to date..
That said, I thought it couldn't hurt to update the status of my V at this time.
I still have my vectrix, and it still performs perfectly, it still has all the range I need (> 45km).
I never "deep" discharge intendedly anymore, but I always let it charge to full (in order to have some kind of balancing)
I'm over 13000km now, and had no problems in the last months!
;)
Turok
"doing nothin = doing nothing wrong" is invalid when the subject is environment
wellcome back turok, nice to see you again!
I'm also trying to be back up to date.;-)
you too R!
The irony wants that my V is standing dead still at this moment (throttle sensor problem just a few days after I posted everything was fine)
And as usual, my dealer takes his time to react.
Nevermind though, just the right excuse to shelter behind the windshield of my car, now that its getting colder.
still miss it a lot though..
"doing nothin = doing nothing wrong" is invalid when the subject is environment
Hi folks!
Long time no see, but that's because everything was going well lately, my Vectrix still brings my butt to my work and back every day, winter & summer :-)
I had installed The Laird's latest software with voltage readout a few weeks and a few hundred kms ago, and continued to use it as always.
The Laird's software has this particular feature (if I understand well): It counts the Ah going in while chargeing, and instead of displaying a full gauge, it only lights up the bars that stand for real charge.
That's a good thing. It makes the fuel gauge very accurate (though a little pessimistic, but it feels good).
In my case, after a few charges/discharges, I could tell that my battery holds severely less charge that it used to. It only charges to 8 or 9 bars out of 17 (ends usually at 144V).
My bike must have some 15000 kms, so I was kind of expecting some wear anyway.
My daily commutes add up to 23 kms every day, and I usually never do much more than that without rechargeing first (or at least partially).
now, when I get home from work, my battery pack seems empty (all bars gone (and still going strong), voltages drop down to 108-105V while accelerating in the last kms.)
I have the feeling that there is juice left after 23 kms, but not a LOT, since I can feel the power drop a little.
So I thought, some of loss of capacity could be due to a few dead cells, and when I got home last night, I started dismantling the pack, to measure every individual cell.
From what I knew, I hoped to find at least 1 or 2 dead cells, but to my dissapointment :-) , there were NONE.
They all measured between 1.23 and 1.25 V. (didn't recharge before dismantling)
I also didn't find any (obviously) swollen cells, and the temperature stickers were all white.
Before The Laird's software, I have always been avoiding the lower regions of the battery pack
(never did deep discharges out of fear to damage cells, and at least THAT seems to have worked).
Can somebody explain me if this is actual, definitive WEAR on the Nimh pack, or, is this the famous memory effect?
If so, should I just discharge further, gently, and perhaps in phases, letting the voltage rise in between ??
thanks for the advice,
"doing nothin = doing nothing wrong" is invalid when the subject is environment
Hi Turok,
(not) trying to be funny, but maybe you should have asked before pulling the entire battery apart? :-)
The Laird's software errs on the side of caution, rather than on the side of advertising hype. You are more likely to have charge left than to run out before the gauge shows empty.
It's supposed to end the charge at that voltage, to avoid overcharging and heating up.
But you would expect the deterioration to progress slower than with the stock software, not a sudden worsening of battery capacity.
Any cell with reduced capacity or increased internal resistance can drop to -1.4V during use, but will immediately bounce back up to 1.25V when the load is removed.
This could all be due to an over-estimation of self-discharge rate in The Laird's software. Your battery might have significantly more charge than the gauge shows, and if you never use that part of the charge, it could be suffering from "voltage depression". Discharging the battery deeply and relatively slowly should recover the Uumpff in that part of the charge, but only if you do not damage cells in the process.
I assume you have the Canbus adapter etc available, so one option would be to re-install the latest official MC software, then ride until the battery is empty. The MC version that The Laird used to make his improvements is very tough on the battery when it is near empty, and risks severe cell reversals.
But, you can probably leave The Laird's software installed and achieve the same result by riding gently, avoiding all hard accelerations when the battery is low-ish, until the battery is actually empty. Something along the lines of:
Whenever there is less response (power delivery) than you expected, ease off on the throttle and stay eased off. Stay close to a power point and stay uphill of a power point to do this.
Or: Always keep the voltage above 118V (or whatever the right voltage might be for this, I'm not sure), even when accelerating.
Once you have done a deep, slow discharge, your bike might show the "Reappearing bars syndrome" in The Laird's software: If the battery is actually empty when the charge starts, then it can put more charge in, and it will count more and show more charge on the gauge at the end of the charge.
Third option (and I don't remember enough details to be certain this could work with The Laird's software versions): Set the SOC manually in ScooterDiag to 1 or 2 bars more than what is shown (to counter the self-discharge estimate overrun).
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
Thanks Mik,
I was too curious, I HAD to open that compartiment one day, so I just went for it.
I always imagined the cells to be bigger, but then again, how could they :-)
It's frustrating not to be able to compare the cells while riding. It really is.
I'm going to go ahead discharge (a lot?) deeper very gently, and hope that I don't damage individual cells.
Not that I should worry though, I have recently bought a second, second hand Vectrix for a good price.
It's in way better condition then mine, has 5000 kms on the clock, but I don't have a clue in what condition that battery is. (it works, but I don't know the range)
So if I damage cells in the process, so be it. I have about a hundred spares now:-)
It's a pity that it is quite some work to get to the bottom layers. I hurt my hands several times, trying to avoid my spanner from falling into the cells :-)
And lifting the two big boxes out of the bike by hand I proved possible, but not good for my back :-)
"doing nothin = doing nothing wrong" is invalid when the subject is environment
Hi,
I'm happy!!
I DID discharge further, a LOT further, but gently.
I got 45km out of the whole charge, and after recharge I had 15 of 17 bars again!!!
That's a lot better than 8 or 9, isn't it?
So now I know my battery pack is ok, phew!!
To The Laird (if reading along):
Your software is probably very good at preserving the battery, but it slightly underestimates the charge left (considers self-discharge too much?)
So, if you don't use the full charge, these little errors count up.
No real problem though :-)
Turok
"doing nothin = doing nothing wrong" is invalid when the subject is environment
Hi Turok.
I also have the fantastic TL firmware
My display ranges between 15 and 10 bars. with 10 bars my vectrix is telling me: I need a deep, slow discharge. then it resets to 15. It seems that NImh batteries need these discharges once per month. 43000km on the clock, 16000 km on the 4th pack, and I'm expecting 9.000 km more on it. at 55.000 km I'll need a good replacement.