Two months ago, my ESD charger died. I finally got a replacement charger today, and tried to install it. I know I have to have the appropriate firmware (MC1021) for that charger. My thinking was to just hook it up tonight, check the firmware, and see if it'll charge my pack or not.
Two problems:
A) There is no power to the bike at all now. I connected the 3 cables to the EVPS charger and turned the key on, but no dash lights etc. Before I took out the charger, the bike still had power, even though the battery was drained.
B) The EVPS charger doesn't quite seem to fit logistically. The top kinda bumps into the case for the dash instruments, and the larger connector has to plug in to the bottom of the unit, and it doesn't reach down that far (constrained by other wires in the 'snake'). I know others have successfully done this conversion--any hints would be appreciated. Picture of "gold" EVPS charger, and the area where the charger is supposed to fit.
Obviously, 'A' is the real showstopper. I'm prepared to buy an external charger like others have done in order to put enough juice into the pack so that the EVPS can sense it. Is that the problem, or is it something else?
Any ideas would be appreciated.
I just replaced mine a few weeks ago. It was pretty difficult to get in there due to the lengths of the various cables. I think the only way it fits is with the connector for the instrument cluster on top. I had to completely remove the plastic hose around the "snake" so I could wrestle the instrument cluster connector up to where it needed to be. Even after cutting away the hose, I had to clip a bunch of zip ties deep where I couldn't reach easily. In the end I got it on but the instrument cluster wires are pulled pretty tight. I figure someday the wires are likely to pull out of the connector, unfortunately.
I also had a little difficulty with the power cord and the cord running back to the MC. Cutting most of the zip ties holding the cables down the side of the bike to the back made it work.
Alex
I had to remove the lower parts of the windshield in order to reroute the cables. Since you don't have the pigtail version your cables should be long enough. Then you can bolt the charger into place with all connectors pointing upward.
If you have your charger not connected to the bike - does the bike power up then? I was able to ride the bike with no charger installed....
If it still does not power up, check the voltage by measuring the pack at the battery cable with a multimeter.
BUT BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL NOT TO TOUCH THE BARE TIPS OF THE MULTIMETER WHEN CHECKING! THE VOLTAGE SHOULD STILL BE LETHAL!
Tido
Thanks Tido and Alex,
I'll orient it with the instrument connector at the top and carve off what I need to in order to get the cables to it.
I'll be careful when I measure the pack at the battery connector, and report back.
I'm a newbie to a multimeter, but I think the pack is only reading around 9 volts. Seems I need to get an external charger, yes?
9V??????? This would mean, that the pack is totally flattend :-( Probably the result of waiting much too long for the new charger :-/
In this case I would recharge the battery with the help of a charger for RC models. This would mean, that you have to remove the battery pack, and to devide it into parts in order to recharge the smaller parts. Because you wrote that a multimeter is something new to you, I would strongly recommend you to get help from an electrician in your circle of friends......
Best regards
Tido
Proceed very carefully here!
The measurement of 9V DC might be correct, but you might also have made a measurement error. Are you sure your multimeter is not set to AC?
Even if the 9V DC measurement is correct, the voltage could rise again to lethal levels once the current drain is removed from the battery.
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
Thanks for the warnings. I bought some rubber lineman gloves rated at class 00 for protection.
It's possible my measurement is wrong. I tried various combinations of the 3 holes, most of which only registered fractions of a millivolt. One measured 8.7 volts, and I'm 90% sure it was set to DC. The pack was pretty well drained after my 29 mile commute in September, so I was expecting it to be low.
Question: Should I buy a 0.3 mA charger like the "KEPCO 150 volt 0.3 amp regulated power supply", or should I get the Accopian (1amp), or should I just buy a single-cell charger and do them one by one (weeding out bad ones)?
The 0.3A regulated power supply should be fine,, you just need to raise the voltage by enough to power up the Vectrix charger
If the powersupply isn't current limited, I would run a ~6W light globe in series aswell.
Matt
Daily Ride:
2007 Vectrix, modified with 42 x Thundersky 60Ah in July 2010. Done 194'000km
The "KEPCO 150 volt 0.3 amp regulated power supply" should do the job. If you sill have the defective charger, remove the socket and make yourself a safe charging cable. With 0.3A you cannot damage the batteries even if they are already full.
If you had battery problems before (too much heat on the pack combined with short range) then I would recommend disassembling the pack in order to find the bad cells.
Make sure not to charge too long with the external power supply because the new charger will try to put 30Ah of charge in the battery on the first run! If the pack let's say is already 1/4 full then the battery will heat up quickly in the end of the charging process! I would stop charging the battery as the voltage raises to about 120V.