CAPcur error - is this the end?

There was someone selling the replacement fuses, they aren't that hard to replace, any decent television repair place should be able to do this.

Caruso, Have you, by any chance, dropped it on the right hand side? I ask as to me - with my, admittedly, little technical knowledge of the Vectrix - it sounds possible that the throttle encoder may be unhappy and giving a bad signal to the controller. Certainly, and someone correct me if I'm wrong here, I would have thought a blown 40A controller fuse would result in no drive at all. Where did you get this info from? Not saying it's wrong, just curious and wondering if you may have misinterpreted things.

As for your eBay auction, a fair price is difficult to pin down if we don't know what it's going to cost to repair. OTOH, if it is for spares then around £1k seems reasonable to me - just going from what others in a similar position have made in the last 12 months or so (in the UK at least).

I actually bid on the bike on eBay and then realised it's most probably not going to reach a satisfactory outcome since the price of £1500 has popped up in a revision to the text and you mentioned that someone has supposedly offered that for it privately and "reserve the right to end the auction early". All not good signs for a successful eBay listing....

Realistically, IMO, there's no way that a faulty Vectrix is worth that and I don't think you'll get it. I paid £1100 only a few weeks ago for a fully working bike. I saw another one on eBay not sell for £800 a few months ago and saw another one with 900 miles on the clock go for only £2,100.

Yes, a capcur error message can, as far as I understand, mean one of the three black capacitor fuses has blown on the MC and, even then, the bike will continue to run for a while until another one goes. However, it can also mean a blown capacitor itself, rather than the fuse, and, if this is indeed the case, your MC board is u/s, since those capacitors are no longer available (I've contacted the manufacturer to try and get some....). I don't know whatthe value of a Vectrix with an unrepairable blown controller is but, I suspect, not even £1,000. Therein lies the risk for someone buying it. I'd either decide to get it fixed, or list it for sale on eBay but don't try both at the same time, especially if you intend to cancel the eBay listing if the price it reaches isn't what you think it's worth.... it just wastes a lot of people's time and interest....

You did ask..... :)

Well, it may still only be the fuses on the MC board though. An easy fix by all accounts. If it's the entire board, I suppose one may pop up on eBay, used, but I think they cost over £2,000 new.

You did the right thing re the listing. eBay monitor cancelled sales and it kind of ruins your trading record. You could bottom out fixing the bike and, if you don't, you could then list it with a reserve on eBay and see what happens......

There is a thread here already somewhere about how the bike continues to run with one blown capacitor fuse. The fuses are readily available but I suppose your challenge will be getting the controller out of the bike... time, facilities, etc. Also,it's appraently necessary to be very careful when reconnecting the batteries and important to use an inrush current limiter (aka a light bulb) so that the sudden surge of power doesn't blow the capacitors/fuses.

Hi,

Same situation for me, last year I've got a CapCur error and my MC controller was replaced.
But last week, only 6 months after the replacement, the error came again !

Is it possible that the MC capacitors can be damaged when doing the controller replacement ?

Best regards,
Oley

Hi,

Same situation for me, last year I've got a CapCur error and my MC controller was replaced.
But last week, only 6 months after the replacement, the error came again !

Is it possible that the MC capacitors can be damaged when doing the controller replacement ?

Best regards,
Oley

Yes, they can be damaged by connecting the blue Andersons connector before the capacitors have been charged "slowly" = over a second or two via the use of an inrush current limiter.

Hi,

Same situation for me, last year I've got a CapCur error and my MC controller was replaced.
But last week, only 6 months after the replacement, the error came again !

Is it possible that the MC capacitors can be damaged when doing the controller replacement ?

Best regards,
Oley

Yes, they can be damaged by connecting the blue Andersons connector before the capacitors have been charged "slowly" = over a second or two via the use of an inrush current limiter.

You know, when the "vectrix guy" came to check out my scooter a couple of years ago, he measured all the cells (in an incorrect manner, as it turns out) and then just reconnected the Anderson connector, warning me that there would be a 'cracking' sound when he does it. No inrush current limiter at all.

Knowing what I know now, I shudder when I think of that.

You know, when the "vectrix guy" came to check out my scooter a couple of years ago, he measured all the cells (in an incorrect manner, as it turns out) and then just reconnected the Anderson connector, warning me that there would be a 'cracking' sound when he does it. No inrush current limiter at all.

Yikes, that REALLY sounds scary to me too. Even I just used an inrush current limiter on my "only" 72V battery before flipping the circuit braker to reconnect my Kelly controller + with battery +. And lo and behold, even those 72V lit up the 230V / 60W lightbulb for two seconds, though of course not very brightly. No "crack" or anything, just smooth capacitor recharging. Both caps and circuit braker should thank me with a longer trouble-free life :-)

I will have the 40A 2050V fuses next next available for sale. These are pretty difficult to get, I leverage some friends I have in China to get them.

(and several others), get the CAPcur error when these fuses blow. Fixed my bike, and a few other folks fixed their scooters by replacing the fuses. They are surface mounted, and protective coated. I had a local printed circuit assembly shop, for $40 they safely removed the two bad fuses and installed the new ones, and painted on the conformal coating. Very nice and the scooter runs, charges and everything. Although it's clear there's some bad batteries, that probably caused the problem in the first place.

PM me if you want to buy some fuses. Most people only need 2.

Best,
Scotter

I will have the 40A 2050V fuses next next available for sale. These are pretty difficult to get, I leverage some friends I have in China to get them.

(and several others), get the CAPcur error when these fuses blow. Fixed my bike, and a few other folks fixed their scooters by replacing the fuses. They are surface mounted, and protective coated. I had a local printed circuit assembly shop, for $40 they safely removed the two bad fuses and installed the new ones, and painted on the conformal coating. Very nice and the scooter runs, charges and everything. Although it's clear there's some bad batteries, that probably caused the problem in the first place.

PM me if you want to buy some fuses. Most people only need 2.

As for price of the dead bike -- I bought a 2008 Vectrix VX-1 that had two dead fuses in the motor controller, for $1150USD. I replaced the two fuses and 6 batteries and it runs great. Personally I think you should fix your scooter then sell it for more money (or better yet keep and enjoy it).

So yeah, please PM me about the fuses. I've sent them to the UK (twice), Germany, NZ, and all over the USA. I'm in the Seattle area. Also PM me, but I know a guy in the UK that's going to change a set as soon my I send them to him. Like I said a Printed Circuit assembly or repair shop (TV repair shop?) can do the repair. It's pretty simple with a "rework station".

Best,
Scotter

Please PM me with a price -- I'm in the USA.

The bad fuses are usually the two under that cable. Here's the picture of my unit that I repaired. It works great once I put in the new 40A (and 200A) fuses.

The left one (under the cable terminal, is toast. You can tell because the lettering is discolored (see my picture). The right one may be ok, but it's hard to tell. I see some rippling on it, but that's probably just the conformal coating (moisture protection). I'd replace both. The others look OK.
So I think your CAPCur error is due to that fuse. While you are at it, I'd replace the 200A fuse. But I believe you plan to sell this unit.

Cost to repair: $20 for the two fuses (from me), $40 to $50 to have a local circuit board assembly shop swap the parts and spay on conformal coating resin. $20 to $40 for the 200A fuse (let the new owner worry about that). So it's about $70, Test it and you can ask more money for it... don't fix it and you might get $100 to $200 for it from someone like me that knows they can be fixed. For others that don't know, it's worth very little. So if I were you, I'd invest the $70 fix and test it, if it's OK, then I think $400+ is a reasonable price.

IMHO

Best!
Scotter

I'm also wondering of that's a burn mark just up and right from the terminal, just left of the muRata cap. I suspect there are some resistors under the caps -- one may have fried and out-gased out from under the cap, leaving a browning mark. If you can zoom in on those areas, we might be able to tell you more.

Yup I got 'em in stock. Just sent 10 units to someone in the UK and 10 more to AUS. So far 15 people have ordered fuses from all over the world. As of right now I have 80 units in stock.
Price is $10/ea depending on the qty. 10 units for $70

Regular postal service (for 10 units):

UK is $8USD to $11USD
Germany $12USD to $14USD,
NZ about $12USD
AU $15USD to $20USD
Shipping time is about 1 to 2 weeks (although I did have a package returned by customs because the shipping agency priced the parts at $10,000USD each by mistake)...
Or give me an air bill number and I'll use your shipper. So far everyone, including me, were able to repair their MCs.

PM me if interested
Best!
Scott