I have an oddball issue going on with my Vectrix.
A little over a week ago, I noticed the tail light was on on my Vectrix while it was supposedly charging under the carport. (Power is connected to a timer so she tops off every night.)I went out to investigate, and it appeared that the bike was ON. I removed the key (don't remember if it was left in the "on" position or not), and reconnected the power, and the bike again went to ON mode, so I shut the power down to the outlet and went to bed.
A few days later, I rode it down to the hardware store (about three miles round trip), and I noticed that although the battery meter was full to the top, the voltage readout (Laird's new software) was "0", and stayed that way. She ran fine, and I parked her and did not connect power. Today I made another trip to the same store and got the same ZERO readout on the voltage display (used to be est. range) but she ran fine, and is now down three bars from the top. I connected the power and she goes right into "ON" mode with no key. Speedometer reads zero, ready light is flashing, and if I pull up the kickstand and do the lever trick, she goes into "GO" mode and will actually move!
I disconnected the power again, and pulled both connectors below the charger, hoping it would reset or some other cyber miracle would happen, but after a half hour sit and reconnect, she still goes directly to "ON" mode when you connect power from the outlet.
I'm thinking that something has gone screwball with the software, since I'm getting that "0" reading on the voltage readout, even though there's plenty of juice "in the tank".
Your thoughts?
And lastly, does anyone in the US have a can bus cable that I can rent or borrow to reload the software?
HEY ....that just happened to me, just clocked 40,000klm and yesterday took it up a very steep hill and smelt that dreaded electric burn pulled bike apart and the centre motor connector burnt, cleaned it up and assembled and alls fine when riding , but went to charge and same issue EXCEPT it IS charging but "no instrumentation" checked firmware and charger is RED and program will not reload , WHATTHEHELLHAPPPENED?
I reckon your firmware is corrupt as well Moccosin.
cheers Peter
Did you get your VX-1 to accept a charge? I took apart an old VX-1 charger and there seem to be two chargers in my old charger unit. I wrote something on V a few years back and no one made a comment on what the second charger is or was. I think it is a 240 volt only charger vs the one that is wired up "stock" on mostly all scooters. I got as far as rewiring cable to a 240 volt plug and that is where I left it. If your scooter is not charging then maybe you can reverse engineer the plug out and use the second rectifier and capacitor circuit in VX-1? Just a thought or if Vectrix is still around give them a call in New Bedford. How do one find old articles on V? I do remember making pictures smaller to fit on V.
KB1UKU
Haven't gotten anywhere with it yet. My first order of business is to get my hands on a Can Bus cable and reload the software on the thing. It recognizes AC current from the mains, does the usual dash lights and speedometer dance, then instead of going to chare mode, it just goes to ON mode as if I had turned the key on.
It is my understanding, from Laird, that the computer determines where to send the power (that's how it overrides the key switch when you plug it into the mains). So I'm hoping there's just a glitch in the switching software. Worst case is that the charger is dead, so the computer bypasses it and goes to "On" or "Ready" mode instead.
The last time I lost a charger, I got NOTHING when I plugged the bike in, so the fact that Its at least recognizing wall power gives me a glimmer of hope.
moccasin
It sounds like the AC sensing function of the charger has died. So when you plug in the AC, the charger 12V AC/DC converter and the control electronics power up OK (unlike on your first charger), which enables the 12V DC/DC on the MC as if the key was turned on. However, since the charger micro doesnt see the "AC active" signal it does not begin the charge sequence. If it were a problem with the power section of the charger (hi voltage AC/DC), the charge sequence would begin but fault out. Since the sensing circuit is mainly a HW thing, I dont think reloading SW will fix it, unfortunately.
Thanks for the info. Since there are no service dealers anywhere within 200 miles of me, I wonder if replacement chargers are even available for these things anymore?
Is it possible its just a software lockup.
I've had it twice in the last 3 months where i've had to rip into the bike and momentarily (like 1/4 second) break the main anderson connectors (not long enough for capacitors to loose any real charge) and the software is reset and its solved my lockups
The usual lockups i've had have been reset by pulling and re-plugging the charger cables.
At no time did i need to reprogram anything.
The main lockups i've had have been where the power is on but it wont power down nor charge. Lights will remain on too.
Incidentally it takes me 9 minutes to get down to the battery level and about 11 mins to put it all back together. 10mm socket on 6" ext and ratchet- stubby philips screwdriver and a longer handle philips screwdriver.
Next time it happens i'll film the problem and put it on youtube.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Chris
Is it possible its just a software lockup.
I've had it twice in the last 3 months where i've had to rip into the bike and momentarily (like 1/4 second) break the main anderson connectors (not long enough for capacitors to loose any real charge) and the software is reset and its solved my lockups
The usual lockups i've had have been reset by pulling and re-plugging the charger cables.
At no time did i need to reprogram anything.
The main lockups i've had have been where the power is on but it wont power down nor charge. Lights will remain on too.
Incidentally it takes me 9 minutes to get down to the battery level and about 11 mins to put it all back together. 10mm socket on 6" ext and ratchet- stubby philips screwdriver and a longer handle philips screwdriver.
Next time it happens i'll film the problem and put it on youtube.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Chris
Hi, in my case it was a softwarelockup too, which was caused by a memory dump.
I could solve it by disconnecting the charger form the MC and teh Battery.
Take a look at my old Post .
Crosssing Fingers Mike
Thanks for the encouragement.
Although I have disconnected both charger connections with no success, I have not attempted to disconnec the anderson connectors. As soon as my cables get here, Harry is going to help me reload the software, and if that doesn't work, I'll have no choice but to disconnect the battery to preserve whatever charge is still present. I may try reconnecting the andersons just for a quick test, but it's been nearly a month with no charge and about 6 miles on the clock, so we may be near the end of the road.
I seriously doubt that I will throw more money into a new charger, but I'm hoping to at least moth-ball it for a future fix if a used charger pops up somewhere from a parted out bike.
Which type of charger do you have? The old silver(ESD) or new golden (Runky)one?
Greetings Mike
You should disconnect the Blue Andersons connector in any case, to prevent deep discharge of the battery while you are waiting.
Mik
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
I can see a couple of flaws in your plan Moccasin.
1. Waiting is a bad thing whilst its draining your batteries.
2. In my experience of software lockups, the whole canbus system is disrupted and you cannnot actually reprogram anything until you've done the anderson reconnect.
by which point you will have reset your software and reprogramming it is pointless as there is nothing wrong with the programs on the bike.
Obviously if you haven't taken the covers off before then it can feel daunting but checkout Antiscabs videos on youtube if you want confirmation of the sequence in which to do things. I havent watched them in a while but it is very easy to dismantle.
One thing to bear in mind which makes it quicker and easier if you are just momentarily re-connecting andersons is that you don't actually need to remove the (lower main *sealed*) battery cover (with the awkwardness that can bring with getting it past the rear assm. which usually is getting in the way) just lift it slightly and get your hands in both sides whilst standing over it and you can reach the andersons with easy. (Take off your jewellery for safety though.)
Hope this helps
Now go do it ! I reckon in half an hour or so your bike will be back to normal !
Some cables on the Andersons are so short that it is a pain trying to re-connect them. On some scooters, and with experience, it might be possible to leave the cover on and do a quick disconnect/reconnect, but I would definitively advise against trying this for a novice.
The capacitors drain within seconds and an inrush current limiter should be used each time the Andersons is being re-connected.
I recommend you get someone suitably qualified to take the lid off completely so one can see what one is doing, then disconnect the Andersons, then connect a light-bulb ICL properly (evidenced by it lighting up for about 3sec) and then reconnect the Andersons at leisure while the ICL is still connected.
Mik
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
Thanks Mik.
I opened up the bike and access to the front half of the big blue connector just is not sufficient to be able to apply an ICL properly. Being as how this big blue connector is just the connection between two HALVES of a battery, wouldn't it be better to disconnect the main cable from the Positive terminal post at the (more accessable) rear battery? An ICL would be quite simple to apply in that area. (using full precautions and insulated gloves obviously).
UPDATE: I disconnected the positive cable from the battery to the controller and let her sit for a couple of days while I was waiting on an ICL to reconnect. Did that tonight and the problem is still there.
I will make an attempt to reload the software in a few days, with some help from my friend Harry a hundred miles away. I don't have high hopes for that fixing anything either, but I at least want to try it before I scrap the bike.
Will keep you posted.
Sorry to hear its still unwell. Sadly (because of potential cost) it may be that Xvectrix was correct. I suppose unsurprisingly, however its a real shame because the connect/reconnect would have been so much easier/cheaper Eh.
Can such a HW fault be repaired?
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
Feb 15th UPDATE:
Well, attempts at reprogramming have failed. The Vectrix Diagnostic Software will not regonize that a charger is present, therefore it has nowhere to send the program.
Our last ray of hope is that perhaps a rodent or some other critter has decided to nest in the nose cone and possibly has chewed through a wire or dislodged a connection somewhere between the charger and whatever else it's connected to. We know that the main connectors at the charger are intact, but I will strip the body off soon and inspect the entire run of electrical wiring for defects.
Much appreciation to my friend Harry for his time and efforts in helping me with the software loading.
By the way, has anyone on here had any success using 64bit Windows 7 with the scooter diagnostics program? We installed it on my laptop, and although the program runs, it will not recognize the bike through the cable. Harry's XP works just fine, and we had to manually install a couple of .dll files to get the program working on my Win7 laptop, but it still can't see the bike. My wife has a 32bit Win7 notebook, which we are going to try to connect with, in hopes that it's a 64/32bit issue and not a Win7 issue.
Wish me luck on the simple wiring fix, because if that ain't it, I'm afraid she's gonna be a parts bike. :-(
It definitely works with Windows 7 32 bit.
It doesn't work with my Windows 8 machine, which is 64 bit.
Thanks. At least that tells me it's worth a try with the wife's notebook computer.
Well, nothing dislodged or disrupted in the wiring system as far as I can see and feel, so it sounds like XVectrix was correct in his diagnoses of a failed charger. I didn't doubt it, but wasn't ready to give up so soon. :-(
So my beloved Vectrix is now down for the count and I have again disconnected the battery pack for preservation (with about 130 volts left).
I don't have the time or desire to disassemble the bike for parting her out, so if anyone out there is interested in a complete bike (with a bad charger) for parts or tinkering (repair or conversion to Li?) and willing to come to Alabama (Montgomery area) to pick it up, I will entertain any reasonable offer.
It's been a great ride and buckets of fun to own, but at this point I think I would rather invest any further monies in a Chevy Volt, so my Vectrix days are done.