Forgive me in advance for this rambling post.
I haven't been riding my bike for the past 3 weeks. I'm half-done installing the vectrixpro topcase bracket (which apparently isn't a drop-in installation as I need different length bolts and to expand some of the holes to get everything to line up, but kudos to Vectrixpro on the heavy duty components otherwise).
I definitely have battery issues and I installed the laird 144v software a few months ago which was helpful, but I know it's the beginning of the end to this battery pack and need to swap out a few bad cells (thanks to former member Harry who gave me 2 complete used battery packs). In the meantime I am getting less and less bars after charge (now 2 bars below the halfway mark).
I have been charging the bike once a week and disconnect from the mains a few hours after charge completes, and the charge level voltage displayed is 144 in the voltage/distance readout up until now. Here's where I had a problem:
This past Sunday I charged the bike and forgot to unplug it. I unplugged the bike Tuesday night and it was showing 135v remaining. After unplugging it and the battery cooling fans turned on (part of Laird's programming) I walked away and expected the fans to shut off after the usual 10 minutes or so. Last night (Wednesday) I went to drop something off in my garage and I noticed that the cooling fans were still running on the bike and the gauge pod was illuminated even though the key was not inserted and the bike was not plugged in to the power outlet. The "fuel gauge" was showing 0 bars and the volt meter was reading 129 volts. I quickly plugged the charge cord back in to the power outlet and let the bike charge again for a few hours, then unplugged it before the charge cycle ended. I waited 10 minutes and the cooling fans turned off. I didn't go back to check the bike again afterwards to see if the bike had turned itself on again.
What are your thoughts?
Jesse in Atlanta
hi there. I've seen this once about 18 months ago. Went into work (at a different location to normal) I parked my bike in a distanced underground carpark, turned it off - fans running of course - expected them to stop in 1hr. 10 hrs later after a days work - came back to the bike to a lovely cool pack ! The fans had been running all day. I managed to get home, just. I've not seen the problem since and i ride daily. I can only guess it is just one of those unfortunate glitches that happen somehow somewhen.
I don't think its a programming problem per-se as I've only seen it once.
It happened something similar some months ago, replugging solved the issue immediately.
The lairds firmware under Mediterranean climate tend to show the capatity you use, not the absolute real capacity. When you reach 0 bars, you still have some extra range. Do you have permanent voltage display? I try to discharge gently to 115v once per month to recalibrate. In one year I've lost only two real bars.
115v??? My scooter will barely move if I let it get down to 115v!! I assume you mean at rest, right?
NOpe, I'm using Firmware MC1014b, allows discharge to 102v. Later Firmwares allow discharge to 115v (your case), this is why I try to avoid going under that 115v mark.
That's the firmware I'm using.
I can see 103v when i'm accelerating, but if i'm at 115v at rest, acceleration is approaching non existent to unusable at 103v. Maybe that's battery capacity related? No idea.
I should have specified: 115v while ridding.... I suggest you avoid going under 120v except in monthly recalibration procedure, and never allow going below 115v under any condition, except if you're quite stranded in the middle of the road and need to reach a recharging post...;-)
When reaching 103v, you're killing the voltage of some cells, permanently damaging the battery. This explains why are you loosing bars quite quickly.
I actually gained 1/2 a bar after almost one year of using The Lairds software.
I recalibrate to 120v, and only if I really need the range. For me 120v = Empty. So maybe going down to 115v is already to low!
Also I always let the charge finish completely. Because I live in cold climate the battery heating is very well controlled. My post charge cooling period is set to 90 minutes and most of the time (this winter) my voltage is 146/147v about 4 hours after charging. In summertime this is 143/144v
My battery gauge is 3 bars above the middle bar after recalibration. But after a few weeks this can drop to two bars below the middle bar (especially in wintertime).
Once you go EV, Gas is history!
double post
Once you go EV, Gas is history!
Sounds like you are not riding, just recharging every week. Please confirm if that is correct.
If so, then the self-discharge rate programmed into The Lairds software most likely exceeds the actual SDC rate. In other words, the reduction in bars at end of charge is incorrect.
The slow, deep-ish discharge probably did your battery good. You should have continued to let it charge until the end, that would have shown you the true number of bars you can expect for useful riding. You can probably still get a fairly close estimate by plugging it back in now and letting it complete.
Turning the scooter on and letting it stand for a near complete discharge will probably save you some grief if you do it at the end of a long period of inactivity. If the battery has not been cycled recently, then you will get drastically reduced performance, regards to both power and range.
Cheers, Mik
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