Having nearly sold it a couple of months ago due to a house move, I've been thoroughly enjoying my Vectrix of late. Especially today when, with the Pope in town, my commute was the quietest it's ever been.
Alas all was not well when I got home. Plugged the bike in as usual and ... nothing. Reset the BMS in case it had tripped while charging, and still nothing. Unplugged the two connectors to the charger for a couple of hours thinking that might help, but having plugged them back in the bike is still lifeless when connected to the mains.
It turns on fine with the key, everything's as normal - 3 bars left on the "fuel gauge", 139 volts showing on the left display. With the two charger connectors unplugged, it still turns on but the fuel gauge reads full and the voltage display is blank.
The vital stats: 2008 VX-1, 40Ah LiFePO4 w EVPower BMS, ESD Charger running software written for me by Sandy (The Laird) in July 2014
Next step would be to connect my CanBus and see what, if anything, that reveals. But it's out on loan at the moment - any other suggestions as to where to start looking?
Thanks in advance!
'Start looking'... for a new charger, I'm afraid! They can be fixed but only by someone with a penchant for masochism and little better to do with their life.
Regards, Martin Winlow
Isle of Colonsay, Scotland
evalbum.com/2092
Sorry to hear! Sent you a PM if you want to borrow my adapter - I could drive by on Friday, as my office is near your neck of the woods (or you come over to get it any time)....
Very true, I'm afraid... The good news is that now there are more options coming that will allow to integrate and aftermarket charger and still have the bike display work. For example, the little adapter mentioned somewhere here on this forum and I suspect David from www.vectrixsupport.com might have something up his sleeve soon...
Thanks guys. I figured this was the problem :(
I'm going to take my time researching alternatives, I'd like to keep the display functionality if I can. In the meantime, what's the latest collective wisdom on a cheap, easy offboard charging solution? I only really need to charge at home for my regular commute.
(yes, I'll search the forum, but there's so much out there it's difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff sometimes!)
JimmyB there is an add from (EV ASSEMBLY) that pop's up ewvery time I come here on the VECTRIX site,I am not sure it's on all computers. and they have one thay will work on the VECTRIX.
Well I'm back up and running, bike is charged and all reassembled.
Couple of differences between the dead charger, on top, and the "new" one, below:
Part of the casing of the old charger had been cut away at some point - perhaps to make it easier to get to the connectors?
Old charger had a sticker from ESD; new one only has this small sticker in the corner.
If it dies again I'll explore one of the Elcon options, in conjunction with this which looks like a very neat solution. The Elcon itself is $340 plus $69 shipping from evassemble.com. I did also talk to Fuel Free Motos, who offered me a charger for 599 Euros plus shipping, or 999 if I wanted their fancy firmware. Which might make economic sense in Europe, but it doesn't here in the US.
Thanks as always for all the help and support on here :)
J
You could get a new one (Runke) from VectrixParts... http://shop.vectrixparts.com/runke-battery-charger-3-0.html - V3.0, €600... MW
Regards, Martin Winlow
Isle of Colonsay, Scotland
evalbum.com/2092
What did you end up paying for the new charger? I paid $188 for a new Runke from that guy selling 10 of them on eBay, but I have yet to fit it into my bike.
-Randy
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I also own a 2018 Tesla Model 3 and a 2012 Mitsubishi iMiev
Mine was $150 for the ESD, from the folk I mentioned here - worth the risk, I figure, given that it might go 'pop' at any moment. Although I'm hoping with use of a timer and a gentler charging current it might last a decent while.
Martin - thanks, you're right, I forgot that option. Shipping across the pond makes it expensive, though.