DEAD Vectrix, what is FIrst steps

Great to hear!

Well I have a new charger, and wall plug cord bought that will be here Friday, and I am supposed to have a CanBus lined up to rent! There might be hope.

So what was the upshot, you got a new Vectrix charger? Where? How much?

-Randy

Really? I have been shopping for a vectrix power supply for months, how did I miss that. Or did you get a third party supply?

-Randy

There is a whole VX1 on ebay right now, which is apparently working, other than the fuel gauge (so probably mismatched controller/charger or something else iffy). Cheap! Might be a good deal for the right person ;-)

OK, so the Runke charger arrived. I took the working ESD charger off the new bike to put it back on my original. The Runke appears to not use the same setup. There is only one orientation that the Runke fits, but the bolts are FAR too long now and the orientation will not allow the control cable nor the battery cable to reach. The 110v cable reaches when I cut the zip ties holding the ground wires.

Has anyone put a Runke charger in a bike that came with an ESD?

-Randy

I replaced the ESD charger on my '09 VX-1 with a Runke. The bolt holes should align. You may need to buy shorter replacement bolts - I forgot if I had to or not. My local hardware stocks them by the piece, about $0.30 each. My local Home Depot also sells stainless steel metric bolts of the right size.

The cables were indeed a bit of a tight fit. If the charger was one cm off from where it is, the top (control) cable would not reach. But in my case, they reached fine. Try to route them a in a few different ways over or from behind. If they still don't reach, you may need to go further into the bike and cut more zip ties is my guess - I did not need to cut any ZIP ties if I remember correctly.

OK, so the Runke charger arrived. I took the working ESD charger off the new bike to put it back on my original. The Runke appears to not use the same setup. There is only one orientation that the Runke fits, but the bolts are FAR too long now and the orientation will not allow the control cable nor the battery cable to reach. The 110v cable reaches when I cut the zip ties holding the ground wires.

Has anyone put a Runke charger in a bike that came with an ESD?

-Randy

israndy

Here you can find the instruction how to install the Runke in place of ESD charger:

http://service.vectrixparts.com/topic/1113895-rerouting-ac-and-dc-cables-and-data-harness-for-runke-charger-installation-el09-e-...

Best

Piotr

Sweet! thanks.

-Randy

Never, ever enter "Vectrix" into your local craigslist search! This scooter is about 10 miles from me. I *do not* want to try to revive a dead VX-1, but it's a beautiful scooter...

http://albany.craigslist.org/mcy/5503323984.html

If that was near me I'd be tempted to pick it up and make one good bike out of the two. Good thing it's not!

If I acquire Kocho's VX-1 - and that's a very big "if" - I'll be tempted to buy it as a parts bike...and for those lovely red body panels. Anyone ever tow a VX-1? Say "NO!" please.

I have a motorcycle lift for my RV that I have used to bring my second VX1 home with and I had a blow out that let me take my original bike to the shop with. I left the RV at the cabin so this week when my second VX1 gave up the ghost I had to call AAA, but they came and towed it with a motorcycle mount on a flatbed. It was VERY painless.

I have seen several people take home bikes that would not change for around $500 and then charge them up with an external charger to over 100 volts and then the internal charger take over. The original owner didn't know that letting the batteries die over winter means it shows as dead, but really just needs a jump. Very lucky if that's you. I hoped that was going to happen when I got my second VX-1, but it also needed a new charger. I only paid $150, but it was a long 6 months of learning what chargers fit... If you get the bike and need a charger I still have a spare.

-Randy

Thanks. I don't know that I'd want to try to revive the local one. I'd primarily want it for parts. Still, if I were to detect real voltage in it...