2008 Zapino a wise buy in 2011?

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ookba
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Last seen: 4 years 1 month ago
Joined: Friday, September 6, 2013 - 16:28
Points: 40
Re: 2008 Zapino a wise buy in 2011?

My 2008 Zapino is experiencing intermittent problems upon acceleration. When I have the throttle on full it sometimes feels like the motor is cutting off. I back off the throttle and power comes back on. This can be very unsettling with an SUV on your tail. I took it to Jeff at Voltage Vehicles here in Santa Rosa. His computer did not show any faults. However he experienced the same problem during a test ride. He is suggesting I replace the motor and/or controller to see if that is the problem. Has anyone had this problem? If so, is there an easier and cheaper fix? I have put about 2400 miles on the scooter since May of this year when I acquired it new. Like the scooter, but need to solve this problem if I am going to keep riding. Contacted ZAP. Not a lot of help there.

Kind of lte to reply to this but why not. Sounds like you have a battery or wiring issue. When the motor loads up asking for more amps, your batt's cannot provide it so it's cutting out. I'd start with wiring and tightening. THen replace the batt's. I just got a new 2008 Zapino (only 5 miles on it) with bad batteries (been sitting in someone's garage for 5 years). I swapped the batteries out with 5 universal UB12350 SLA's and it runs like a champ. Tops out at 46mph and even in high speed mode, I am getting almost 30 miles to the charge!

HPC Revolution - Insane mode
Vectrix VX-2 #2 - Work in progress
72V 54MPH 2008 Zoomin' Zapino - Sold
48V 40MPH 2011 Vectrix VX-2 flyin' - Sold

zapete
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Last seen: 7 years 11 months ago
Joined: Friday, May 20, 2011 - 15:01
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Re: 2008 Zapino a wise buy in 2011?

I ended up trading it back to Voltage Vehicles here in Santa Rosa for another 2008 Zapino. New one has been working great for 3,900 miles. Too bad Voltage Vehicles has closed down and I am ready unclear on current status of ZAP. Zapino has been a great scooter with above exception.

ookba
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Last seen: 4 years 1 month ago
Joined: Friday, September 6, 2013 - 16:28
Points: 40
Re: 2008 Zapino a wise buy in 2011?

I ended up trading it back to Voltage Vehicles here in Santa Rosa for another 2008 Zapino. New one has been working great for 3,900 miles. Too bad Voltage Vehicles has closed down and I am ready unclear on current status of ZAP. Zapino has been a great scooter with above exception.

Cool! Yea, the Zapino is fun. I'm finding lots of small electrical problems and just poor build quality not to mention lots of loose nuts and bolts. Also the whole bike isn't grounded right either. I get 60VDC from any wire to ground (chassis) behind the 12V power reducer. Found out the hard way when I got Zap(ped) with sweaty hands while rewiring my lights and fixing my turn signals. May help to Ground the battery's 60v output Neg terminal and motor to the chassis. Other than that, did some pretty nifty mods so far like integrated the battery charger to the bike (other side of controller) and installing a heel push button switch for high/low speed switching on the fly with your foot. Next, I want to try adding a 6th battery and going for 72V. Should yield about 7-10MPH to both speed settings and a bit more range. I think I can fit the 6th battery in front of the front battery under the foot rest area. Will have to weld in another small metal box. Fun!

HPC Revolution - Insane mode
Vectrix VX-2 #2 - Work in progress
72V 54MPH 2008 Zoomin' Zapino - Sold
48V 40MPH 2011 Vectrix VX-2 flyin' - Sold

vikram_ram
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Last seen: 7 years 9 months ago
Joined: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - 20:24
Points: 3
Re: 2008 Zapino a wise buy in 2011?

Hi,
I have a zapino that has been garaged for close to 3 years! I recently recharged it and got a few miles out of the batteries, but I guess it's time for replacement now...

The UB12350 battery terminals are NB type and the BB battery terminals in the scooter are I2 typeBB-battery.JPG. I was wondering how you got around it (sorry I am a novice). Also, can I use the existing charger if I switch to UB batteries. Appreciate your help. BB Batteries do not seem to produce these batteries anymore and none of the websites seem to carry this combination of EPV35-12F-I2! So, any help with finding a good replacement at a reasonable cost would be much appreciated. Will this work -> ? Also, I was told by Zap that I need to buy deep cycle batteries, but no battery I have researched says that! Not even the one I have in my scooter!
Thanks

vikram_ram
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Last seen: 7 years 9 months ago
Joined: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - 20:24
Points: 3
Re: 2008 Zapino a wise buy in 2011?

I do not see my earlier comment/question, but can you please tell me how you got the UB12350 SLA's to work with the Zapino. The terminals in the UB batteries are NB type, but the Zapino BB batteries have I2 terminal type. Sorry if this is a double post.
Thanks

Wheelie_Boy
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Last seen: 7 years 7 months ago
Joined: Monday, March 16, 2009 - 22:45
Points: 12
Re: 2008 Zapino a wise buy in 2011?

Hey vikram_ram,

When I replaced my batteries, I just bought bolts, nuts and washers to fit the L-terminal on the new batteries, and connected the original wiring to those. As a precaution, I also wrapped my wrench handles with electrical tape while wiring them in. Once all the connections were made, I wrapped all the terminals in heat shrink tape to avoid any possibility of a short circuit.

Hope this works for you!

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