Flat battery and charger not working. How I fixed it

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jamesengland
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Flat battery and charger not working. How I fixed it

I thought this might be useful to know. I didn't use my Vectrix for several weeks and committed the cardinal sin of not topping up the batteries (niMh). Basically, I forgot. Yesterday, I jumped on the bike and zoomed off down the long hill where I live. I reached the local supermarket and then found I had a flat battery. The bike died completely and all the dials froze on. There was a tiny amount of power to the rear light.

I managed to push the bike up the hill... A real workout which took 30 minutes, for 500 yards, and which I did in four stages. Then, when I plugged in the charger....no response. I tried it several times, waited, tried again. nothing. Obviously the battery voltage was so low that the charger would not work.

In desperation, I disconnected the Anderson connector and connected up a 6 amp car battery charger to one end of it, making sure the polarity was correct, of course. I left it on for half an hour, then used the light bulb thing to reconnect the Anderson connector. I plugged the bike in and...it began to charge!

I've been out on the bike tonight and its running fine.

MEroller
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Re: Flat battery and charger not working. How I fixed it

WOW! A meek 14 or so Volt car charger vs. a 120-something Volt battery revives it enough for a charger that expects (was it?) 100V minimum to start charging???

Do any of the Vecrix cracks here have a physical explanation for this phenomenon?

But that sure was a hefty workout :-)

My rides:
2017 Zero S ZF6.5 11kW, erider Thunder 5kW

moccasin
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Re: Flat battery and charger not working. How I fixed it

I'm no "crack" for sure, but a few points in James' story lead me to believe his was not a flat battery in the first place.

1.) The Vectrix should be capable of sitting for months without falling below the threshold of the charger.

2.) At the point where the Vectrix won't move anymore, it's still 20 volts or more higher than the charger threshold.

3.) The Vectrix won't ride itself below the charger threshold, so the fact that he was able to move at all to get the bike headed toward the supermarket means it was well above the threshold.

4.) "Guages froze on" is more likely a computer glitch, which was likely "reset" by disconnecting and reconnecting the Anderson connector.

My guess is, running the car charger did nothing to help or hinder the situation.

Mik
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Re: Flat battery and charger not working. How I fixed it

My guess is, running the car charger did nothing to help or hinder the situation.

I agree.

Does the car charger still work...???

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

ofx210p
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Joined: Monday, October 20, 2008 - 03:22
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Re: Flat battery and charger not working. How I fixed it

I have to agree..... computer freeze up and disconnecting - reconnecting andersons solved it.

A 12v battery charger in no way would be able to charge half the pack and a diode / fuse would probably protect the voltage from the vectrix battery from frying the charger.

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