Bought in a heap at a garage sale, wondering if I'll be able to make it run. The electric all works except the motor. I get the occasional 10 or 15 error code, but mostly things seem okay. Except I have to wonder about the condition of the plugin card.
Since you're interested in the batteries, the originals were gone when I got it. I'd already picked up some Werker 33 amp lead acid from Battery Store when I found this site and learned of the LifePO4. Obviously I've had no chance to learn the range.
The plastic is in bad shape, the throttle was jammed from langing on that side. (Some people just shouldn't ride.) But the horn/lights/blinkers, everything seems normal. Does it always make so much noise as it charges? Since the book mentions that it has safety modes that shut the motor off, I wonder if one of those is causing it.
And the white lead: Should it be connected with the black one as a ground, as I think I see in the owners manual, or to the red one that it's tied together with as though they'd both be positive?
Since there's clearly no hope of obtaining a service manual, what would be some good generic things to try on an electric that doesn't work? The lights, blinkers, EVERYTHING ELSE works, it just doesn't go. There's throttle linkage to the controller, and that works. I just don't know how to run any tests on it.
WHo dares, WINS!!!!
take the thing apart and lurn..
its hard but i did its a long long time ago but think that there are fuses within the electronic part that is bolted to the side its quite simple to take apart
are all the batery conections well titend up ?
Oh, it's apart. Several problems here, including the busted up plastic, but that' coming together nicely without even using the plastic welder.
I've only found 2 fuses, they seem fine. The plugs are all together except for a widowed connetion off the keyswitch that doesn't seem to go to anything. There's an unmatched plug elsewhere that has this odd jumper. It seemed to jolt once when I first started working on it, so I feel like it's waiting a chance to go.
I've tried to push the button in on the brakes to make sure the disconnect isn't stopping it, but I'm doggone limited in other tests to run. It doesn't look like there was any impact damage to the components. I haven't figured out how to take the throttle grip apart, wondering if there could be a connection in there that's shorting.
And wondering if there are even any parts available for these anymore.
WHo dares, WINS!!!!
I have an electronic copy of the entire service manual and could email it to you. Where should I send it?
"Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
Is the board restorable so the manual could be posted again?
WHo dares, WINS!!!!
Oxygen is still in operation in Europe and they still make the commercial version of the Lepton. You should be able to get parts, but it might take some time. I bought my Lepton from Thunderstruck Motors in CA. You could contact them about parts as they have been a dealer.
Sure, the Lepton isn't fancy or speedy, but they have a good reputation and mine has run fine for the 3 years I've owned it. Well built too. I had it converted to LiFePO4 which required bypassing the onboard charger to an external. This ends up disabling the scooter's monitoring electronics so it can't detect the charge and the Low Battery light stays lit. But, it didn't do the auto shut down, runs anyway, and I can use the odometer mode to check range etc. Some of the original Leptons were SLA, another model the "Lepton e" had NiMH I think.
Do you have the security coded key? Their anti-theft is fairly sophisticated. I've heard of folks losing the security key and needing to write to Oxygen for a new one.
"Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
The Lepton-e used Nickel-Zinc batteries, manufactured by the now-defunct Evercell Co.
I hear the expression 'Auto Off' and I cringe. Could it just not run with the particular batteries I have????
I have the security key, and it otherwise seems to be working on it.
As it is I don't know what it's supposed to do, and I don't know how to test it. Hoping I'll be getting that manual from you. I used the board message, which I'm thinking is supposed to be an EMail.
WHo dares, WINS!!!!
I doubt that. Leptons can use different types of batteries with the right charger. The "auto off" I was referring to is a safeguard that shuts the scooter down when it detects that the battery is below 10% capacity. But, it has to be able to read the remaining capacity to do it so would only work if batteries and chargers were wired into the system. When people bypass the onboard charging system to use LiFePO4 packs it can no longer read the battery state. The concern was whether or not the scooter would continue running if the onboard charging system was not being used. Luckily, that doesn't seem to be the case.
"Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
hi i have a working lepton but i now need new batteries, could you help me locate them? i took off the auto off switch and permanently hooked up the security key inside the chassis. A couple of times mine didn't start and i unscrewed the cover of the on buttons and found an insects cocoon and by cleaning it out it started again. anna
Locating batteries will depend on what you want. I went to the BatteriesPlus Store and picked up 33amp lead acid cells for $350 or less. And they fit nicely. You would probably do better with some of these LiFePO4 batteries they talk about here, but that's quite a bit more.
http://www.batteriesplus.com/product_search/35924-Werker-Deep-Cycle-12V-33AH-AGM-Battery-W_-J-Terminal-DASH--DASH-WKDC12--33J.aspx
And the site will have a link to refer you to the LiFePO4, but I don't know where it is.
And I've looked for the obvious things. If I had a service manual it would tell me how to test the controller, etc., and what the results should be. I'm thinking this might be one a guy was recently trying to sell on Craigslist by getting someone to give him money to finish it while he experimented with the upgrades, I was EMailing that I thought what he was saying was dicey and he got pissy and all knowing in his response. Don't know for a fact this is the same one, but I bought it from a guy at a garage sale near me from a guy who'd put it in his name less than 2 months ago, and the receipt for him getting it for pocketchange was with the paperwork. So I'm just guessing the guy with the bad attitude proved me right by maybe burning up the controller or something. I just wish I could test it right.
WHo dares, WINS!!!!
I didn't quite follow your last message about the "guys", but I do have the service manual. I do need an email address to sent it to as I can't seem to attach the file to a forum response. Please PM me your email address (NOT your forum user) and I'll get it to you.
FalconEV can make LiFePO4 packs for Leptons. I have one.
"Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
I was telling of a guy who posted on Craigslist that he wanted to make questionable modifications to an electric scooter that I EMailed him a warning about and got a snarky response in return. I'm wondering if this might be that scooter, passed through at least one more set of hands before I stumbled on it. It had definitely been opened up and worked at before I got it. If the controller is shot, I'll have to go aftermarket, won't I?
And I thought the board would send an EMail from me to you. I also just realized it I really have to hunt to see if I got a message in return, I expected it to be in plain sight as I've seen on other boards. I wonder how many of you have messages you've never noticed.
But EMail sent, and thank you.
WHo dares, WINS!!!!
What & Where is this "auto off switch"?!?