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Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: NEW2elec on July 04, 2020, 06:23:28 PM

Title: Half of a charger fail.
Post by: NEW2elec on July 04, 2020, 06:23:28 PM

My beloved 13 DS had shown a blinking red warning light when I plugged it in after a hotter ride a few days ago so I unplugged it and let it cool for a few hours then plugged it back up and it charged fine.
Yesterday I plugged it in and as the contactor(s) clicked closed there was a pause and then a clear POP.  I still had a blinking charge light but looking at my Kill A Watt meter it was at 5.28 Amps.  The 13s used 4 Meanwell chargers, so I guess either 2 died or one died and knocked out 2 grouped together.

I've seen videos of smaller capacitors popping/exploding and it sure sounded like that.
I'm guessing that it can't be the main charging fuse since I still get 1/2 of the chargers working.

Any other ideas?
I'm using my Quiq charger with it now and getting 14 amps total.

Title: Re: Half of a charger fail.
Post by: Gains on July 04, 2020, 09:04:52 PM

I had the same problem on my 2013S a few years ago.
One of the four chargers was dead,and since they are 2 by 2 in parallel series,the bike falls back to half the charging power.
It is possible to replace only the dead charger if you have one. You ll need big crimping tools and shrinking sleeves.
 Zero sends the full pack of four chargers.

Title: Re: Half of a charger fail.
Post by: NEW2elec on July 04, 2020, 11:37:11 PM

Thanks a lot Gains, there are so few 13s still out glad to see someone else dealt with it too.  I saw there was a charger control unit that was used only in 13 as well so that was a possible failure point.
I saw the chargers are sold as an assembly package as well.  I'll try to get under there and see if I can get the model number and price one unit and see if it's beyond my skills (likely).
Thanks again.

Title: Re: Half of a charger fail.
Post by: BrianTRice@gmail.com on July 10, 2020, 12:44:14 AM

It's apparently time I made a separate unofficial manual article for the 2013 era charger:
- https://zeromanual.com/wiki/SDS_Platform/Unofficial_Service_Manual#Charger (https://zeromanual.com/wiki/SDS_Platform/Unofficial_Service_Manual#Charger)
- https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Onboard_Charger (https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Onboard_Charger)

I'll include the above guidance for repair, and will gladly add more specificity if someone walks through it and gets details and/or photos.

Title: Re: Half of a charger fail.
Post by: BrianTRice@gmail.com on July 10, 2020, 06:01:56 AM

Okay, I made this article to track this issue, and will put it into the manual shortly:
- https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Gen2/Meanwell_Charger (https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Gen2/Meanwell_Charger)