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[Shadow]

...That's why the OEM 650w charger is interesting, because the price is right, even if the capacity is low.  If I could get it to work without much grief, it would be a viable option for me....

Glad to hear it sounds useful to you. That is exactly why I did document using the smallest and least expensive model of TC UHF charging module.

Question what needs answered: Does ((1)) a TC charger module that is programmed by the factory for charging profile yet also respond to CANbus or does ((2)) the module need to be enabled (by the factory!?) to respond to CANbus and charging profile is not required to provide to the factory?

"Brain-box" is not needed for the smaller charging currents i.e. QuiQ chargers officially sold by Zero Motorcycles have no such thing.

[likeawp]

My reply isn't technical or anything but I can share my experience. My OEM charger on my 2016 Zero SR with 23k miles just recently failed as well. I happened to live near the official Zero dealership in Orange, CA. I was going to do a direct battery replacement until I asked the owner of the dealership for his recommendation. He said that the OEM Calex charger has been improved and there has been less failures, but it's still an old design that Zero won't probably spend money on fixing. The charger on the new SR/F is a new design by Zero and they probably worked out the kinks.

With that said, he advised me to buy the Quiq charger for a near zero-fail charging solution. He said they are solid, never seen one fail, the cooling/connections/contacts are beefy and should never experience heat issues. So I went with tge $600 Quiq charger since I just use the bike to go to work. The other solution is the $2,300 charge tank option but that's for someone that likes to ride long distances often.

[DonTom]

My reply isn't technical or anything but I can share my experience. My OEM charger on my 2016 Zero SR with 23k miles just recently failed as well. I happened to live near the official Zero dealership in Orange, CA. I was going to do a direct battery replacement until I asked the owner of the dealership for his recommendation. He said that the OEM Calex charger has been improved and there has been less failures, but it's still an old design that Zero won't probably spend money on fixing. The charger on the new SR/F is a new design by Zero and they probably worked out the kinks.

With that said, he advised me to buy the Quiq charger for a near zero-fail charging solution. He said they are solid, never seen one fail, the cooling/connections/contacts are beefy and should never experience heat issues. So I went with tge $600 Quiq charger since I just use the bike to go to work. The other solution is the $2,300 charge tank option but that's for someone that likes to ride long distances often.

If you have 240 VAC around, for a hundred bucks more you can buy a 2.5 KW charger from Elcon, but you will have to run your own wires and make adapters as I did here.

Also see here.

The Zero Delta-Q chargers are only 1 KW regardless if 120 VAC or 240 VAC. The ELcon will still give you a little more power, perhaps 1.2KW, at 120 VAC.

-Don-  Cold Springs Valley, NV

[Bill822]

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but has anyone looked into repairing Calex chargers, maybe making them more durable? Was a failure mode determined? If not, maybe someone has an old dead charger they could donate for an autopsy?
I would think that in this crowd the issue has been examined closely, but I'm new here.

[DonTom]

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but has anyone looked into repairing Calex chargers, maybe making them more durable? Was a failure mode determined? If not, maybe someone has an old dead charger they could donate for an autopsy?
I would think that in this crowd the issue has been examined closely, but I'm new here.

Unfortunately, they are tightly sealed in such a way that makes them not reasonably possible to repair.  Just junk the bad one--or use it for a boat anchor!

-Don-  Reno, NV

[Bill822]

Found this. Yuk! Designed to fail. We're lucky if it hasn't caused fires.
https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Calex_Charger_Teardown

[Richard230]

Found this. Yuk! Designed to fail. We're lucky if it hasn't caused fires.
https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Calex_Charger_Teardown

But the latest version is new and improved.   

Is Zero still using the Calex charger on the SR/F?    If so, they must like them for some reason.

[DonTom]

But the latest version is new and improved.   

Does that mean if mine craps out and I replace it, I will get the new improved version?

For now, I try to reduce the time my onboard charger is running by always using a couple of quick chargers even when I am not in a hurry. I figure this way the charger components will not be as hot for as long.

-Don-  Cold Springs Valley, NV

[Richard230]

But the latest version is new and improved.   

Does that mean if mine craps out and I replace it, I will get the new improved version?

For now, I try to reduce the time my onboard charger is running by always using a couple of quick chargers even when I am not in a hurry. I figure this way the charger components will not be as hot for as long.

-Don-  Cold Springs Valley, NV

Yes. The improved version has a plastic box attached to the middle of the power cord.  My son-in-law called it a "choke". I think it is designed to eliminate sparking when the power cord is connected or disconnected from the bike at the chassis. 

[DonTom]

Yes. The improved version has a plastic box attached to the middle of the power cord.  My son-in-law called it a "choke". I think it is designed to eliminate sparking when the power cord is connected or disconnected from the bike at the chassis. 

Oh, so then you must have received  the new style of on-board charger  when you replaced the one on your daughter's bike. That's good to hear.

I never connect or disconnect the AC when live to the connector to the OBC. I do that down the line, such as turn off the CB to my Tesla Wall charger or disconnect from the J-plug.  So I never get sparks on the AC plug on the bike.

-Don-  Reno, NV

[Richard230]

Here is the new version of the charger. Note the model number on the case.

[Bill822]

...
Is Zero still using the Calex charger on the SR/F?    If so, they must like them for some reason.

I had the darned 'tank' off (plotting a fix for the panel gap, but that's another story) and took pictures of everything except the chargers.

[vinceherman]

I had the darned 'tank' off (plotting a fix for the panel gap, but that's another story) and took pictures of everything except the chargers.

Can you post those pictures?
Even if it is just the start of the story, I want to see how the take comes off and what room there is around it.

[Bill822]

Can you post those pictures?
Even if it is just the start of the story, I want to see how the take comes off and what room there is around it.

Sorry for late reply. Was out of town and didn't have my log in for this site.

Pics aren't that good for illustrating tank removal but it's easy. There are six screws- metric bolt head on outside (8mm?) and a Torx bit cutout in the middle. The Torx is way easier if you have it. The silver part on the tank stays attached to the big part. Remove the one lowest screw on each side of the front plastic that holds the tank to the frame downtube. Remove two screws located by the ignition key. Remove two screws located by the charging socket that are difficult to get out and worse to put back in. There is a flexible plastic piece surrounding the charging socket. I removed it before lifting the tank but now think I didn't have to. You do want to remove it before reassembly though. Then just lift. already have someplace soft to put it down, not heavy but bulky and easy to scratch. Installing is simply the reverse. the big trunk bucket will stay on the bike.

Here are a couple shots that I do have. I was mostly just looking at the hinge assembly. clearly a design error and no doubt quite costly to fix. The multi-part tool to mold the tank cover will cost more than one of the bikes to replace or repair. The hinge pivot is 8mm too low. A home fix won't be easy but I'm working on it.

Pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/Hnui1P6

[togo]

> Diginow never actually made the charger, they are off the shelf TC chargers ...

Well, they say they are customized.  They never denied they are from the same factory.

That said, I've been able to use code intended for TC off the shelf units to control (via canbus) the units I bought from diginow.  See my other post for the code.

> Long story short your not dead in the water, there are plenty of options if things go wrong with a used Diginow setup.

Yes, see for example Daniel Montero's build of a system he built with Lennart Otten's units, did quite a tour of europe last month. It's on youtube.