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Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older => Topic started by: rollandelliott on April 27, 2014, 10:29:21 PM

Title: zero DS 2010 bike will not turn on. Low Voltage Battery error,
Post by: rollandelliott on April 27, 2014, 10:29:21 PM

took my motorcycle out of storage.
plugged it in
red light on charge controller blinks twice over and over
looked at charger controller manual and it says low voltage error.

hopefully my battery is not destroyed, how can I get this charged up and tested since the charger seems to not want to charge it?

thanks!

Title: Re: zero DS 2010 bike will not turn on. Low Voltage Battery error,
Post by: trikester on April 29, 2014, 10:09:58 AM

The manual says that the 2010 DS must not go over 14 days unplugged (originally it said 7 days but then they extended the time period). If it was in storage, and not plugged in, for a time much longer than that, then I would guess that the battery has "bricked" as they say. Meaning it has become a big brick. For your sake, I hope it was plugged in while in storage.

Trikester

Title: Re: zero DS 2010 bike will not turn on. Low Voltage Battery error,
Post by: rollandelliott on May 02, 2014, 05:52:33 AM

Called zero today they told me some interesting things
they will rebuild the battery pack if it is toasted and they charge $100 per hour for labor plus parts, and I'm assuming plus shipping.
So if it takes $150 to ship it back and forth, $400 for labor and $100 for parts, that would be a very conservative cost of $650, perhaps much more.

I'm almost tempted to just buy some Nissan leaf batteries and try to make my own pack for a couple hundred more. Only problem is I have very little time and projects take forever to complete when I have to gain knowledge and do research.

Zero said if the bike is under 35v it might need to be rebuilt
my pack is at 10.3 v :'( :'( :'(

The charger will not even charge it, How do I go about trying to charge it? do i have to reprogram the battery charger?

thanks for any help!

Title: Re: zero DS 2010 bike will not turn on. Low Voltage Battery error,
Post by: protomech on May 02, 2014, 06:44:10 AM

You could potentially tear the battery apart and trickle charge the cells individually. Some number of cells - probably many of them - will be dead .. some can be recovered.

It is possible to trickle charge with a current-limited power supply. You MUST use a current-limited supply .. unless you want to see exactly how much flame you can get out of a lithium cell.
http://forums.segwaychat.org/showthread.php?t=29506 (http://forums.segwaychat.org/showthread.php?t=29506)

I imagine this will be Zero's process as well. If you want to tackle it as a project, go ahead; otherwise, Zero's service may be expensive but may end up being your best bet.

Title: Re: zero DS 2010 bike will not turn on. Low Voltage Battery error,
Post by: rollandelliott on May 02, 2014, 08:40:42 AM

I really dont' know much about charging batteries. can you recommend a battery charging system that can charge a single cell or a series of cells.
I believe the zero ds uses a string of 14 cells at around 3.8v to get about 50v nominal.
then a bunch of these string of 14 cells are put in parallel to get more amps.

So my first guess would be to try and charge the 14 cell string, and if that fails take apart that group and test each cell.

where can I buy a charger that does this?

edited to add:
http://www.thunderpowerrc.com/Products/Chargers_2/TP1430C (http://www.thunderpowerrc.com/Products/Chargers_2/TP1430C)
hyperion
and
http://www.progressiverc.com/chargers/battery-chargers (http://www.progressiverc.com/chargers/battery-chargers)
are some chargers that might charge a 14 series cell battery pack. Never used one yet, but that is what my internet research showed