Charger help please!

[Edabdo]

Hello out there and Merry Christmas!
I have a fast charger for my 18 MXR that is causing me pain. At least I think its the charger..

Issue started just a while ago when I placed it on charge after a ride and all seemed to be working fine but it would show a complete charge ("charge complete") even though the SOC was at 80 or so percent. I do have a code 35 and 36 and I have determined that is caused in Module 1 as the voltage is a bit lower that the other 3 module (module 1 shows about .5 volt less than the other 3 modules in voltage summary line)

I put the bike in my toyhauler to take it down south for some needed ride time but yesterday turned on the key to see only one bar on the display showing up. I attached my dealer laptop (came with the the bike) and it was at 17% SOC. I plugged in the charger and it only seems to be charging at about .03 volts per minute and after a period of time it again shows "charge complete" and shuts down.

It is currently at 21.9% SOC.

Everything appears to be OK although the fan does not come on (it used to run all the time until it balanced) I have verified the fan wires are good and that the fan functions going to it from checking prior threads)

The dealer software has column for charger flags and it shows 0x0008 Charger VEXT Present on first line, Charger result is 0- None, and N/A for faults in Data 0 and Data 1
Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help folks!

 

[snydes]

Merry Christmas to you as well

My first suggestion is to reload your laptop with the engineering version of MT and get some battery graph shots. A picture of that graph will really help. Second would be to try another charger if you have any other Alta owners within a reasonable distance that would be willing to help.

 

[OneLapper]

Yup. Need battery graph images

I hope it doesnt look like this

 

[Edabdo]

Merry Christmas to you as well

My first suggestion is to reload your laptop with the engineering version of MT and get some battery graph shots. A picture of that graph will really help. Second would be to try another charger if you have any other Alta owners within a reasonable distance that would be willing to help.

I am getting a known good charger to check. hoping it is a charger problem

 

[Edabdo]

Yup. Need battery graph images

I hope it doesnt look like this

View attachment 4353

Do I dare ask why?

 

[Edabdo]

Tried a known good charger and the bike still thinks it is fully charged and appears to go into balance mode although it is only showing 21% soc. I have downloaded the engineering version and will be working on the bike again early next week. On another note the bike I borrowed the charger from which was working fine until it was put away after the owner broke his foot (working not riding!) is showing N/A on Module one and says that there is a battery fault. Asks to recycle the key to reset but no change in behavior. Display shows battery dead and dealer version shows charger N/A. We used his slow charger on that bike while I took his new and unused fast charger to check on mine.

 

[OneLapper]

Can you post a picture of the battery graph?

 

[snydes]

Can you post a picture of the battery graph?

I believe he doesn't have engineering MT up and running yet.

 

[Mark911]

If you have the total voltage (or ave V/cell) for each module you can do the math and figure out what the ACTUAL SOC is. Use around 342v for 100% SOC and 210v as empty. You'll at least determine if it's simply a display issue. Voltages in the midranges are the most inaccurate when determining SOC. However, if your pack is in the upper 20% or lower 20% of the range the numbers should be pretty accurate.

 

[Edabdo]

Can you post a picture of the battery graph?

I will hopefully get one tomorrow (monday) morning. I have the engineering software installed but have not tried it out yet.
Thanks for the help folks. I'm determined to get this figured out.

 

[Edabdo]

If you have the total voltage (or ave V/cell) for each module you can do the math and figure out what the ACTUAL SOC is. Use around 342v for 100% SOC and 210v as empty. You'll at least determine if it's simply a display issue. Voltages in the midranges are the most inaccurate when determining SOC. However, if your pack is in the upper 20% or lower 20% of the range the numbers should be pretty accurate.

I am attaching a shot from the dealer version of the software that I already have as the dealer gave me the shops laptop when I bought the bike. It appears to be identical to the engineering software for the dash view. The voltages total 342.59 but shows 22.08 soc.

 

[Edabdo]

I have the engineering software working thanks to @TCMB371
Here are a couple of pictures. I do not think I have a charging issue but instead a communication issue. Battery seems to be fully charged. There is one low cell but likely a broken weld? I'd ride it today to see what happens with the battery but it's raining cat's and dogs here!

 

[Rashid510]

Other than your short in your aux connector what are the 2 faults your getting? Also how long have you been riding on the code 36?

 

[Matt]

Other than your short in your aux connector what are the 2 faults your getting? Also how long have you been riding on the code 36?

I looked at purchasing this bike last year and spoke with the dealer that had it. It was their demo bike. The display was cracked and had been for a while. I know they raced it some and when I looked at it about a year ago it had about 50 hours on it (estimate from the dealer because the display was broken). They were still riding it at the time so it may have already had the code 36 back then and didn't know.

 

[Edabdo]

Other than your short in your aux connector what are the 2 faults your getting? Also how long have you been riding on the code 36?

Code 35 and 36. This has been on since the second ride I took on it. I was able to clear with the dealer software after recharging to 100%. The codes would come back on after running it to about 50% SOC.
I did run the bike on our dyno to get the battery down to about 13%. I then hooked up the rapid charger and the fan came on which was not happening before but... It stops charging at about 21 %. and display shows charge complete (damn..)

 

[Edabdo]

If you have the total voltage (or ave V/cell) for each module you can do the math and figure out what the ACTUAL SOC is. Use around 342v for 100% SOC and 210v as empty. You'll at least determine if it's simply a display issue. Voltages in the midranges are the most inaccurate when determining SOC. However, if your pack is in the upper 20% or lower 20% of the range the numbers should be pretty accurate.

I wanted to get the battery down to about 15% and try to charge so I did run the bike on our dyno (raining here hard but at least its not snow!) and got the battery down to about 13%. I then hooked up the rapid charger and the fan came on which was not happening before but... It stops charging at about 21 %. and display shows charge complete (damn..) but voltages show 342 or so as the images point to that I posted. Is it a communication issue or is it actually that low of a SOC?

 

[Edabdo]

I looked at purchasing this bike last year and spoke with the dealer that had it. It was their demo bike. The display was cracked and had been for a while. I know they raced it some and when I looked at it about a year ago it had about 50 hours on it (estimate from the dealer because the display was broken). They were still riding it at the time so it may have already had the code 36 back then and didn't know.

Wish I would have known you then! lol! I'm still optimistic!!

 

[Mark911]

I wanted to get the battery down to about 15% and try to charge so I did run the bike on our dyno (raining here hard but at least its not snow!) and got the battery down to about 13%. I then hooked up the rapid charger and the fan came on which was not happening before but... It stops charging at about 21 %. and display shows charge complete (damn..) but voltages show 342 or so as the images point to that I posted. Is it a communication issue or is it actually that low of a SOC?

That's a full pack in my book. However, what might be happening is that the system is looking at the one LOW cell and predicting that it'll hit minimum cell cut-off voltage much sooner the remaining cells and therefore the EQUIVALENT charge is only about 20%. Makes sense as they wouldn't want you starting a long ride thinking you have the equivalent of a full pack range when indeed the pack will cut-off way before the other 500+ cells are even partially discharged.

Gotta fix that cell, it's the lowest one I've seen by far.

 

[Edabdo]

So, no riding the bike until that cell group is repaired? If that's your recommendation, I'll get the battery out in the next few weeks. Possible that you can repair?

 

[Edabdo]

That's a full pack in my book. However, what might be happening is that the system is looking at the one LOW cell and predicting that it'll hit minimum cell cut-off voltage much sooner the remaining cells and therefore the EQUIVALENT charge is only about 20%. Makes sense as they wouldn't want you starting a long ride thinking you have the equivalent of a full pack range when indeed the pack will cut-off way before the other 500+ cells are even partially discharged.

Gotta fix that cell, it's the lowest one I've seen by far.

Will that cell remain at that voltage until the others catch up (down)?