Check your Stark Varg charger plug

[Fog 25]

Check your charger wires mine were not stripped far enough to create a good contact.

 

[erSitzt]

Thats the US plug ? I think the european one cant be opened.

 

[MadpdXabbott]

Check your charger wires mine were not stripped far enough to create a good contact.

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Confirmed!! I assumed this was Fake news for sure, but I opened mine just to check found 1 not good and 1 half as good. In the end I had to strip and reconnect all 3 wires as they were too short to make good contact, Make sure to put the wires back on the same side of the screw as you took them off, or the backing plate will not line up with the Tab. Thanks to Fog 25 for the post !

 

[Torqu3]

Same issues on mine. This is a serious fire hazard that Stark could be liable for.

 

[Foss]

I can confirm my white wire was burned and melted. Easy fix splicing and resetting in the leads.

 

[MadpdXabbott]

Same issues on mine. This is a serious fire hazard that Stark could be liable for.

I agree it’s a potential fire hazard and needs a fix. But it's not Starks' fault their supplier sucks? I sent a ticket in to service to let them know of the condition.

 

[Torqu3]

It's very likely it's assembled by whoever makes their charger. But in the end if it ships with their bike and causes a fire it's an issue for stark. I made sure they are aware of it. I want nothing but success for stark, they have made a hell of a bike!

 

[Fog 25]

If your plug is getting hot to the touch then the wires are not making contact.

 

[UKLee]

I agree it’s a potential fire hazard and needs a fix. But it's not Starks' fault their supplier sucks? I sent a ticket in to service to let them know of the condition.

Stark are responsable for there suppliers, stark chose the suppliers vetted them and should be checking the quality of there work can not just pass the blame on to the supplier.
I just went to check my UK 240 volt plug but that is a moulded on type plug so not possible to check, I will check how hot it gets next time I put it on charge.

 

[Foss]

To add,

Stark future is coming out with a new iteration of cables in the next several months. I recommended accessible fuses (local automotive store) to capture surges off the grid and potential surges coming from the bike.

I am working through an unknown anomaly where someone’s bike was not charging. Came to me using my power stand which bricked my power adapter due to unknown cross contamination. Stark is replacing my stand at no cost but they are aware of issues related to these power adapters. So be warned, you may want to help fellow stark Varg users, but do not share your power adapter! Let them reach out to their dealer or stark future to troubleshoot.

Also do not take these adapters apart. They are poured with silicon for water proofing and maybe heat distribution. You’d have to put them in an oven and melt all this material. It’s not easy and I do not recommend even trying. I only took mine apart because I knew a brand new one was coming in the mail and was curious.

 

[Duncan]

POSSIBLE INCORRECT 240V CHARGER PLUG WIRING
Recently picked up my Stark from Pilgrim Motorsports, Plymouth, MA., VIN...002217.
Have not plugged in charger yet. Maybe that's a good thing...
My male plug (NEMA L14-30) connections are good and solid, unlike other's that had poor connections. That's bogus.
However, check this out:
Photo showing two plugs: on left is stock plug for my Alta, on right is stock plug for my Stark.
Very different,
The other photos indicate that the correct wiring is:
ground (green) goes to the keyed blade
going clockwise the next blade gets a hot (black), then neutral (white) then the other hot (black).
At wall outlet with a volt meter going from either hot to neutral is 120V
Going hot to hot is 240V.
These cords each have just three conductors: green, white, black. They are not using the neutral blade.
I assume that Alta is using the white conductor as a black (hot).
However the Stark plug is wired wrong because it has black (hot) going to the keyed ground blade.
and the two hot blades go to green and white conductors.
If that's the case when I plug into wall outlet it will make my charger chassis hot.
Unless Stark is using the black conductor as a ground in the charger which would be odd.
I will dive into the Stark charger and see where the wires go and report back.
Yikes!

 

[Swank171]

I advise not changing the wiring…..I got the L1430 adapter not knowing it wouldn’t charge the bike…the stark adapter was sold out everywhere and I was unaware of the wiring differences.

After taking the charger apart to see how it was wired, what the ground was and why there was only 3 wires in the l14 on the stark charger I found the thread you just posted the pic from.

I wired it up and it works perfect.

In my search here are a few pics of my charger. The black on the keyed has continuity with the charger inside the case.

I left the stark charger alone and made my own L14 adapter to a 5-15 to charge on my 120 outlet according to the provided diagram from this forum and the bike charges great.

 

[UKLee]

POSSIBLE INCORRECT 240V CHARGER PLUG WIRING
Recently picked up my Stark from Pilgrim Motorsports, Plymouth, MA., VIN...002217.
Have not plugged in charger yet. Maybe that's a good thing...
My male plug (NEMA L14-30) connections are good and solid, unlike other's that had poor connections. That's bogus.
However, check this out:
Photo showing two plugs: on left is stock plug for my Alta, on right is stock plug for my Stark.
Very different,
The other photos indicate that the correct wiring is:
ground (green) goes to the keyed blade
going clockwise the next blade gets a hot (black), then neutral (white) then the other hot (black).
At wall outlet with a volt meter going from either hot to neutral is 120V
Going hot to hot is 240V.
These cords each have just three conductors: green, white, black. They are not using the neutral blade.
I assume that Alta is using the white conductor as a black (hot).
However the Stark plug is wired wrong because it has black (hot) going to the keyed ground blade.
and the two hot blades go to green and white conductors.
If that's the case when I plug into wall outlet it will make my charger chassis hot.
Unless Stark is using the black conductor as a ground in the charger which would be odd.
I will dive into the Stark charger and see where the wires go and report back.
Yikes!

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https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=705500215125432

 

[UKLee]

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[UKLee]

Sorry I am the worlds worst computer operator, trying to link you to a video where a guy explaind the colours are different that whan you usually get in north america.

 

[Beagle]

Yep the wiring is correct between the plug and the adapter, it's just not the color code used in the US.

 

[Duncan]

OK, so the moral of the story is just ignore the colors of the conductors on the 240V NEMA 1430R male plug on our Varg chargers. The Europeans used black as ground.

As far as the 120V to 240V adapter goes, is it OK to use the orange single-piece unit?
Swank171, 120/240V adapter didn't work so you made one? Difference is polarity of white and black?
Certainly ground is ground here so the only difference would be swapping neutral white and hot black which shouldn't matter, right?
First photo here is adapter I made works fine for Alta charger, have not tried on Stark charger yet.
Second photo is a 120V plug my dealer provided, must gain access to back of charger to use.

 

[Swank171]

So the keyed green is ground and then neutral and hot as seen in pics.

Then the 5-15 is pictured too if you were curious how that one was wired.

And yes leave the stark charger side as is.

 

[Duncan]

OK thanks, the 120/240 Alta adapter cord I made is wired same as yours thus will work on Stark.

The orange one piece adapter above has the neutral and hot swapped so no good for Stark charge.

 

[Foss]

To add,

Stark future is coming out with a new iteration of cables in the next several months. I recommended accessible fuses (local automotive store) to capture surges off the grid and potential surges coming from the bike.

I am working through an unknown anomaly where someone’s bike was not charging. Came to me using my power stand which bricked my power adapter due to unknown cross contamination. Stark is replacing my stand at no cost but they are aware of issues related to these power adapters. So be warned, you may want to help fellow stark Varg users, but do not share your power adapter! Let them reach out to their dealer or stark future to troubleshoot.

Also do not take these adapters apart. They are poured with silicon for water proofing and maybe heat distribution. You’d have to put them in an oven and melt all this material. It’s not easy and I do not recommend even trying. I only took mine apart because I knew a brand new one was coming in the mail and was curious.

Update:

New power adapter OTB brand new just arrive and go figure the US 220v prepackage was wired identically to what everyone has been experiencing. Once swapping the Green and Black to the correct leads, first plugin to my L14-30R lit up the bikes blue indicator light with a strong power source, zero issues.

FWIW, any new power adapter coming from Stark or your dealership using 220v should check the plug leads prior to plugging in. These cables are coming incorrectly wired from the distributor; especially brand new from the warehouse.


For reference (Stark Future sent me this diagram):