Need Advice On a Alta Rapid Charger that Fan doesn't come on so it gets hot!

[Vntgmbk]

Hello,
I recently got a 2017 Redshift MX and an Alta Rapid Charger. The Charger has no plug on it as the 240V Connector was with it but had been taken off. I followed instructions on this forum to convert it to a 120V Plug and did it successfully and was able to charge the bike. My bike had a nearly drained battery so I figured it would take a few hours to charge it completely from what I read on here. So about 90 min into the charge I noticed the fan on the rapid charger had not started( assumed it was controlled by a thermistor) and the charger was getting hot. I stopped the charge( for safety reasons to give the charger a chance cool down. I unscrewed the top part of the charger and moved it forward to allow the heat to escape an also placed a small fan to blow on the charger while it finished the charge which seem to work well. My questions are:
1 Are these fans known to be bad and not start?
2. Is this fan not starting as it is looking for the 240V somewhere in the circuit?
3. Is there any way to bypass the thermistor(the fan spins freely)?
4. Has anyone had this problem and if so how did you resolve it?
Thanks in Advance for any Help you can Provide me!

 

[Redwolf]

Try here
Link to thread

 

[Vntgmbk]

Try here
Link to thread

Thanks. Informative thread for sure. I'll check my fan wires again but I remember looking at them briefly and they looked good. I'll double check again. Seems like there is some differences in opinion as to whether or not the rapid charger fan should run continuously or if it is controlled by a thermistor. Does anyone know for certain which way it is supposed to operate? Maybe someone that was involved in the design at Alta in if they mfg the chargers?

 

[Redwolf]

The R charger fan should run continuously through the bulk charging process, and will only turn off at the end during the balance charging phase.

 

[Rashid510]

The charger fan as @Redwolf said is supposed to run continuously. The intent of the rapid charger/OFB charge is to be in an open area (like a track). Charger intent is:

1. Once hitting run, the contactor will click on the pack and the charging handshake will start
2. Fan will turn on - indicating the charging circuit has closed.
3. Fan will cycle depending on the charge rate and level of charge being pushed to the pack.
4. The charger will get warm, no matter the older off board charger or the R pack charger

If your rapid charger is not having the fan turn on immediately, it could be cycling.

 

[Vntgmbk]

Thanks for the info. My R charger fan never turned on in 90 minutes and actually became hot enough that I stopped charging my bike to let the charger cool off. I then finished charging my bike with the top lid that covers the cords etc unscrewed and open to allow the heat to escape . Looks like the fan isn't working. I am going to inspect the wires connected to the fan to look for a cut like another member had found. So the R charger has to be plugged into the bike for the fan to start or to test it can I just plug it in and it should start? Also after my bike became fully charged the bike stayed on for 10-15 min or so. Is this when it is doing the balancing?

 

[Rashid510]

Thanks for the info. My R charger fan never turned on in 90 minutes and actually became hot enough that I stopped charging my bike to let the charger cool off. I then finished charging my bike with the top lid that covers the cords etc unscrewed and open to allow the heat to escape . Looks like the fan isn't working. I am going to inspect the wires connected to the fan to look for a cut like another member had found. So the R charger has to be plugged into the bike for the fan to start or to test it can I just plug it in and it should start? Also after my bike became fully charged the bike stayed on for 10-15 min or so. Is this when it is doing the balancing?

Sounds like the R charger you got has some issues. I would recommend reaching out to the previous owner on where they got the charger. There is a liquidator who is selling R chargers in Michigan @ayden_kry might still have some R chargers. FYI the A pack Altas never came with an R charger. They came with a standard charger (came in a silver box)

In order to properly check functionality there needs to be a load on the charger (ie a battery or bike).

The bike will stay on for roughly 10-20 minutes to balance the pack/trickle charge

 

[Vntgmbk]

Thanks for the info. Yes I had to do a firmware update for the bike to recognize the R charger but then it charged fine.

 

[Vntgmbk]

Sounds like the R charger you got has some issues. I would recommend reaching out to the previous owner on where they got the charger. There is a liquidator who is selling R chargers in Michigan @ayden_kry might still have some R chargers. FYI the A pack Altas never came with an R charger. They came with a standard charger (came in a silver box)

In order to properly check functionality there needs to be a load on the charger (ie a battery or bike).

The bike will stay on for roughly 10-20 minutes to balance the pack/trickle charge

I sent you a PM

 

[Fod]

Fog25 charger did the same thing. He would just tap the fan blades with a zip tie... like starting a bi-plane by spinning the propeller.

 

[F451]

Fog25 charger did the same thing. He would just tap the fan blades with a zip tie... like starting a bi-plane by spinning the propeller.

If that's the case, try a very small amount of light lubricant like Marvel Mystery Oil or the like -if- you can drop it on the motor shaft. Position it so the lubricant will work its way in, spin the blade a bit to help it seep in.

"Repaired" a number of old fans and window a/c units doing this, get a bit more use out of them. Worth a shot.

 

[Vntgmbk]

The R charger fan should run continuously through the bulk charging process, and will only turn off at the end during the balance charging phase.

Thanks for your help.
After inspecting the R charger fan wires again, I found that they were slightly cut and not making good contact. I am going to redo the wiring and try to somehow protect them from getting cut again from that heavy cable that connects to the bike. Thanks again to everyone that replied.