Brammo Owners Forum
Brammo Empulse Discussion => Brammo Empulse => Topic started by: Adan on September 16, 2015, 11:04:29 PM
-
Dash lights up but does not draw current, according to the readout. This happened at my work, where there are several Level II chargers in the garage, so I tried a few of them, and then tried to charge at home off Level I, always with the same result.
So my first question is an extremely basic one. When I go to check the fuses, I notice they're not like other fuses I've seen that are transparent so that a blown fuse is visually evident. These are opaque. How do you know if it's blown? I just haven't encountered this before. The 3 charging fuses all appear the same visually.
If it's not a fuse, then I've got a big problem, because Scuderia no longer does Empulse-specific work and I doubt there's anyone else in the Bay Area now that does. I suppose I can get on the phone with Polaris and try to talk to someone who will look at the data. But this could turn into a huge inconvenience.
On the positive side, I'll get more riding time on my Nine T.
-
I think I can answer my own question about testing the fuses -- use a multimeter.
Which I will do tonight. But I have a bad feeling about this . . .
-
I agree, Adan: This doesn't sound good. I too have a (much smaller) electrical question and Scuderia doesn't want to take it on without a trained technician.
I called Polaris HQ about service and was told to contact my local dealer. I called all in Northern California and none of them have been trained. Actually, most of them didn't know what I was talking about!
Maybe we should contact Adam in Oregon? This is not a comfortable place to be right now and I hope Polaris comes through quickly.
-
Talk to Adam. I will text him to read the forum..
-
Adam contacted me and so we're talking. My charge logs seem to have huge gaps, most of my charging events don't even show up. Either that or I'm reading them wrong. I'm going to send the drive to Adam to look at.
Anyway, it's reassuring to know that someone is paying attention and seems to care.
-
Yep, I've always found Adam to be good people!
-
Those guys at Brammo are awesome!!! :)
-
I'm happy to report that I'm charging again and back on the road. It was a long process because Brammo, mainly in the person of Adam Lukoic, basically had to establish a new service center for the Bay Area. Scuderia will no longer do Empulse-specific work, such as a failed charging system. From what I can gather, Adam talked to Polaris and a decision was made to make Arlen Ness Motorcycles in Dublin the new service center. This of course would have happened anyway when Victory began selling the Empulse, my problem was just the catalyst for it happening a bit sooner.
Arlen Ness is a big place. I guess Arlen is a well known name in custom cruisers, which is why I'd never heard of him. But it's a classy operation, squeaky clean, and looks like they make money hand over fist. Cruisers galore. So it's strange to go there for matters related to an electric sport bike. But Jon, the service manager, seems to be quite happy to be in the Empulse business now.
The problem, I was told, was the connectors to the charger. They melted. I was told this is a "known problem," the solution to which is to install more robust connectors.
So I missed about two months on the Empulse, but I have fun riding my new-ish Beemer Nine T in it's place. And Brammo paid for everything, including the tow to Arlen Ness.
The bummer, for the future, is that Arlen Ness is about 50 miles from either my work or my house. Scuderia was 20 miles from my house but only 2 miles from my office. Arlen Ness is close to a BART station -- just 2 blocks. For ordering parts or any help I might need with tires, brakes, chains, etc., I'll still go to Scuderia.
-
This is a great success story. thank you for sharing :)
Well done on getting your repairs sorted!
-
I would be remiss if I did not add to the accolades for Adam Lukoic. He kept in touch with me throughout the entire process, and I always felt that he was personally invested in solving this problem as soon as possible. It took a long time to get resolved, but that's not Adam's fault, it was just the unfortunate situation of developing a problem during this Brammo-to-Victory transition.
I don't know how Adam will keep this up if the Empulse starts selling in real numbers. Hopefully his minions will be as good as he is.
-
Adam is awesome. Now we need to find a place in Santa Cruz or San Jose area.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
-
Known problem with the internal charging cables and connectors?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
-
Great news, Adan. Both your bike and a service center, even if it is in Dublin, but then I kind of expected that, given the Victory dealers' locations.
I've charged pretty much 5 days a week for 2 years and haven't melted anything yet, though almost all the charges have been on 120V.
-
Adan level II chargers are the type meneques with 3.3 kw allowing charging from 0 to 2 hours . 30 ?
I usually charge only 230v schuko without problems. That the load from 0 in 3h 30min.
If as you say this problem is known to Brammo , should make a campaign , or internal technical note to dealers to change without charge when it happened
-
Almost all my charging has been at my work, which is Level II. I was told this was a "known problem" and that the replacement connectors will not fail in this way.
-
I wonder if I'm getting this same problem.
My bike stopped charging at the Level 2 charger at my office on Thursday, but the Level 1 charger still worked at home. I was able to charge to 100% and make it to work. When I got back home on Friday, and tried to charge with the Level 1 charger, that failed to work any more.
Can anybody tell me how I can see if the connectors had melted? Or is the only way to to take the bike to the service department to take a look?
-
You solved your problem?
-
I wonder if I'm getting this same problem.
My bike stopped charging at the Level 2 charger at my office on Thursday, but the Level 1 charger still worked at home. I was able to charge to 100% and make it to work. When I got back home on Friday, and tried to charge with the Level 1 charger, that failed to work any more.
Can anybody tell me how I can see if the connectors had melted? Or is the only way to to take the bike to the service department to take a look?
I remember when mine did this, it was one of the cooling fans for the onboard charger needed to be replaced. At the time nobody could do the work so Brammo sent me the replacement fan and so I changed it myself.
-
Hi Adan
In regards to those connectors - can you please confirm they are inside the onboard charger assembly or the ones on the Charger adapter plugs.
If inside the Charger assembly - any trick to get it off without removing the back wheel assembly ?
rgds
Dietmar
-
Mine just stopped charging, too. I just recently started charging more often at level II, so my habits fit the description of the problem.
It has been sporadic on displaying charging amperage for a few weeks (although still charging), so I suspect that was a precursor.
I'll post up what I find.
-
Yes, keep us updated!
-
I dug in to the bike looking for problems. I found the melted connector, but it didn't look too bad. It was definitely melted, but still intact. I looked for a dead cooling fan, too. Nothing obvious.
I asked the local dealer if they could order me the new connector. They said Polaris wouldn't sell them one, so I am on my own.
So I ordered some common wire splices. Be careful working on this connector. I thought the connectors ran between the plug and the charger based on the color of the wires. Nope. 95 volts DC running through mine. It's between the charger and the battery. Disconnect the main plug, and it's safe to work on. I spliced the wires together. But still no current being drawn when connected to an EVSE.
I am guessing I am having this problem:
http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=3484.msg25370#msg25370 (http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=3484.msg25370#msg25370)
At this point the motorcycle is getting too demanding, so I may just give up. If anyone else has any ideas, hit me up.
-
Does it not charge using any J1772 plug, or just your adapter having the problem? The Clipper Creek J1772 plugs can wear out over time, the way to tell is if the large contacts are missing small perimeter coil springs. These can wear and fall out causing an open condition and not triggering the charger. Also, J1772 uses a pilot signal to tell charger it's connected, these are the smaller contacts, worth checking as well. I suggest trying a public charger and confirm it's bike side.
DH
-
Looks like I am having the exact same problem. I was charging at work on a T2 connection and when I checked my bike at lunch I noticed that it was only at 80% and was pulling 0 amps. So I unplugged and replugged a few times. No change. So I moved the bike down a few spots to a different J1772. Same problem, it connects, the fans go on for a split second, then they turn off. The display stays on, says that it is charging but doesn't pull any amperage. When I left work five hours later the bike was still at 80% charge.
I got home, and hooked it up to my 110V adapter. Same thing. It starts to initialize, but the fans immediately turn off and the bike doesn't pull any current. The charger reads as though it is charging.
I took off the seat, cover, and top of the charge connector. All of the wiring looks good, nothing appears to be melted. Fuses were inspected, didn't look bad, but I replaced two just to be on the safe side. [/img]