B55 Error, SOC Mismatch >30%

[Shinysideup]

Since new, I've always gotten the stutter when summoning WOT power at about 30% SOC or less. Brammo explained it to me as the protective circuit doing its job when individual cells get too lower on voltage.

Lately (4 years and 41K miles), I've seen the "Recharge Now" and blinky green lights with zero SOC come on as high as 50% SOC when going to WOT at 60 mph in 58F weather. This used to happen around 10% SOC, then 20%, 30% etc.

Nothing has cut off, so I just note the mileage (I reset trip meter to zero after each charge) and know that I can make it home on zero SOC, based on my conservative estimate of 65 miles of range available.

Having all the green lights flashing at me on the freeway in the dark at night in the cold isn't very comforting. I wish I knew a way to address this issue. Long-term cell balancing doesn't seem to help.

[frodus]

Are your batteries under warranty?

Maybe go into the advanced menu on the LCD, and see what cell is too low. It might be one cell that is going lower than the others, despite balancing.

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

Wow, that's crazy that the packs seem to be struggling as they age. Mine has just over 20k miles, and was delivered to me in February 2013. I'd have more miles, but two fully riding seasons were cut out thanks to injury, and then the bike sitting at the dealer for a summer.

I am pretty aware of battery maintenance fundamentals. I used to work in the Navy's battery program (I got to terminate the contract for the ASDS battery after that Li Ion burned down the $3B sub) and now I work at Argonne National Lab, DOE's lead battery lab (home of Michael Thackeray and Khalil Amine, among others). I'm no scientist or engineer, but I have gotten to interact with some of the world's smartest minds in batteries in both research and applied settings. I currently authorize work for private companies who want to use Argonne to solve their problems which means I see the problems battery companies are having. In other words, I'm not abusing the batteries beyond riding in normal conditions for Chicago.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the Chinese cells used in our packs did not have the most consistent build quality. I wonder if Polaris even knows how to check for good cells? I hope the bad module gets replaced, in any case!

[Ndm]

This is just speculation, I have a 2013 zero and the cells used were the farasis 25 ah, brammo was apparently using the exact same cells, my battery was recalled and replaced under warranty due to manufacturing deficiencies , could it be that some brammos have the same batches of batteries zero received but since they have abandoned their bikes they haven’t bothered with trying to rectify the situation?

[Shinysideup]

This is an interesting speculation.

Legally, does anyone here definitively know if Polaris, who took over the assets and liabilities of Brammo, have ANY obligation to Brammo owners as far as honoring the battery warranty?

[siai47]

Most likely, Polaris didn't buy all assets and liabilities of Brammo.  We know Brammo still existed until recently.  Polaris bought just the motorcycle assets---liabilities from Brammo produced motorcycles would have stayed with Brammo.  Now that Brammo has been sold to Cummins, you have just slipped another notch down the Totem pole in ability to get anything out of Brammo.  Heck, Polaris won't even take care of their Victory Empulse customers let alone Brammo customers.  Best chance is to find a "parts" bike and take the battery components you need out of it.  I have a feeling that the first time something breaks on my Victory, it is going to be hung above my TV in my living room as "wall art"  ! 

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

The battery is still under warranty, no question there.

Unfortunately the dealer couldn't get Victory to budge on replacing the module causing the errors. Victory told them to do a full discharge and recharge, and said the problem would go away. They did, and sure enough, all the cells were balanced according to the BMS. The dealer wasn't impressed with Victory's response, but there isn't anything else they can do.

I'll be picking the bike up sometime next week. I hope I can make it the 42 miles home now that it's colder. Especially considering I couldn't make it there...

[ways_ahead]

I think it fits into this thread and keeps the info in one place, so I post it here:

Empulse E1 2014, 25.000 km:
Last Saturday I rode home in heavy rain and storm at about 5°C when suddenly SOC went from about 25% to 0% at 10 km from home. I had seen similar drops on previous drives before in cold weather (0-5°C) at about 15-20%. But this totally surprised me.

I could still reach a friend's home and recharge for half an hour. When I came back to the bike it showed System Fault B55. Not knowing what it meant I tried to drive and finally got home. I recharged to about 50% and the error was gone.

Then I started researching and found this topic which explained a lot. I just had a look at the logs and attached is what happened.



Seems to me that first while driving all modules have similar SOC, then suddenly at 25% module 6 dropped to 0%. During the first charge all SOCs increased similarly and decreased again during the ride home. Then while charging, module 6 SOC kept up to the others. Now it's up to 100 % since then and I didn't ride again due to bad weather.

Do I have to worry about bad cell(s) in module 6? Any other interpretations?

Regards from Germany

[MiBa]

Hello,
the error-code B55 means:
„Battery fault: SOC mismatch > 30%“

Best you leave the charger connected for some hours so that the BMS can balance the Cells in Module No. 6 properly.

Check the balance-process by pressing both buttons in the dash at the same time. 

Regards
Michael (from Germany too)

[Shinysideup]

Lately (4 years and 41K miles), I've seen the "Recharge Now" and blinky green lights with zero SOC come on as high as 50% SOC when going to WOT at 60 mph in 58F weather. This used to happen around 10% SOC, then 20%, 30% etc.

Nothing has cut off, so I just note the mileage (I reset trip meter to zero after each charge) and know that I can make it home on zero SOC, based on my conservative estimate of 65 miles of range available.

Long-term cell balancing doesn't seem to help.

Since writing that, my odometer shows 43,185 miles and the SOC is now going to 0% at around 60%, even with gently applied throttle, at highway speeds.

After the ride, the display reports H14: 3.748 and L05: 3.662.

I assume that by now we are just all SOL on getting the electronics repaired by anybody, anywhere. Does anyone here know of somebody that has the knowledge and equipment to work on a sick battery pack? Perhaps an employee of Brammo could start a viable consulting  business??

I guess my only option is to ride it til it dies, then try to sell the bike for parts. So sad!

[TVETT]

So it looks like I've joined the B55 club. Started to go for a ride and notice the B55 fault code. SOC was at 74%, Hi pack at 4,18V, LO at 3.85V. hooked charger and it shut down showing 0 amps.

My charger is outside and it's going to be cold (<35F) tonight. Scanned this thread and have a question.

Should I leave outside on the charger or bring inside and try to totally discharge tomorrow in hope of rebalancing?
Also any advice as to diagnosis and remedies is appreciated. I'm chemistry guy not a electrical guy but I can likely figure out what you are talking about...probably.

Edit: here are some screens that might help diagnose. Thanks

[EV promise]

Hi, this isn't a reply, just a use of an existing thread for the same topic. So, the other day, after returning from a ride I put my Empulse on to charge. It started at 28% and when I returned it showed 78% on the dash along with a fault code B55 and a red triangle!!. I stopped charging immediately and went to lookup the code.SOC mismatch>30%. Not happy. I returned to the bike, turned it on and code still there. Dash showed high cell 4.137v and low cell 4.116v. 21mV mismatch. So I pulled the datalogger.
I couldn't see a fault in the logs:- Brammo minimum charge 78%, BQ116 min% 86 ( whatever that is?), Battery voltage 115.
I replaced the data stick, turned the bike on and no faults and it showed 95% charged. I've know ideas but happy.
Any thoughts anyone??

[KaFr]

Hi,
look at the data to see if all modules have the same SoC when charging or driving.
If one of the modules has a lower SoC, charge the battery to 100% and let it balance for a few more hours.
The cell voltage difference values ​​on the display are for information only and may not include all modules together if the difference is in the SoC!

[Dietmar]

Hi everyone !

sorry I missed some messages on the charging issues thread since I lost interest in fixing the Empulse due to no parts and help in my area (Hongkong)

However I had some minor Victory - fixing the charging with a hack.

Anyone wants details please contact me directly

+85290400620 whattsapp

or email
holzhammer@hotmail.com

If anyone comes accross this thread with major rebuild knowledge on the Empulse please contact me too.

might relocate the bikes to Austria for the rebuild - anyone nearby in Europe who wants to join my project or willing to share knowledge please contact me.

just bought a second (dead) Empulse and plan to rebuild both with new batteries, BMS, fast charging capability (and convert to quadrocopters )

have a total of 12 empulse battery modules on hand to sell or trade - all in working condition - however they are located in hongkong - shipping might be tricky and expensive (possible though - my friend shipped recently)

I also inherited an original Brammo diagnostics Pad - so I can check the batteries with the diagnostics software.

Best wishes and don t cook your bikes

Dietmar