I have a 2002 e825, which I purchased about a year ago, and in general has been working well. (though, I have felt like the battery life has been decreasing, but that’s not the purpose of this post).
A few days ago, the charger stopped working. The car still works fine, and can be driven like normal. The relay turns on and off when I turn the key. Things I’ve done to troubleshoot:
Unplugged the 120v IEC connector at the charger, and verified I was getting 120vAC at the plug just a few inches from the charger.
Unplugged the 72v wiring harness from the charger, and verified I was getting 72v from the batteries where the wiring harness meets the charger.
Checked voltage at the 72v OUTPUT of the charger, and I’m getting NOTHING. zip, zero, nada. However, I’ve read there needs to be a load on the batteries, and I was doing this test with the wiring harness unplugged.
No LED comes on, no audible noises, and no fans turn on
I opened the case, and verified there was continuity through the fuse.
I found some mouse/rodent damage on one of the safety interlock wires. The wire is still intact, but the copper is exposed. I was not able to find any other rodent damage anywhere else.
Is there anything else I should be doing to troubleshoot the charger before I replace it or have it rebuilt?
Thanks. If I take this out, and put it on my bench, plugged into 120v AC, should I expect a working unit to get ~72V DC from the output? or does it have to sense an existing 72VDC to give any output?
After speaking with the zivan USA folks, I decided I didn’t want to give them my money, so I ordered a quick charge SCO7210.
It arrived about 2 weeks after I ordered it (about a week to ship, and a week to get to me in CA). I ordered it with a drive lockout, but otherwise “stock”. I didn’t get the remote LED charge indicator, but I wish I had.
I installed it in my 2002 by using one of the stock mounting bolts on the top, and added a couple of self tapping screws on the bottom. It’s slightly angled, but that doesn’t bother me, and it actually helps for reading the instructions, and making settings changes.
I bought an IEC 320-C14 to NEMA 5-15R adapter instead of cutting off either the factory IEC 320-C13 connector, or the quick charge NEMA 5-15 plug. The one I linked is only 18awg, but it should be fine for the 10A charge I bought. Ideally I would have bought a 16 or 14 awg adapter, but I needed it overnight.
So far, I’m happy with the charger but it’s only been a couple days. I’ve attached a screenshot from my monitoring system which monitors the smart outlet I have it plugged into showing how it charges my flooded lead acid batteries. It starts off at relatively high wattage until the charger display hits 80%, then the remaining 20% is charged at 100watts until fully charged, then it keeps a trickle charge of about 27 watts on it constantly.
I just took my Zivan out of my 2002 Gem 825. Just where the 72 v goes into the unit, there is a 16 Amp 250 v fuse. I TESTED THE FUSE AND FOUND IT TO BE Open. Maybe that is why it stopped working? Will replace and see if that was the problem. Will investigate as to why it blew the fuse.
It will not work with an open fuse but if you are saying the large 72V output fuse is blown you might be lucky and nothing else went.
When you say you have 24 160Ahr litho batteries are you saying you tried to charge that with the Zivan?
FYI, 24 lithium batteries in series( ~4v each ) is 96V and IIRC the Zivan NG1 puts out 88V. More suited for a 22S but maybe they can be upgraded for 96V output.
88 is plenty. At 84,85v get twice the usage from batteries . With 160 Amp hrs that still gives good range. All put back and using my Intelligent AH meter, reprogrammed auto shutdown @84 volts. May inch up higher later. Best wishes to all you experimental gurus (without any hair). ChiliWilly
