Resolved - Ping diagnostic help. 0v at charger plug.

[Cargo_Tom]

Greetings.

I have stumbled upon a situation which has left me perplexed, and I implore the community to help me analyse the event:

System: 2*36v20Ah Ping 2.5 battery packs with 15 cycles on them connected in series via a wire harness provided by Mr. Ping. The batteries are disconnected from each other and the system to be recharged in parallel by a 5.2A current limited power supply set to 44.99v.

Situation: Return sunday night from a ride having used about half of the pack with a CA reading of 79v

I hook up the charger as usual, confirm it is on, and then go to bed. Early next morning I return to the bike to commute to uni. After reconnecting the system I find that the CA still reads 79v.

Perplexed I disconnect everything again, grab a multimeter and measure voltages at the following plugs:
Charger,(OK) batt out (Pack B is wierd), charging plugs(Pack B is wierd) and black/red on the battery side sense wire multipin connectors.(OK). I leave the multipin connectors open and run out to grab a busride to uni.

Returning home I figure out that pack A is fine, and in shutdown mode (batt out and charge plug both at 18ish volts). Furthermore, the bike wont turn on at all. I hook pack A up to the charger and get it fully charged in 3hours. Using just pack A I verify that Controller, CA and Motor are fine.

Pack B seems a little odd, and these are my fresh multimeter readings from that pack:
Batt out: 12.75v :?
Charger XLR plug: 0.01v to 0.00v
Multipin connector: measuring negative (black) and...
pin2: 3.29v
pin3: 6.59v
pin4: 9.88v
pin5: 13.18v
pin6: 16.48v
pin7: 19.77v
pin8: 23.07v
pin9: 26.37v
pin10: 29.66v
pin11: 32.96v
positive(red): 36.25v

So the cells seem fine while the charge plug reading has me stumped. How to proceed from here?

Thank you for your time
- Tom

 

[dnmun]

hard to follow, but basically you are just saying there is no voltage on the output of your charger and the battery has turned off at the BMS?

did the charger ever have a voltage on it without the battey connected? some of the kingpan chargers have a relay on the output. is there a fuse in the output?

 

[heathyoung]

He means the charger plug on the battery.

Has it got a wire pulled out of the XLR connector or BMS board?

 

[Cargo_Tom]

He means the charger plug on the battery.

Has it got a wire pulled out of the XLR connector or BMS board?

Indeed. My apologies for the lack of clarity dmun. I shall open the XLR plug, test again on the solder joints inside the plug and report back. Thanks

 

[Cargo_Tom]

Resolved!

My woes are due to a faulty charge plug. Opening the plug and measuring behind the pins shows expected voltage.

Thank you for your time, gents
-Tom

 

[heathyoung]

Good stuff

 

[dogman dan]

Second case of a bad xlr plug on pingbattery or charger in a week. I hope ping hasn't been the victim of a large batch of faulty xlr plugs. China stuff.

 

[mihai_atanasiu]

cut the XLR connectors and put a simple RCA;

 

[Cargo_Tom]

Replaced the offending plug with a genuine neutrik product. Charging is now under way
I must say that I am very impressed with the snugness and build tolerances of the new plug. I am tempted to replace the other plugs with Neutriks as well.

Cheers
-Tom

 

[pdf]

Replaced the offending plug with a genuine neutrik product. Charging is now under way
I must say that I am very impressed with the snugness and build tolerances of the new plug. I am tempted to replace the other plugs with Neutriks as well.

Cheers
-Tom

I agree that the quality of XLRs vary dramatically. Good XLRs are, possibly, the most expensive connector. I have them on my chargers, primarily because there are several users who are not technically inclined and the good ones plug in easily, are easy to separate, provide a good solid connection, and it is easy to see which way to mate the plugs. The cheap ones, not so much. One charger came with a good XLR, the other a cheap one. Cut off the cheap one and put on a good one. I can see why they use the cheap ones; hard to justify $7 on a single connector when the buyer won't even have a problem for months probably.

Actually, I have found that most any connector style varies considerably in quality. I always stick with the brand I know; less problems in the end.

 

[heathyoung]

Yep, neutrik bought out cannon who used to make these, they are a damn sight better than the chinese cheapies, they only used to last a month in broadcast duty.

Expensive, but well worth it. Hope you got the mating pair (not just replaced the dead one).