Zero Drivetrain Conversion, Sevcon Gen 4 Size 4, ZF75-5, Throttle Inputs

[alecmac9]

Picked up a brand new "paired" Zero Controller and Motor with no wiring harness. Put a wiring diagram together and have gathered all components (except throttle) to hopefully get it moving. Goal is to swap into a bike. Currently in coms with a local (Santa Cruz/Bay Area) about using their sevcon software and IXXAT Connector.

>Can anyone tell from the serial of the controller/motor what year/model bike this setup came from?
-Motor: 30-08255-04 , IPM X 20485 . ZF75-5
-Sevcon: Part: 634A84210 Type: Gen4 80V 400A, Serial: 1701301085, Label Maker Tag (Zero serial): MY17 S 13.0 1701301085
-Sevcon internal PCB is labeled as 2011 Rev B

>Looking to determine input voltage, phase current, and if the inputs are setup for the Potentiometer throttle (Magura 3 wire) or the hall effect throttle (Bitron 8 wire). info on a diy throttle or a nice quality off the shelf throttle would be ideal

>Its a "ZF" which means its 2013+, 2015 is when they switched to a Hal-based throttle. if its from 2017 it means the sevcon is actually a 4.5 which should have upgraded mosfets to handle higher current
Ref: Unofficial Zero Manual

>Suggestions for battery size, charger, proper contactor w/o economizer, gear reduction, any successful modifications to the current Zero program? Added reverse? Different modes? Would like to keep it mostly stock for now for simplicity and so I can focus on the actual mechanial conversion into the frame for now.

-Alec

 

[amberwolf]

>Can anyone tell from the serial of the controller/motor what year/model bike this setup came from?
<snip>
-Sevcon: Part: 634A84210 Type: Gen4 80V 400A, Serial: 1701301085, Label Maker Tag (Zero serial): MY17 S

If they were logical, then I'd guess MY17 is model year 2017, and the model was the S version. (if there is such a model, for that year; I don't know ). 2017 makes sense also because the Sevcon serial starts with that....

>Suggestions for battery size, charger,

Battery size depends entirely on your intended usage. You'd need to size it for sufficient capacity to give you more than the range you need under the riding conditions you have, at the power level used for those conditions. It must also be built to supply more than the worst case max current that the controller will ever draw from it under your worst case riding conditions.

How much more, for either of those, depends on how long you want to keep using the pack, and what it's made from. As the pack ages, it will degrade, being both less capable of supplying current and having less capacity. Some cell brands/models/types will be better for longer, and some have relatively short lifespans.

When considering range, also consider potential adverse conditions (wind, detours, etc) that might require more than your normal needs.

 

[headhoncho]

With DVT you can flash it to use either a potentiometer throttle or the bitron 5v source throttle. Zero likely went to the hall throttle because with a potentiometer throttle on the sevcons they only have wire off detection and cannot detect when the traces become worn out from use. With the hall throttle the controller looks at 2 throttle signals simultaneously and if there is something amiss, it sets a flag and shuts down the motor.

The -5 motors I think can only do like 400A wheras the -7 is a thicker motor and can handle higher phase current.

The gen 4 80V controllers will run from I think 39.1V to 116V.

You can program the DC current limit into these controllers to be quite low and maybe use an old surron battery if you just want to get started

 

[renyn21]

I saw the sevcon in zero FX bikes, the stock battery configuration for the 7.2 model is 28 cells in series with 64ah of capacity. I think the older bikes had 5.7, I would go for at least that much. Keep the 28s, that goes to 116 max voltage if you want the most out of that controller. If you want to get a reference for gear reduction you could try going on the zero website and looking at the manuals they offer. There are chain conversion kits for the FX, maybe copy from that, I remember the stock rear belt sprocket whatever it's called being quite big, but that's for the off road focused version. I'd probably just have used another controller if it wants anything else from the rest of the bike to work. The motor has an encoder and the 3 phase wires, should be able to work with others in case the sevcon doesn't cooperate. The unofficial zero manual is a very informative website, read thru it, should be very helpful. It does say what kind of batteries they use on there too. And if you pick the S or FX pages they have sprocket specs, number of teeth, everything. The contactor in the srf is a gigavac gx14, rated to 350 amps yet the bike has configuration for 750. I wouldn't worry too much, ring a place that dismantles ev batteries for solar stuff, they have plenty of contactors. Just make sure to use a precharge circuit. I'm stuck on that one for my moped project.

 

[renyn21]

For the battery I would go for these modules they pull from bmw hybrids, or something similar, around 5kw at least, configured in 28s. Something with enough discharge amps so you don't stress the cells too much with whatever the sevcon was supposed to run in the zero. That should be a good goal, they know what their motor can take. And for a charger, some people use meanwell power supplies, I recommend these modified delta esr-48 modules, they sell them with potentiometers and voltmeters online, also known as the Roger charger on forums. I have one that goes up to 120v and 25a. That's as good as the chargers the newer bikes have. It's a diy thing of course, but it seems to work really good. I think there's an escooter shop in the us called alien rides that sells that charger as the hyper charger. I just got a generic one since I'm from europe.