Roper ZAP PK Xero Existence Log for December 2007

7 December 2007

I drove until completely out of juice today and the charger only put 5.75 kWh in the batteries.

They used to take over 9 kWhr. I tested all of them last month and they tested ok. I am going to test them again.

I wonder if it is the batteries or the charger.

ZAP has indicated that the charger needs to have algorithm 42 put in it. I may need to send the charger to ZAP to get that done.

7 December 2007

I drove only 9 miles today and barely crawled home. The batteries only held 5.87 kWh when I charged them afterward.

The PakTrakr kept telling me that battery 6 needed recharging. Just before I got home it told me that battery 2 needed recharging. I am going to test all of the batteries again.

I am becoming more interested in getting the lithium-ion-iron-phosphate batteries with a 450-amperes controller.

12 December 2007

I tested the batteries again today and they all tested good (All 10.6 volts at 400 amps for 15 seconds.). My problem must be with the charger. I am waiting for a ZAP address to which to mail my charger to have it checked out.

21 December 2007

I drove 6.3 miles yesterday and the recharge was 2.73 kWh for a usage rate of 2.31 miles/kWh, which is about right. However, the low-battery light came on while climbing a hill on the way home.

I got the address from Mark Higley to send the Delta QuiQ charger at ZAP for reprogramming. I will send it after the holidays.

29 December 2007

For the last two days I have been using a 12-volts charger, shifting it between different batteries when the current gets down to a few amperes. It is interesting to watch the PowerCheqs shift the charge between the batteries by watching their lights and looking at the PakTrakr display. I want to see if the 12-volts charger will charge the battery pack more than does the Delta QuiQ charger with its current algorithm. Of course, it takes much longer to charge this way.

30 December 2007

Removed the Curtus QuiQ charger to send to ZAP for reprogramming tomorrow.