Richard Elliots Berlingo

[ChrisB]

Fantastic Richard , I have a sneaky reeling it may well have been down to human error then my the sounds of it.

I pretty much did the same with my front pack, the trouble it there are just so many pipes on that pack and its easy to miss a couple.

Bung her on charge and see what happens , if the energy meter dosnt get to 100% and it finishes charging dont worry too much, take her out for a gentle run keeping the eco meter out of the yellow and red areas as much as poss, do say 2-5 miles and bring her back and give her another charge.

Then go out and try a 5-10mile run again keeping that eco meter in the green.

If its still not reaching 100% after say 3-4 runs then I would force a EQ charge which is one above a normal charge , you'll need the EVlite to engage it , follow the normal instructions but rather than doing a Maint charge do the EQ charge, DONT do the INTAIL charge though if you have that feature on yours.

Then again try a couple of short runs , build the range slowly, the energy meter will settle down after a while.

ChrisB

[Richard Elliott]

Latest update - and questions. Everything back together and ready for test run. Charge level showing 17% after two weeks lay up (about 20% before). I put it on charge and everything whirred into life as it should. But the charging system cut out at 38%. No better after a break so it wasn't some sort of overheating issue. The evLite shows total voltage at 189v (27 x 7) which correlates with the individual readings for the individual packs and cells within. Do I understand from the various things I have read here and elsewhere that it is likely that the ECU will take a little time to recognise that the damaged cells have been replaced. I suspect that the middle pack is the only one thats not got a full charge as the yellow warning light has come on variously during the van's last four outings and the ECU has shut the system down long before the charge has been used up! Alternatively perhaps I should go for a reset of the system as described in Evan's Berlingo site in the rather splendid translation into English by an Italian of a Swiss original (or something like that!!)

[ChrisB]

I suspect the ECU is all rather confused, the volts look good , have you actually tried to drive her anywhere with the energy meter where it is ?
If so what happens after say just a 1 or 2 mile trip , where does the energy meter sit and whats the voltage ??

The voltage in my book is saying they are fully charged and if you say you have already done a maint charge.....................OMG I've just thought of something !!!!!!!!!!!

You've done a maint charge havent you ??........ , and when you watered the cells and the center pack leaked which means theres a good chance some of the batts got missed on the watering !!!!!! THESE MUST GET WATERED.
I dont suppose you remembered or are they in the pics you took of which ones might not have got watered ??
Well what ever it means that theres a high likely hood that there are batteries in that pack that have had a maint charge and they have not had water added to them !!!!! YOU MUST RECTIFY THIS FIRST

Right the best thing you can do is to grab some more distilled water and the EVlite and put her through another maint charge, this should reset the ECU to a degree and make sure ALL the batts are fully watered, also make sure you reset the over charge Ah meter .

Make a note as to where the energy meter sits at the end of the maint charge it should be 100% and the add water light should be alight on the dash at the end of it all.
Added the water as per the normal add water instructions, I doubt it will take much as they have already been watered once recently and you will be just topping up those that got missed in the center pack , but dont forget you still must water ALL the packs .
Once done reset the water light and jobs a good'n , take it out for a light spin of just a few miles to start with and then bring it back for another charge, build the range slowly.



ChrisB

[ChrisB]

An update to Richards Berlingo, due to a slight confusion in e-mail address and forum the posts ended up coming to my e-mail instead of the forum, any way heres the latest for one and all to read up on ............

Funny you should say that. I've been reading all the bumph both written, on the BVS site and Evan's info on SAFT batteries. I came to that conclusion last night and plan to do a maintenance charge today. There were three batteries in the middle pack that were beyond the split. I've done two short outings in the car since she came back down off the ramps early yesterday evening. Its running fine - no sign of the dreaded low battery light (although that only came on on a 1 in 4 hill previously - and I kept clear of that!) I did a recharge last night and it reached 34% before stopping. Up early today for the second short outing and a recharge - still got to 34% and stopped. Thats when I decided I should do a maintenance charge to do as you are saying, enable me to top up the batteries that got missed last time round, and also it will force up the rest of the packs. My concern is that the rest are pretty well fully charged and its the previously dickey set that are very low. I presume its safe to do a maintenance charge in a situation like this? Perhaps I should do another short spin to use a bit of capacity before lobbing yet more electrons at them! Difficult to know what to do for the best.

Richard

My reply

You dont say how long its taking to charge back up i.e from when you plug the charge lead to when it stops charging (ignore the energy meter for now ) I recon its pretty quick and only taking an hour or so if that.

Shouldnt make any difference as the controller will look at the battery voltage and what it thinks it needs and stop the charge automatically, this is whats basically happening now , the charger says the volts are fine and the current has tailed off so the packs charged , the energy meter on the other hand is confused about the whole thing and I dont think its linked to the charger in that way .

SO what should happen if you take it for a short spin, the charger will charge the pack in the normal way and if it only takes 2hrs it will only take 2hrs THEN it will go into the maint cycle and feed a further 5hrs at a reduced current into the pack , once its done this then it will go into pulse mode and the water light will be on and it will carry on doing this for a further 72hrs or until you carry out the watering etc.

I would be tempted to carry out the charge when you are about so you can terminate it as soon as its finished it and the water lights on, that way if a few of the batts are a bit dry from last time they wont get completely dried up during the pulse period while its waiting for you to water it.

Once watered , then take it for a gental spin for few miles and see how things go, yes I would avoid the 1:4 hill like the plague !!!! especially at the moment .

The energy meter "should" reach 100% during the maint charge if not then it wont be far off , and with luck over the next few cycles it should slowly make its way to 100% mine took a good 8-10 short cycles getting longer each time before it settled down to reaching 100% on every charge cycle.

Chris

Richards reply

Yes, the charge was only about 45 minutes from 20% to 30% or thereabouts before it cut out. So, did the maintenance charge yesterday afternoon/evening. That was interesting. It snail shelled itself from 20% to 91% very slowly. Put on charge at 14.00hrs and reached 91% at about 20.30 hrs. That was both on the energy meter and the evLite. The evLite then stopped showing a charging rate -. I walked down the garden and was back two minutes later and the energy meter had jumped to 100% and the water light was on. Confusing! So, thinking along the lines that I probably had two or three packs that were basically well charged and one with dubious charge due to lack of water and duff cells I waited an hour whilst it continued to pulse the batteries and then did the watering. Difficult to say how much went in after allowing for a bit of overflow. But at least the water all came out the overflows in the right places. Probably about two litres gone in but it may well be that the batteries that were at the end of the watering system after the broken battery took the lion's share.). Water reset and Ah overcharge went back to Nil (it was only at 10Ah before I started.)

So, deep breath and off to work in it this morning. Arrived at Buckfastleigh 3.4 miles later with the energy meter still reading 100%. (More downhill than uphill and I expect the batteries are well full-up after a maintenance charge.) The trip home will involve the hill that used to set off the low on power warning light........ (Its not the 1 in 4, that's another one!)

Richard

My reply

As I suspected, the energy meter was confused due to the duff battery.
If you look at how it went from the figures below then allow about an hour of actual charge , then it went into maint mode I suspect at around 15.30ish this carried on for the next 5hrs during this time the energy meter started to make ground, it managed to get to 91% when the system said the maint charge was finished at it was time for watering , it was at the moment it finished the maint charge mode and went into pulse mode it re-set the energy meter to 100% hence the sudden jump from 91% to 100%

The energy meter will lie for the first few cycles after the maint charge , it wont start being that acurate until your into about the 10-15th cycle , even on mine it seems a little variable , some days it appears to be able to go for nearly 10miles on just 5% when others its more like 10-15% and I drive it exactly the same ??

One point worth mentioning is it will carry out an Equalisation charge every 10 cycles or so all by itself which again will give the impression that its got more capacity than it actually has.

Looks like you've sorted it out

Build the range slowly and avoid the dreaded yellow and red areas if you can.

ChrisB

So it does appear that this has fixed Richards issue on this one, now we just need to build the range up on yours and carry out the other checks i.e gearbox oil and brushes .

ChrisB

[Richard Elliott]

Here's a picture of 'Sparky' outside the station at Buckfastleigh on his first day back in traffic after the battery problem was sorted.

Awaiting new small picture link, ChrisB

[ChrisB]

Errrr that didnt work Richard

Dont forget to add how you get on with building the range on the van to this thread, be interesting to see how much range you get from yours.

I have a feeling you are in a much more hilly area compared to me.

ChrisB

[Richard Elliott]

Two round trips to and from Ashburton completed in the last two days plus demonstration outings for interested people at the railway and trip to the voting station last night. Total 26 miles and charge down to 47%. Didn't mean to get it quite that low but, anyway, put on charge last night and in 3 hours it was up to 100% and carried on charging for another hours and a half before switching off.

Yes, plenty of hills around this area - we're right on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. I'll need to be pretty sure of the vehicles ability before heading on to the moor!

A minor hiccup with the rear brakes at the moment - since taking the brake cables down and putting them back its developed an irritating clicking noise like something flicking against the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Can't quite isolate whats causing it but fiddling with the route of the cable seems to affect it. I've tried adjusting it tighter but can't go any more without it will start to bind. By the way, do all Berlingos have a reversing warning or is it just mine? I've wired in a switch so I can turn it off when I want.

[ChrisB]

Two round trips to and from Ashburton completed in the last two days plus demonstration outings for interested people at the railway and trip to the voting station last night. Total 26 miles and charge down to 47%. Didn't mean to get it quite that low but, anyway, put on charge last night and in 3 hours it was up to 100% and carried on charging for another hours and a half before switching off.

Tut tut , 47%
Sounds like the energy meter is settleing down nicely though now.
Those hills round your area are going to be a killer though

A minor hiccup with the rear brakes at the moment - since taking the brake cables down and putting them back its developed an irritating clicking noise like something flicking against the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Can't quite isolate whats causing it but fiddling with the route of the cable seems to affect it. I've tried adjusting it tighter but can't go any more without it will start to bind.

Yes the cable routing in those trays under the batts can be a pain to get right, might be worth popping a wheel off and seeing if anything has come a drift in the drum ??

By the way, do all Berlingos have a reversing warning or is it just mine? I've wired in a switch so I can turn it off when I want.

Nope, mine hasnt got one, think its just a council option, reminds me actually that I've got to fix my reverse lights as they dont seem to work.??
Dont forget to check the gearbox oil and brushes, which reminds me this is something I MUST do.

ChrisB

[Richard Elliott]

Checked the rear hand brakes out as suggested. The hand brake cable to the right hand rear wheel had come adrift - it just hooks over its anchorage. Checked adjustment with wheel in air and then did the left hand one to be sure. So thats sorted - no strange noises and it stays put on a hill now. Reached 60mph on the way to work today - downhill with the wind behind me!

[ChrisB]

Whey hey 60 eh, your getting carried away now

Make sure the hand brake isnt too tight that it comes on when going over bumps etc, its a poor design to be honest.

ChrisB