LIGHTING THE WAY

I have been having problems with the 12 volt system dropping too low during acceleration when the headlights are on, so this week I ordered a pair of  7" x 6" sealed beam rectangular headlight housings with glass lens on EBAY that will allow me to use an H4 LED headlamp.

6054 SEAL BEAM TO H4 HOUSINGS

Then I found a pair of high power white LED H4 headlight low beam 80W Cree XB-D headlamp bulbs that were also ordered from EBAY. They are 1360 lumen, so will be about the same as the stock Fiero low beam output.

H4 LED HEADLAMP

To hook up the LED headlamps, a couple of H4 headlamp socket headlight plug connector extensions were ordered, again from EBAY. I read on some of the LED headlamp listings that a load resister may be required, so if any of you have any experience with LED lighting, I welcome your input.

H4 CONNECTORS

Also, the jumper will be installed on the IOTA DLS-50, DC-DC converter, that will increase the voltage output from 13.6 to 14.2 volts. The IOTA is listed as having a range from 108 volts to 132 volts, so when the pack drops below 90 volts under acceleration, there is a chance the output voltage will drop to the 10.7 volts where the Synkromotive main contactor trips.

IOTA 14.2 VOLT JUMPER

It has become apparent that the HiPower LiFePo4 cells that are being used are not going to be sufficient to power the EV Fiero effectively. I am not out anything, as the plan is to set up the Synkromotive controller as a fast charger and I will need a battery pack for that. A couple of fellow builders are working on this for their builds, so if you want to follow their progress, below are the links to their blogs.

A 240Z becomes an EV

Saturdays & EV's

The temperature in Ohio was in the teens all of last week, so I didn't do anything on the Fiero, except order headlight parts. Over this weekend we got several inches of snow, so no test drives either.

WINTER IN OHIO

Spring is just around the corner and I am ready for it! January has been a productive month, with a couple of test drives, allowing me to work out the bugs in the 12 volt system and the Synkromotive tripping problem. I also got the tachometer and speedometer working.

After hooking up the new headlights, the next project will be the interior, instrumentation, cleaning up the dash wiring, and hooking up the heater control circuit.

Thanks for visiting the EV Fiero Blog,

Randy