INSTALLING THE BATTERY MODULE WAS QUITE A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE!

Today I was out working on the Fiero by 7 am and had to finish the outboard end plate. The wire feed welder I have is a cheap Harbor Freight Chicago Electric Welding model with a 10% duty cycle, so after welding for a minute, you have to wait 9 minutes for it to cool down. After tack welding the clips in place and marking where the holes to bolt down the tie straps, the end plate was removed. When starting to drill the holes that were going to be tapped, both of the clips broke loose, so the end plate had to be bolted on the module again and better tack welds re-applied. 

Finally, all of the clips were welded in place, the holes drilled, the plate ground, to clean off all of the splatter, and a coat of paint applied, so it was time to start putting the first cell in place. The leads from the existing battery pack in the front of the car were in the way so I had to disconnect them. When working the first cell with the end plate and the rods, my arm came in contact with the negative terminal and I got quite a shock, so stopped and taped both of the leads. It had rained and I had left the trunk lid open, so there was a bit of water inside the engine compartment. I have been chasing a ground leak but have not found it yet, so it will be interesting to see if it goes away with the new module installed. With the rods inserted through the end plate and a cell, it was a struggle getting the hold down clips to go over the battery rack angle iron but with some twisting and prying, finally got both of them over the angle. Then I started the second cell on the rods and started working it toward the outboard side of the car to mate with the first cell. I am going to have to move the controller about a half an inch for the cells to clear it but was able to work the second cell around the protruding fan housing to slide it toward the first cell. My arm came in contact with the negative terminal of the controller and again I was shocked! I really don't understand this, as the leads were disconnected from the controller and the positive pack voltage lead was disconnected. Also the contactor on the positive lead of the battery was de-energized, so there should not have been any voltage there.

GETTING SHOCKED!

I would have disconnected the battery terminals on the battery pack in the front of the car but the Allen socket that I needed was no where to be found. I had a set that fold out but none of the sizes were correct. It slipped out of my hand and created a ball of fire when it contacted the negative and positive terminals, so the negative terminal of the controller was just taped so I could continue installing the cells. As my luck would have it, just as I was getting ready to put in the third cell, there was a giant clap of thunder and after getting shocked twice and shorting the battery pack terminals, decided it is time to pack it in for the week, as about the only thing left was to get struck by lightning!

Still looking for a tow dolly on Craigs List but the only seller to respond was too far away, so the search continues.

EVCCON or Bust!

Randy

FABRICATING BATTERY MODULE HOLD DOWN CLIPS

The pack is going through the final bottom balance with the JLD404 set up to turn on a small flash light bulb at 2.7 volts and then discharge until the battery reaches 2.5 volts. The cells all seem to have pretty much settled out at just under 2.7 volts.

While bottom balancing the cells, I am fabricating steel end plates and have welded clips on the plate to hold down the module. On the inside plate, the angle is long enough that holes will be drilled and the plate bolted down to the support angles. I wrote about them it the last post but here is the completed inboard end plate.

INBOARD MODULE END PLATE

On the outboard side of the module, the end of the angle used to make the rack is not long enough to bolt the clips, so the clips will be turned around and will hook under the rack angle. Below is a rough diagram and a picture of the cell in place to confirm that the clips will hook the end of the angle.

OUTBOARD HOLD DOWN CLIP DIAGRAM

CELL WITH CLIPS UNDER RACK ANGLE

With any luck I will be able to start mounting the module tomorrow, if I can find a metric tap to thread the holes for the tie bars.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

BATTERY RACK

This morning the Fiero was taken to Gary's Place, a local mechanic in Kirkersville, but not before having to mess with the controller. The laptop had to be hooked up so the pot box could be re-calibrated. Once that was done the car ran flawlessly the 3 miles to the shop. The HiPower cells seem to be sagging less and as soon as I let my foot off the accelerator, the voltage came right back up to 124 volts.

The car was driven up on the lift and once off the ground, we started measuring and figuring where to place the angle. Once under the car, it became apparent we could mount the rack to the cradle without having to weld anything to the firewall or sides of the engine compartment. The front angle was placed completely across from the drivers side to the passenger side.of the cradle and the rear angle was run about 25 inches and terminated just before it came in contact with the motor adapter. The module is 23 inches long, with the existing end plates, so with the new thinner steel end plates I am making, will be less..

BATTERY RACK

CELL PLACEMENT TEST

Angle clips will be made and welded to the bottom of the new steel plates and will bolt to the angles, to hold the pack in place. There will be four, 3/8 inch bolts and fender nuts will be used so the bolts will be able to just be screwed in, without having to put a wrench on the bottom.

HOLD DOWN ATTACHMENTS

HOLD DOWN ATTACHMENT DETAIL

BATTERY RAIL ATTACHMENT

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

STEERING WHEEL, SEATS, AND CONSOLE - INTERIOR NEARING COMPLETION

Work is continuing on getting the USB charging set up to power the Dell Venue 8 Pro and a button has been located that will short the data leads until the charger starts on the tablet. The tablet did start charging when the cable went only to the charge port, but when a Y was connected with a mouse, the tablet did not start charging, so still working on the details.

USB CHARGE ENHANCER

A Panel has been fabricated to mount the JLD404 and the USB button but I am still working on a way to properly mount the button. Once the meter and button are mounted, the center console will be able to go back in the car. Also, I found a volt, amp, amp hour and watt hour meter on EBAY, so it may be used instead of the JLD404, as tracking watt hours would be a little more accurate way of measuring the charge than amp hours.

VOLT, AMP, AMP HOUR, WATT HOUR METER

The steering wheel cover has been sown on and the wheel mounted back in the car, so no more vice grips to steer the car when having to move it.

STEERING WHEEL COVER INSTALLED

The new seats that came with the car were removed from storage and cleaned. a bolt was missing from one of the brackets, so one was robbed from the original seats. Upon closer inspection, the seats were in much better condition that I remembered and the solid charcoal gray will look good in the Fiero.

BETTER SEATS

The Better Place Module that is being bottom balanced is getting close to being finished and once the individual cells have all settled under 2.7 volts, will be charged to about 2.75. This will require manually stopping the charger at 2.75 volts as the lowest setting on the Powerlab 6 is 3 volts. The Powerlabs are good but could be so much better if Revolectrix would offer a different firmware package for EV use than is currently available for the RC crowd.

POWERLAB 6

I have decided to take a week off work next week to fix the back porch steps, install a new front storm door, and try to make some progress on the Fiero. I have an offer to tow the Fiero to EVCCON and I am really close to having it ready in time, so will try to find a way to get one of the Better Place modules mounted. I sent an email about a towing dolly on Craigslist but have not heard back from the seller, so it may already have been sold.

NEW STEPS FINISHED

FINDING A SPACE FOR A MODULE

Tomorrow I am going to paint the new steps and back porch floor, then start on the new storm door. It is supposed to get up in the 90's in Ohio, so I am planning on starting early and finishing up in the evening when it starts cooling down a little. Hopefully there will be some time in there to start fabricating the angle iron to hold the Better Place Module. I may check with a local mechanic, who has a lift and is a pretty good welder, to see how busy he is. If he doesn't have much going on, he may be able to help get the Better Place Modules mounted.

Until next time,

Randy

SETTING UP THE POWERLAB 6 AND 8

A while back, I smoked my Powerlab8 battery charger, so bought a reconditioned Powerlab6 to assist in bottom balancing the Better Place Module. After setting it up, I was not able to discharge down to 2.7 volts and kept getting a warning that the cell is under 3 volts. I posted on the EVTV Forum and a couple of EV builders have posted Youtube videos on how they set up their Powerlabs to bottom balance

After watching the videos, I found the regenerative discharge was not checked and after it was checked, the Powerlab 6 would do a discharge only, even when below 3 volts.

More measurements were taken to try and figure out where to put the Better Place module and a plate was made to cover the radio opening to mount the JlD404.  There will also be a switch that turns on a USB charge enhancer, that increases the power and shorts the data leads. This should allow the Venue 8 to start charging when it boots up and once the charger starts, the data leads can be un-shorted to allow the tablet to communicate with the Synkromotive controller. I will post some pictures when the plate is closer to being finished. Also, the steering wheel cover was sown up making it ready to go back in the car and the new wiring harness was run through the center console.

Probably will not get the car back on the road in time to take it to EVCCON but am going to keep pushing and see where I end up.

Randy

DEW WIPES AND DOOR PANELS DONE!

When I read the write up on how to replace the outer door window seals (dew wipes) they said the second one was easier that the first, and they were correct. Around 9 am the passenger side door was started, and proceeded very well. I did have a bit of a time getting the screws behind the window glass to break loose with the tool I made after seeing one on Rodney Dickman's website.

OLD AND NEW GLASS SEALS AND TOOLS

Newspaper was folded and stuffed in the space between the window glass and the outer side of the door, to keep the screw from going all the way to the bottom of the door, if it was dropped, and saved me a lot of work when one of them dropped. I was able easily get it off of the paper with a magnet. When putting the new dew wipe in, I did run into problems with one of the screws behind the glass. Finally I was able to use a punch and tap the seal toward the hinge side of the door, finally lining up the hole. By early after noon, the door was assembled except for the panel. The panel, arm rest, and door handle cover were painted with interior paint and the second door was finished.

OUTSIDE VIEW OF NEW DEW WIPE

REFINISHED PASSENGER DOOR PANEL

That was it for work on the Fiero on Saturday, as it was time for mowing and trimming the grass but felt good about the progress that was made over the last two days.


Until next time,

Randy

JULY 4TH

Today, work on the driver's side dew wipe started around 8 am, and it was still only in the high 50's in Columbus, Ohio. The window was rolled down and I was able to get 3 of the screws holding the dew wipe and the side mirror screws out but the other 2 screws were blocked by the window glass. The night before, I had made a screw driver that is supposed to be able to remove them, but the screws would not break loose. Tired of messing around and not wanting to drop the window guide, I was able to get a hack saw blade behind the dew wipe and just cut the screw off. I went to Advance Auto Parts and picked up some molding adhesive, deciding to just glue the center of the dew wipe in place.  After the new dew wipe was attached in place with the outside and mirror screws, I put wooden wedges in the center of the dew wipe and applied molding adhesive between the dew wipe and the door flange. Wood wedges were put between the dew wipe and window to keep pressure on the piece until the adhesive dried. Then the rubber seals and inner dew wipe were bolted on. Finally the door panel, arm rest, and door handle cover were installed to finish the job. While the door panel was off, the tracks were lubricated as much as was possible so the squeak that was previously heard when the window was run up, was now gone.

INSIDE VIEW OF DOOR PANEL

OUTSIDE VIEW OF NEW DEW WIPE

The new steering wheel cover has not been stitched yet, so I decided to paint the exposed hub and spokes with black truck bed liner to give it some texture.

STEERING WHEEL PAINTED

After the steering wheel was drying, some more measurements were taken of the lower trunk and it looks like the Better Place Module will fit there, while still allowing the upper portion to be open for luggage or groceries.  Having cleaned the trunk out last week, and having most of a can of truck bed liner left from painting the steering wheel, the trunk was given a coat..

TRUCK BED LINER APPLIED TO TRUNK

My son and his fiance came over in the evening and we had steak, shrimp, and chicken shish sabobs on the grill. We found a box of fire works left over from when my son worked at Phantom Fireworks, so will have a display out in the back yard tonight. We were invited to my parent's for a cook out also but my wife's back has been bothering her and we did not want to go without her, so decided to just cook out at home. After a hard day of work on the Fiero, it was nice to kick back in the afternoon and relax a little.

ANOTHER DAY

Yesterday, the 12 volt system volt amp meter stopped reading voltage, so I got out the volt meter to trace out the 12 volt line and found it had no power. I am getting power from the cigarette 12 volt source, so upon checking the fuse, found it blown. After replacing the fuse, the meter started working properly.

An aluminum plate was also made to mount the meters in and will be attached to the speedometer glass. This will cover the gaps and make a cleaner mounting for the meters.

The driver's side door panel was cleaned and a fresh coat of medium gray interior paint was applied, with the arm rest getting a coat of charcoal gray. A little carpet cleanup and the door panel will be finished.

DOOR PANEL PAINTED

Also, some time was spent on the internet ordering new outer window seals and researching how to install them. The diagram below is courtesy of Michigan Fiero Club. 

FIERO DOOR DIAGRAM

The trunk was also hosed out to and I am going to take some measurements, as the battery module would be easy to fit in the bottom and a floor could be fabricated that would still give the car some trunk space. This may be the easiest place to put the Better Place Module and will still keep the center of gravity low. I just want to make sure there is a place to put groceries or packages as the car only has two seats and no space in the cabin for cargo.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

METERS, METERS.....AND MORE METERS!

The 12 volt system Volt/Amp Meter was hooked up and was reading current and voltage just fine, so I decided to hook up the traction pack meter. The 12 volt system meter was hooked up to the isolated side of the 12 volt dc-dc isolation converter, so it was disconnected and hooked up to the un-isolated side. The meter came on and read voltage just fine but read zero amps. It seems that both meters will need to run off of an isolation 12 volt dc-dc converter, so another one was ordered from Light Object. I am afraid if I try to run both meters off of just 1 isolation converter, the high voltage will get back to 12 volts on the isolated side and blow the dc-dc converter. I know the traction pack side will work because that was the first meter that was hooked up before I found out that they were not isolated meters and smoked them when hooking up the low voltage side originally.

On to fastening down the loom in the engine compartment. The wiring runs were straightened out and fastened to the brackets and firewall. I will need to disconnect an inline fuse wire and the tachometer lead to reroute them but other that that, the wiring harness is done. 

WIRING RUNS COMPLETED

Then measurements were taken again and some figuring was done to determine if the battery pack will fit in the space between the motor/transaxle and front firewall. If the pack is placed to the passenger side of the engine compartment, it will fit. the rear passenger side of the car is sitting higher, so it appears that I need some additional weight on that side anyway. I am considering adding cells to both modules to increase the voltage anyway, so will make a smaller module that can go on the driver's side to balance the weight in the rear of the car. A cardboard template was made and it appears it is going to be quite a challenge to get the pack in that space without dissembling it.

I am still working on getting all of the Better Place module cells to hold  under 2.7 volts so I can try charging up to get them all to the same voltage level. The module had been discharged until the lowest cell is 2.5 volts several times but some of the cells have still drifted back to above 2.7 volts.

The speedometer wires from the VSS were connected to the wiring harness in the cabin so once the USB cable is finished, the center console can be installed.

SPEEDOMETER WIRES CONNECTED

To finish the interior, the door panels need removed to be painted and to install new outside window seals, so this was as good of a day as any to start.

DOOR PANEL AND ARM REST REMOVED

The temperature in Ohio has been getting close to 90 deg by afternoon, so it has been quite miserable working on the car, even though a lot of little things have been getting finished. We are going to dinner with my Son and his Fiance, so had to knock off a little early but will continue tomorrow.

Randy

WIRING COMPLETION IS LOOMING AHEAD!

Saturday the MC4 Cable Connectors arrived, so the connection was made through the fuse to the positive side of the battery pack for the heater. The diodes for 12 volt positive power, that I had originally thought were needed, arrived also but upon closer inspection of the correct schematic, found that there is a relay that puts power to the fan switch when the heater button is in any position but off. This circuit will make sure the fan is always running when the heater is turned on.

HEATER SCHEMATIC

After the MC4 connectors were made up and the fuse installed in the circuit, the final connection to the traction pack was made.  Then work moved to the inside of the car to make up the control wiring to 12 volts. All of the circuit is completed and ready to connect to the heater control unit when the center console goes back in.

FUSE INSTALLED HEATER CONNECTED

12 VOLT HEATER CONTROL CONNECTIONS

Earlier Saturday morning, I made a trip to Jo Ann fabric and picked up some grained vinyl to cover the top plate on the center console, where the Dell Venue 8 will be mounted. The vinyl was cut and adhesive was used to attach it to the wooden top cover plate. Part of the vinyl was clamped in place and while the adhisive was drying, work was done on other projects. Getting the vinyl attached was a little bit of a challenge, but it ended up working out nicely.

CENTER CONSOLE TOP COVER CLAMPED

TOP COVER AND VENUE 8 MOUNTED

CONSOLE COVER BACK VIEW

Then to the motor compartment, where the wiring was run around the firewall, to determine how much wire will remain inside the car. The project was started on Saturday, so Sunday Morning, I continued by getting out my box of loom and installing it over the new wiring harness run. After the loom was installed, I made up the speedometer plug and started fastening the loom to the firewall. The run from the controller and pot box have not been fastened down yet, so now that all of the wiring is complete, can be attached.

WIRING HARNESS LOOMED

SPEEDOMETER CONNECTION 

The Better Place module was connected to a 40 watt light bulb and readings were taken on each cell to determine the lowest one. As expected, the voltages went down as measurements were taken from the first cells bottom balanced to the last ones. The first few cells were back up to over 2.9 volts and tapered down to the 2.7 range on the other end of the module. The JLD404 is connected to the lowest cell and will be drained down until it reaches 2.5 volts, which is actually around 2.595 volts when measured with the volt meter. Then the pack be allowed to sit for a week or so and try and the low cells will be charged back up to 2.7 volts with the Powerlab 6. I am not sure this will work but it is worth a try, as trying to bottom balance all of them to 2.7 volts through discharging is not working.   

BOTTOM BALANCING CONTINUES

I needed to get a piece of aluminum bar, more loom clamps, and some screws to mount the clamps, so it was time to make a run to Millersport Hardware. Do It Best Hardware seems to be a bit less expensive than the Ace Hardware in Baltimore, OH but the Ace has a better selection of stainless steel fasteners. When I left the hardware store is was just about Beer:30, so I stopped at Valero and picked up a 6 pack of Sam Adams  Rebel IPA. After enjoying a couple if them, it was time for a little NAPcar along with the EVTV Weekley Show. It was getting rather warm outside, so thought it was a good time to take a break before continuing work on the Fiero this evening.

So entertained and refreshed, I went back out and made brackets for the wiring harness runs, while continuing to monitor the Better Place battery module discharge. When I came in around dark, the lowest cell was at 2.58 volts and the highest cell was around 2.75. I am hoping to bring the pack down enough that the highest cell is around 2.7 volts. I have a small night light hooked up and I am hoping that by discharging at a low amp level, the cells will not drift back up as much.

Anyway, that's it for this week, 

Randy