Meter Problems

Over the summer I have been working on the batteries and have been using the EV Fiero for local errands. The car now has close to a 25 to 30 mile range and I am feeling more comfortable driving it
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I hooked up the JLD404 but am having problems getting the amps to read accurately. It seems like it is multiplying the amps as the controller is only 500 amps but the jld404 is reading -650 amps at full throttle, then displaying an error. The JLD404 is pretty easy to set up and I am fairly certain it is configured correctly but although Jack Rickard at EVTV says that you can use a 500 volt/50mv shunt, if you set the maximum range to 750, Marco at Light Object, where I purchased the meter said it would not work unless I put in a 75mv shunt.  Even though I believe Marko is incorrect, I purchased a 500V/75mv shunt and set the maximum range to 500 with the same results, high amperage readings. The mV reading from the shunt on a volt meter never exceeded 52.5 mv, so the JLD404 should be reading around -350 amps at 52.5 mv. Needless to say, the amp hour counter is not going to be accurate until I get this problem figured out so I just have to keep track of my miles when driving. The EV accelerates quite a bit slower when the batteries start getting low, but will still operate, so you do have some indication that you need to head for home before it actually runs out of power.

The 1970 John Deere 110 Garden Tractor that I have been restoring is almost completed, so I should be able to spend more time on the Fiero EV real soon. Hoping I can sell the garden tractor to help pay for LiPo4 batteries but my next investment is going to be a video camera so I can start posting some video. My son has offered to be my videographer and editor, so I am looking forward to getting him involved with the project. 

It is getting close to EVTV’s EVCCON and I am getting excited. I came home from the convention last excited about getting started on a conversion, so hopefully by next years EVCCON, I will have the Fiero converted to Lithium and be able to take it to the show. For anyone interested in attending you can check out the following link.

EVCCON