The Powerlab 6 arrived on Saturday and just in time, the Better Place half cells had all been bottom balanced to 2.7 volts and were drifting back up toward 2.8 volts. My plan was to hook up the Powerlab and bring them all down to 2.7 volts, then end with a constant voltage phase until the current dropped off to a very low mv level. I was going to set the Powerlab to run for 5 or 6 hours for each cell, hopefully draining the half cell at a low mv level each time the cell voltage started climbing. My first problem was I had the Powerlab 8 user interface loaded and I had to down load the one for the Powerlab 6. Then I found that no matter which lithium program I started with, the lowest level it would permit me to discharge to was 3 volts. I sent a request to the manufacturer and hope they can get me set up to discharge the cells on down to 2.7 volts. In the mean time, if any of you have bottom balanced below 3 volts with the Powerlab 6 or 8, I would appreciate you letting me know what preset and settings you used to do it.
POWERLAB 6
Later in the day, the steering wheel was removed and the old cover removed. There was a sticky substance on the plastic of the steering wheel after the cover was removed and I spent about an hour cleaning it off. A cover was stretched over the wheel but the plastic lacing is not going to be used. I am going to attempt sewing the seam on the leather around the steering wheel, as that is the way the original steering wheel cover was attached and this method will look much better.
STEERING WHEEL COVER
Sunday, most of the day was spent mounting the 12 volt system shunt and making a new plate for the battery to be mounted on. The way the shunt was installed originally allowed the DC-DC converter to bypass the shunt, I thought maybe that is why I was not getting any current reading on the current meter. After everything was rewired and remounted, there was still no current reading with the headlights on. I checked the leads coming off of the 100 amp/75 mv shunt and found the reading was only 2.4 mv and should be getting a current reading of around 3.2 amps when the headlights are on. I have an ammeter so I will try to get a reading with it to confirm the actual amperage being used.
CURRENT STILL READING ZERO ON 12 VOLT METER
SHUNT READING 2.4 MV
The remainder of the dash bolts were installed and the lower steering column/instrument pod cover was painted and installed. Work still continues on the instrument panel LED lighting but I went back to incontinence for the blinkers. The parking brake on warning light still is not working, so I may need to remove the piece of molding that covers the parking brake to see if the wire came loose.
Anyway, I worked my A** off this weekend but don't feel like much progress was made.
Randy
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