TAKING A RAIN BREAK

Last week has been very productive and the latching relays for the contactors is wired up. The wiring was tested with the new Alien Motion AM22-01 battery before it was installed in the Fiero but has not been tested in the car. Hopefully it works because getting to all of the wiring is getting harder and harder with all of the components installed.

A few months back I had wired up the starter wire on the C500 connector but when it was checked before wiring up the relay, there was no 12 volts when the key was turned to the start position. After taking apart the connector, it appears the connector had pushed back into the housing and as the back of the connector housing was molded, there was no access to push it back into place. This required me to cut the purple wire in the wiring harness and splice a wire to run to the relays.

RELAY CONNECTOR WIRING

RELAY INSTALLED IN CAR

ALIEN MOTION AM22-01 BATTERY

If you have followed this blog you will recall I purchased a Ballistic LiFePo4 12 volt battery last year that ended up failing. I found out that these are actually manufactured by Star Motion for Ballistic, so contacted them to ask them about their warranty policy if used in an electric car conversion. I told them that Ballistic had refused to honor the warranty because the battery was not used as a starter battery and was told that the Alien Motion battery would be covered as long as it was not over charged or completely drained, no matter what application is was used for.

To make sure that the battery does not get fully discharged, I ordered a Peak DBA low voltage cut out. This should eliminate any possibility of over discharging the battery.

LOW VOLTAGE BATTERY CUT OUT

As it is raining today, it will be a good time to clean the garage and get ready to cut and bend the Plexiglas cover for the battery and contactor. 

Until Next Time,

Randy

FINAL BOTTOM BALANCE PASS AND FIRST CHARGE

Sunday started early, continuing to bottom balance the remaining 18 cells to 2.9 volts. They were actually charged to 2.935 but settled to around 2.909 volts after they sat for awhile. 

FINAL BOTTOM BALANCE

All of the cells were checked again with a voltmeter and the highest cell was 2.9 volts. My 220 Volt AC cable was too short, so I had to run over to the hardware store and get another 10 ft of 12/3 cable to hook up the charger. Then the negative lead from the charger to the module had to have a shunt installed and a little length added to te cable. Finally all of the connections were made, the volt meter hooked up to the highest cell, the JLD404 connected to the shunt and Pack positive and negative, and the 220 breaker was turned on.

BETTER PLACE MODULE FIRST CHARGE

The charger had been set to charge the 37 HiPower cells but the voltage will need turned up for the Better Place Module, as at 4 volts/cell, were still taking a charge with the voltage rising slowly and not yet on the vertical curve.

TABLE AND  GRAPH OF FIRST CHARGE

Not sure why the amps on the graph above fall off at 28 minutes but you can see from the charge curve that it did not reduce to 10.2 amps until after 60 minutes.

While the module was charging, I did some research to find a wiring diagram to hook up two relays so when the key is turned to start, it will open the contactors and put 12 volt power to the controller, that stays energized until the key is turned from the run to off position. Finally I found a schematic for the same Bosch relays I am going to use.

START SWITCH RELAY WIRING DIAGRAM

Work was a little slow today so I took a half day off so possibly I will start wiring up the relays and making up the battery pack leads to the controller.

More later,

Randy 

FINISHING THE NEGATIVE CONTACTOR, SHUNT, AND FUSE

Saturday morning, work continued on the negative side contactor, shunt, and fuse mounting, and the bus bars were added. Then the plate was mounted on the end of the battery. Plexiglas covers will be added to the top of the battery module and to the contactor, shunt, and fuse once the battery connections are made up.

COMPONENTS MOUNTED

The battery module has set for over a month now, so reading were taken to see where the voltages settled to. The lowest wa 2.691 volts and the highest was 2.897. Jack Rickard of EVTV has stated that he is not bottom balancing them to 3 volts but from the looks of the graph below, I should be able to charge all of the cells to 2.897 and get them to stay pretty close to that voltage.

Anyway, it's off to a pet event with my wife, son, and his fiance,  not by choice but to keep the wife happy. Our Yorkie will be happy also.

Thanks for stopping by,

Randy

MORE WORK ON THE CONTACTOR MOUNT

Work on the mount for the fuse, contactor, and shunt continued and slots were cut in the top so it would slide over the rails on top of the module. It  is going to cover the end of the module very nicely. Last night I laid the components out on the plate, evidently before the paint had fully dried and it left some bare spots, so the plate was removed and another light coat of truck bed liner was applied.

FITTED COMPONENT MOUNTING PLATE

The remainder of the evening was spent looking for materials to cover the components, once they are mounted. Progress is moving slow but it is moving, so hopefully by the end of this weekend, the module will be hooked up and ready to test. A couple more wires will need to be pulled inside the car for the shunt and a couple of wires run to control the contactors. That means getting the wires in the loom behind the battery module but I should be able to get to them. I may also hook up the starter switch to a couple of relays so they will close when you turn the key to start and stay latched in the run position, until you turn the key completely off. It may also be nice to have a green LED come on when the contactors are closed.

Thanks for stopping by,

Randy

CHUGGING ALONG

Today was my first day back to work and it was a real drag after being off for 10 days. After work I kept chugging along on the mount for the fuse, shunt, and contactor and attached the last side with 3 screws. Then I removed all of the components, wiped the aluminum down with alcohol, dried the plate and then painted it with bed liner paint.

COMPONENT MOUNTING PLATE PAINTED

While the paint was drying, I test fitted the new trunk seal and after fumbling with it for a few minutes, snapped it right into place. It needs to be moved so the split is in the center but for now, it will keep the rain out of the trunk.

TRUNK SEAL FROM SIDE

TRUNK SEAL FROM BACK

Until next time,

Randy

OVER EVCCON.......BACK TO WORK!

My week in Cape Girardeau went so fast, it almost seems like a dream. It was good to see all of the acquaintances I have made over the last four years but now it is time to get back to work While at the convention, the copper sheet and trunk seal arrived, and the packages were waiting, unopened in my computer room, when I returned home.

Sunday evening, I started laying out the positive side emergency/maintenance shut off and contactor, in the electrical box again. Then Monday morning, I took out a sheet of aluminum foil and began making templates for all of the bus bar I would need. I used some Styrofoam and silicone adhesive under the manual switch to locate it in the box when the top was removed. After measuring and cutting aluminum foil templates, the copper plate was cut and bent into the proper shape to make all of the connections.

BUS BAR INSTALLED

BOX INSTALLED IN MOTOR COMPARTMENT

Then back to the negative contactor, shunt and fuse mounting. The aluminum plate was removed from the end of the battery module and an aluminum strip was bent to cover the space between the battery and plate so you won't see the mounting bolts. Then clips were fastened to the aluminum plate to bolt the strip to.

CLAMPING STRIP TO DRILL BOLT HOLES

COUNTER SUNK SCREWS TO FASTEN STRIP

The plate and cover strip will be painter black and a Plexiglas cover will be made over the end. As you can see from the pictures, I was running out of daylight but just 3 screws to go. I am going to install the connectors on the pack terminals so the module can be charges, so maybe by this weekend, I can test the Better Place module. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Randy 

BACK FROM EVCCON

I left Cape Girardeau around 7:00 am ext and headed for home instead of the drag race, as it looked like rain. After seeing Michael Brown's posts, it looks like I should have stuck around!

EVCCON 2014 DAY 5

Michael also did a post of DAY 4, and it is really great that he took the time to document the event. I finally did get to talk to Michael at the Awards Banquet to let him know his work was appreciated. 

Although I had a great time at EVCCON this year, was disappointed the Fiero did not get done in time to take, that so many speakers canceled out on Jack, and that quite a few of those in attendance in the past, did not make it this year. Thanks to Al Gada and William for letting me be a part of the drag racing team at Jack's hanger on Friday. It turned out being a lot of fun!

Thanks to Jack Rickard and all of the folks at EVTV for making this year's EVCCON another success, and for all of those taking the time and spending the money to bring their conversions. Can't wait until next year!

Randy

EVCCON DAY 3

Today was play day at the air port and I started my day at 7 am, setting up the drag strip with Al Gata and William Allen. After finally getting all of the sensors to read, we started letting all of the EVs make runs and had quite an exhausting day out in the Cape Gieardeau August heat. After dinner I went to the hotel to rest awhile before driving over to the shop.

To me, EVCCON is about Friday night and the interactions with the folks that congregate at the shop. After four years of attending EVCCON, I finally got to taste Jack's home made whisky. It was very good quality and even though he told me to have all I wanted, one glass was enough considering I had to drive home. As always on Friday night, there was much stimulating conversation, as we discussed field weakening and variable brush advance with John Metric. We talked about many EV issues with folks from a quite a few different countries and tried to solve all of the EV issues known to man. About 10:30, Anna Kluppenorg brought some Arbies sandwiches, which were devoured by all of at the shop. By about midnight, the Smart build team had found the correct gear to power the car and were out on the street testing. Really a great end to a very interesting evening. By then most of the participants had headed back to their hotels and the evening was over. Still my favorite part of EVCCON

EVCCON

Below are links to articles by Michael Brown of the first 3 days of EVCCON.

EVCCON Day 0

EVCCON DAY 1

EVCCON DAY 2

Enjoy the Michael's posts  of the show.

Randy

DISASTER AVERTED!....I HOPE!

Over the last six weeks I have been putting on the push trying to get the car ready for EVCCON and although I fell short of that goal, have got the battery pack installed and made much headway on getting it hooked up to the controller. In my haste, I put the motor compartment lid down last night after dark, not noticing that I forgot to put on one of the side covers, allowing the rain we had overnight to get into the Synkromotive controller. Fortunately, I had made a separate cover for the DC-DC converter, so it was protected from the rain.

COVER LEFT OFF OF MOTOR COMPARTMENT

CONTROLLER LED NOT BLINKING

When I went out this morning, the led was not flashing on the communications port. There was no pack voltage on the controller and only 12 volts, so I unplugged the connector and after 30 seconds or so, plugged it back in. The led was now flashing yellow, not a good sign. I took my wife to the grocery store to stock up for the week I would be gone to EVCCON and upon returning, started emailing the folks at Synkromotive, to find out what the yellow light means and to ask them what they think the water could have damaged in the controller. Before sending the email, I thought I would look and see if there was a code being flashed, so opened up the motor compartment cover, plugged the connector back in and to my relief, the port was now flashing green again. Not 100% out of the woods yet but I do feel a lot better and will hook up the computer to see if communications can still be established to the controller.

Copper sheet was ordered to make the bus bars for the battery module, positive side contactor and emergency/maintenance shut off switch and should be here when I return from EVCCON. Also, a new trunk seal was ordered from the Fiero Store to keep the water out of the trunk when it rails. 

There is a potential buyer at EVCCON for the HiPower cells that are currently in the car but since I am not bringing the Fiero, have no way to get them there without renting a vehicle, so will just have pass on the offer. I guess if they really want the cells, we can arrange to meet somewhere between Columbus, OH and Tulsa, OK, this fall. My wife has been after me to go somewhere together before the end of the year, so maybe a trip to St Louis, MO may work out.

Anyway, with any luck, I should be having appetizers and drinks at the EVTV shop by 5:00 pm tomorrow. Hope to see you there!

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

WORK CONTINUES ON CONNECTING THE BATTERY MODULE

Over the last several days, progress has been made in hooking up the positive side of the battery module. A contactor and emergency/maintenance disconnect have been mounted in a box with terminals and now I am looking for a way to parallel the front battery to the rear pack.

PLATFORM FOR BOX

COMPONENTS MOUNTED IN BOX

BOX WITH TOP INSTALLED

The shop at EVTV is starting to bustle with activity and I should be in Cape Girardeau, MO by the time the EVCCON Welcome Reception starts, this Tuesday evening.

THE BEGINNING OF EVCCON

In the meantime, I still want to keep moving forward on the Fiero project so I can get it on the road before fall. Once the new battery pack in hooked up and powering the car, it will be back to the interior and instrumentation.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

A NEW DIRECTION

The box for the contactor, shunt, and fuse was a good idea but just did not seem to fit anywhere, so the mounting of these components was taken in a new direction. First a pattern of the battery was laid out on a piece of aluminum plate, holes drilled for the through rods, and cut to shape. The plate was bolted to the through rods on the battery module in the car and the components were laid out. Then the plate was removed and all of the components were laid out on a flat surface so the bolt holes could be marked. After drilling the holes, the components were all bolted to the plate and it was test installed on the end of the module.

COMPONENT MOUNTING TOP VIEW

COMPONENT MOUNTING BOTTOM VIEW

The shunt has two terminals  on each side so when the front battery module is installed, I will use one of these terminals to parallel the negative sides. A piece of sheet aluminum will be made to cover the gap between the battery and the mounting plate and a piece of plexiglass will be bolted to stand offs to cover the contactor, shunt, and fuse. It will be compact, out of the way and will allow the components to be viewed with out any danger of someone touching a conductor.

It is good to have found a place to mount these contactors and to have figured out where to bring in the power cable from the front of the car, at least to the negative side.Once the covers are made, the plate is mounted and all of the connections are made, I will start looking for a place to mount the positive side contactor, emergency/maintenance switch and tie in for the front module cable.

Thanks for visiting,

BUSTED

Monday evening a plate was made for the electrical box to mount the contactor, shunt, and fuse and all of the components were mounted. 

COMPONENTS MOUNTED IN BOX

Then the box was moved around the motor compartment to try and find a good place to mount it. There is going to need to be a bus bar to connect the cables coming from the front pack to the back pack and the controller, so instead of mounting the box close to the module, it may be best to mount a small box with the bus bar inside, close to the rear battery module and mount the component box on the back motor compartment wall. 

I am a buyer for a large utility company and Tuesday there was a convention that required me to have dinner with some of our suppliers, so did not get back home until late evening. My son and his fiance stayed all night so I could take them to the airport on the work the next day but they had to be at the airport at 4:30 am, so  I ended up having to get up at 3:30 am to get them there, so needless to say, not much work got done on Wednesday evening. I am going to keep working on the car but it became obvious tonight, I will not get the car done in time to take to EVCCON this year, so Busted! 

I am probably within 3 weeks of getting the Fiero good enough to take to Missouri but after the box with the shunt, fuse, and contactor is mounted, the interior still needs finished up and the tablet and amp hour meter still need to be finished.

M8 connector bolts were ordered to use as standoffs on the battery module to mount a plexiglass cover over the terminals and I am going to cut a piece of a sheet left over from another project and use a heat gun to bend 90% angles on the edges. It should protect anyone from getting into the connections while still allowing them to be seen. Anyway, the hopes of taking the car to EVCCON has given me a real boost over the last several weeks, as I was able to get the battery module mounted. 

Until next time,

Randy

WORKING ON THE GROUND!

Today, the tabs were finally bolted down to the battery rack rails and the module support rods were all tightened up. I had to go to Ace Hardware and get some button head bolts to have enough clearance to get the rod nuts to turn but all is good now. Also, before taking the Fiero off of the jacks, gave the underneath side of the rack a good coat of bed liner.

HOLD DOWN CLIPS MOUNTED

ANGLE CLIPS IN PLACE

BED LINER BEING APPLIED TO RACK

INBOARD HOLD DOWN CLIPS FROM TOP

CLEARANCE BETWEEN MODULE AND CONTROLLER

An electrical box was purchased from Home Depot to mount the conatctor, shunt, and fuse. The box will be bolted to the inboard end of the battery module on the negative terminal. I will probably put another contactor and an emergency/maintenance switch on the positive side also, so work began on laying all the components out and mounting them in the box.

Only a week to go until EVCCON and it is looking like the Fiero will not be done in time to take it this year but I am still going to keep trying, until it is time to leave next week.

Thanks for visiting, 

Randy

BATTERY MODULE (CONTINUED)

Work on the battery module installation continued every night last week and it is finally in. The first cells that were installed kept wanting to separate, so I had to use zip ties and battery connectors to keep them in place, while the last cells were installed. The very last cell was a bit of a challenge getting in because the pack is somewhat like an accordion, as it compresses when the rods are tightened. I had to work from the outboard end toward the inboard end, installing the zip ties around the center battery terminal and putting in the terminal connectors, to be able to get the pack to compress enough to get the last cell to fit. With the pack not compressed, the last battery was running into interference from the taper on the motor adapter, where it attached to the transmission. The end plate that I made had to be trimmed on the side to be able to clear this taper and I was not able to put in the spacers that go in the holes where the rods threads through. After compressing the top of the pack, crawling under the car and compressing the bottom of the pack, prying, shaking and probably cussing a little, I was able to get the pack compressed enough to get the the rods to come through and nuts started on them. The tabs on the outboard end plate worked out great and are catching the ends of the angle iron very well but I may run into problems drilling and tapping the holes on the inboard clips and may have to drill the holes from the bottom to bolt the them to the angle iron rack, from the bottom. I finished working on the module after dark on Friday night with hopes of getting up early on Saturday morning to continue.

BATTERY MODULE INSTALLED

INBOARD END PLATE

When I woke up on Saturday, around 7 am,  it was still dark out and upon looking out, it was apparent a rain storm was approaching but by 8:30 am the storm had just passed. I had to pick up a trimmer and chainsaw that I am had repaired, so started working on putting the braces on the top and bottom of the module. After putting a spacer on the rods so I could tighten them up a little more, I was able to bet all of the support braces in place. Then the bottom rod nuts were loosened, so the holes can be drilled to mount the bottom tabs to the rack angle to hold down the module. Tomorrow the holes will be drilled and the connectors will be connected to the pack so it can be charged. I will hook up the JLD404, so the pack capacity can be measured.

Until Tomorrow,

Randy