MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We have had a great year at CZ-EV and wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!

A special thanks to the builders in Ohio who have always been there to lend a helping hand when called upon!

The bottom balancing of the Better Place modules has been going well and the second module is all most done. The trick seems to be ending the bottom balance with a charge instead of a discharge. I had two cells that were still at 3 volts and discharged them to 2.91 volts before charging them back up to 2.95 volts. I have noticed that when discharging, the cells always come back up to close to 3 volts but after a charge at low amperage, will stat at 2.95 volts or drop a volt or so after charging. I am going to try to do a video of my second module bottom balancing and hope it will be useful for any of you still working on bottom balancing a Better Place battery module.

Hoping for a great 2015,

Randy

EVTV BUILD DATABASE

Not much going on with the Fiero EV build last week but did decide to post the build on the EVTV Database. The pictures I have are not that great so I went back through my picture archives and finally found a few that will work for now.

1985 FIERO GT EV CONVERSION

This weekend all of my time was spent cleaning carpets and finishing up all of my Christmas shopping, so nothing new on the build. Looking forward to a new year and finally finishing up the conversion.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

RELOADING

No post last week but the build has still been moving forward. Dell finally offers a cable that allows the Venue 8 Pro to charge and pass data simultaneously, so I now have one in my possession and am happy to report, it works as advertised.

Dell Micro USB Dongle for Data and Charging

CHARGING AND RECOGNIZING USB DRIVE

A couple weeks ago I put the HiPower cells on Craigslist and had an inquiry from a guy in Indiana. We emailed back and fourth and today he and his friend came to pick up the cells. This puts the build back down in the $10,000 range, that was my original goal. Being able to charge while passing data is the last obstetrical in re installing the center console, so I have  been arranging wires and getting ready to put the console back in. 

HIPOWER CELLS GONE!

Now that the project has been reloaded, it is time to move forward!

Randy 

READY FOR WINTER

With the four day Thanksgiving Weekend, I was finally able to drive the Fiero a few miles and found that first and second gears are engaging where third and fourth should be, so will need to readjust the shifter again. I had first second and fourth engaging pretty good with just third gear out of sync but want to get all four gears to be usable. Eventually I will get it but still fear the transaxle will need to be pulled out and rebuilt.

After I returned from the drive, the garage was cleared out and the Fiero is now parked inside, to continue work on the gauges and interior.

FIERO BACK IN THE GARAGE

My wife's old laptop, that is going to be used, to control the SKYRC iMAX B6 Balance Charger, would not allow me to download files and kept giving me messages that the security settings would not allow this file to be downloaded. After spending Saturday and Sunday on the internet looking for a solution, Internet Explorer 9 and then 8 were deleted and the internet settings were modified to make sure the download files was enabled. Finally, I was able to download files using Chrome. I am going to hook the laptop to the iMax B6 Charger next week and continue bottom balancing the Better Place module.

LAPTOP WORKING AND READY TO GO

As I have drained the batteries down a little, I am also going to test the new Pic Chip that Mark Weisheimer programmed for me. Hopefully it will give me the ability to adjust the voltage to 137.5 volts so the charger can be installed in the car again. Everything is hooked up to be able to charge on a J1772 charger but has not been tested yet.

ZIVAN NG3 CHARGER

PIC CHIP INSTALLED

The temperature was in the 60s today but the weather in Ohio is supposed to to turn cold again next week, so today was a good day to get the Fiero back in the Garage, so work can continue. Hopefully by spring, the two additional modules will be installed, all of the gauges working,  and I can focus on giving the car a new paint job. Maybe this year I will actually be able to get it to EVCCON.

Until next week,

Randy