EVCCON 2015 WRAP UP

Michael Brown, a retired IBM employee, now residing in Thailand, made Cape Girardeau and EVCCON a stop on his world tour this year. Every year I go to EVCCON with the intention of doing daily blog posts about the event but have always found that others have already done write ups and that there is really no need to duplicate their efforts. Below are Mike's daily blog posts covering this year's event:

EVCCON 2015 Day -1

EVCCON 2015 - Day 0

EVCCON 2015 - Day 1

EVCCON 2015 - Day 2

EVCCON 2015 - Day 3

FINAL EVCCON 2015 WHISKEY TOAST

A special thanks to Brian Couchane for the ride to and from EVCCON for me and the Fiero! Brian is always lending a hand to other EVers and even brought his generator all the way from Ohio it the back of his truck, so those drag racing at Dyno Dom's in Siskin, MO would be able to charge between runs. Again many thanks Brian!

Also the help getting the vacuum leak on my brake line fixed by Aaron Lephart and his father was greatly appreciated. They went to the local NAPA and picked up some different clamps while I finished breakfast and would not even accept any payment for them. I appreciate the help guys and look forward to seeing you next year!

The week always goes so fast and I sit here in my hotel room wishing that I was getting up tomorrow and going to another session filled day at the EVTV garage instead of loading up the car and heading home but I guess that will just need to wait until next year!

To another Great EVCCON,

Randy

A DAY IN COURT

Well, not for me but my wife had to testify in a child custody court hearing and wanted me to pick her up as soon as she was finished. Her back still bothers her and she was worried that sitting on hard court benches all day would cause a real bad flair-up. As it turned out, I would not have needed to take the day off work, as the court session was over by eleven and she was home by noon. 

Not to worry, the day did not go wasted as I started early in the morning by taking some scrap metal to Hebron Scrap Metal Recycling, then headed to Lowe's to pick up some plugs and receptacles to make up adapter cords so the Fiero can be charged from  a 220 volt NEMA 14-50 receptacle or a 110 volt standard plug. I ended up making up adapter cords, one with a NEMA 6-20 receptacle and a NEMA 14-50 plug, another with a NEMA 6-20 receptacle and a standard 110 volt plug, and finally, one a 15 ft #10 SO cable with a NEMA 6-20 receptacle and plug. This should pretty much fix me up for charging at an RV park or at anywhere with a standard 110 volt outlet. After the cords were finished, I top charged the battery using 110 volts and it worked fine.

CHARGE ADAPTER CORDS

Last night the center console cover I had made to hide a crack in the console was attached again with contact cement and today was installed back in the car. Also the instrument panel back was installed and the radio and heater control cover plate was bolted back on. The interior looks pretty good now.

INTERIOR BACK TOGETHER

Then my focus turned to cleaning up the motor compartment, rear trunk, and front trunk where the batteries are mounted. After spraying the motor compartment areas that were not close to any electrical connections and painting the exposed areas in the trunk with satin black paint, everything was wiped down with Armor All and the same was done to the front trunk compartment. Overall it turned out pretty good.

REAR TRUNK

MOTOR COMPARTMENT

TRUNK LID

FRONT TRUNK COMPARTMENT

Then the lug nut covers were cleaned and reinstalled on the car, so that pretty much was the extent of the work that was done today. The Fiero EV is ready for it's first car show!

FIERO SIDE VIEW

Fiero Front VIEW

FIERO REAR VIEW

All of the preparation is done but there is still a problem with the ignition switch sticking and takes a little wiggling around to get it to turn. WD40 was sprayed in the key hole and it seems to have freed it up, so I will throw the can in the tool box when I go to the show, just in case it acts up again. Also I have mapped the shortest route to the car show using rural roads most of the way but still have a 50 mile round trip, so I am a bit worried about running out of juice on the way home. I have signed up for Chargepoint but have never tested the J1772 outlet. The adapter cords will allow me to charge at standard outlets, so I am going to go for it!

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

TOO MANY PROJECTS - TOO LITTLE TIME!

Yesterday, the ad from Alien Motion Batteries was posted and the blog got 118 page views and some comments on my Google Plus page. The first Alien Motion battery I purchased, puffed out  when the voltage regular on my garden tractor quit working. On a lead battery, you wouldn't notice anything for a year or so but with the lithium, the battery overcharged and the cells puffed up. It was sent back to Alien Motion and they were unsure of what happened but were leaning toward giving me a new battery. The voltage regulator on the tractor was checked so I emailed to tell them the voltage regulator was not working and was putting out 18 volts. Most companies would say "Sorry, it as your fault and we are not paying anything." The folks at Alien Motion were different, they asked me what it would take to keep me as a loyal customer and I asked them if they would give me a new battery for half price. They emailed back and said that would be fine, also thanking me for being honest by telling them the voltage regulator was bad. The new battery hasbeen in my other garden tractor for over a year and is working great! There are so many companies out there that are unwilling to spend a dollar to make hundreds in the future. The lithium battery I bought for them is actually for my Fiero EV but the little lead acid motorcycle battery still works, so I just haven't put it in yet. Alien Motion also has an unadvertised board they can put in the battery for $39 extra, that cuts out the battery if the voltage goes too high.  I will say it again, they are a good company and it is my pleasure to endorse them! If you are looking for a good lithium battery for your garden tractor, motorcycle, or EV, they have a great sale going on for a few more days.

LABOR DAY SPECIAL You've worked hard, now you deserve a break! Try one of our newest Alien Motion ® XP models at a super special price starting September 1st through September 7th. Still made in the USA!

Monday more work was done on the bathroom, putting up a drywall ceiling to cover the opening where a floresent light was above the sink and a piece of drywall where the old mirror was. The job is down to spackling the joints and most of them are corners. It has been awhile since I have done drywall, so am a bit rusty. 

Tuesday, the Fiero was taken to Bowman Detailing in Hebron, OH to get ready for the Drive Electric Columbus, Ohio event at Easton Mall. My wife and I had dinner on the way home at Sunset Inn  Restaurant and as always, really enjoy their down home cooking. After a good meal and a couple of draft beers, it was sleepy time when I got home, so no progress on any of my projects.

Wednesday, the Fiero was picked up and even though I was not expecting the paint to come out perfect, they said they were going to clay block the surface to get some paint over spray off. After getting home and looking the surface over closely, it appears they just waxed over it. I will admit, the inside of the car smelled really good but they were also supposed to clean the motor and front trunk but appears they did not spend much time on either. The car does look better and will be good enough to take to the show but if it weren't for all the other projects, would have done a much better job myself. They did give me a little off of the regular price they charge but I would rather have had the paint over spray removed on the motor and front compartment cleaned a little better. 

After arriving home with the Fiero, it was back to more spackling and while that was drying, the bottom of the rear bumper was wet sanded and painted satin black. The paint is drying with gray streaks in it, so will probably need to be wet sanded again and another couple coats of paint applied tomorrow.

While the paint on the bottom of the rear bumper and dry wall joint compound were drying, I dug out the spoiler and started working on it. The spoiler also had some paint over spray on it so I wiped it down with some solvent and then wet sanded it with 1000 grit sand paper. Then a good coat of wax was applied and wiped off. I thought it may need to be rubbed out with compound but turned out really good with just a hand waxing. When removing the spoiler, the nuts had to be cut off of the studs and I had been unable to find the studs anywhere. Finally I ran across some 1/4 inch hanger bolts that ended up working great.

HANGER BOLTS

A tool is made to install hanger bolts but Home Depot did not have one, so a 1/4 inch coupling nut and a 1/4 inch bolt were used to thread them into the spoiler towers.

HOME MADE INSTALLATION TOOL

HANGER BOLTS INSTALLED

A pretty busy evening but well worth all of the work, as projects are starting to come together enough I can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK - COLUMBUS, OH

Recently I signed up to take the Fiero to National Drive Electric Week - Columbus, OH, to be held on September 12, 2015 at Easton Town Center.

   

National Drive Electric Week Event - Columbus

Day:	Saturday, September 12, 2015
Time:	9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Location:	Easton Town Center 3945 Easton Square Pl Columbus, OH 43219

 to attend this event.

 to help the organizers for this event.

 the organizers for this event.

Last week troubleshooting was done on the retractable headlight motors, and it was finally discovered that a fuse was blown and the positive connector on the main contactor was not fully seated. The connections were cleaned with alcohol and coated with Nolox, zinc connection compound.

LIGHTS STUCK IN OPEN POSITION

HEADLIGHT MOTOR SCHEMATIC

HEADLIGHT DOORS CLOSED

The body of the Fiero is a mess, with a bad repaint job dull and flaking off in areas but I took the car to Bowman Detail Shop in Hebron, Oh, and they feel they can make the car look better. An appointment was made to have the car detailed next Wednesday. The bottom of the bumpers and ground effects on the side of the car is going to be wet sanded and painted satin black and the driver side was painted this morning.

SIDE GROUND EFFECT PAINTED SATIN BLACK

Also, a couple of nicks in the front of the hood were painted gloss black. If I have time, I may try to put a little body putty in them and then paint them again.

NICKS IN HOOD

Still quite a bit of work to do to get the car in shape to take to the National Drive Electric Week event and EVCCON but hopefully everything will come together.

Randy

LOGGING BUT NO WOOD!

The Zivan NG3 charger was hooked up and the Hantek logger connected to record the charge but when the 220 vac breaker was energized, nothing but the red light  indicating it should be charging. The pots on the charger had been adjusted to bring the end voltage down from 156 volts for the original lead acid battery pack to shut off around 136 volts, so the chip may be working and the charger just thinks it is already at the end voltage. I will need to do more trouble shooting and see if I can figure out how to get it to charge.

HANTEK LOGGER PROGRAM

The pack voltage on the pack has stabilized at 130.2 volts or 3.61 volts per 1/2 cell. This is after a 3 mile drive and sitting for a couple of months.

I have not had much time to work on the Fiero Project as my furnace was acting up ( The auxiliary heat was not shutting off) and my Miata is still overheating. I messed with the contacts on the furnace on Saturday and it seems to be shutting off now. Sunday I put a new thermostat in the Miata but and it helped but still seams like it has a slow leak somewhere that is causing me to lose the coolant after an extended period of driving.

I am gong to dig out the Zivan documentation and try and figure out how much resistance I should have had on the pot when it was set up originally. I may be able to set it back to that resistance and get the charger to kick on.

This afternoon, all of center console gauge wiring was completed and the center dash console was installed. There is still a rat's nest of wires but everything is labeled and should connect back up easily. Once the heater controls are installed and connected, I will put in the new meter in the center dash and hook up all of the instrument wiring. The last piece will be cutting the hole in the panel for the JLD404 and hooking it up. If everything checks out, I will be able to put on the center console cover and finally finish up the interior. That will be a great relief as I actually started the interior last spring. There is a new headliner, recovered sun visors, repainted panels, cleaned carpets, new covering on the panel behind the seats, and new seats. The interior should pretty much look like a showroom Fiero back in 1985.

CENTER PANEL INSTALLED

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

CRUISING INTERSTATE 70

EVTV's Friday show was downloaded early this morning, so by the time I finished watching, it was after 2:00 AM Sunday morning. I woke up at 7:am but decided to sleep in a little. About 10:00 am, I got moving and went outside to prepare the Fiero to test on the interstate. Having run the car out of juice a couple weeks ago, I was a little nervous, needless to say. Before leaving, the names of a couple of towing companies were written down, the charge cable was disconnected, and voltage, amp hour, and mileage reading were recorded. The shift linkage was inspected to make sure the cable had not pulled out again. The camera was taped to the dash, the laptop booted up and the Synkromotive UI was brought up. Finally before backing up, the JLD404 was reset and the Synkromotive log program started. So finally, I was driving down the road in front of my house toward the entrance to interstate 70 and even with all the planning and preparation, the 12 volt negative lead to the inverter that the laptop was plugged into came out of the terminal. So much for planning, so I decided to drove across the interstate to the Flying J parking lot and re-connect the terminal. Ok, the log program is running again, so off to the interstate entrance ramp. Just when I made the turn, the negative lead came out of the terminal again. Oh well, here we go anyway and at least the camera was working. The car ran great and I cruised along at 60 mph until turning onto the off ramp at Etna and turned into the McDonald's parking lot to try and get the log program back up. This time I taped the negative lead to the inverter so it could not come out and got the log program back up and running. Then back on to Route 70 to continue the test drive. The car was still doing fine so I decided to pass the Rt158 exit and to on up the road to the Route 37 Exit. The shifter was still acting up but I was able to get it into fourth gear when on the interstate. 

INTERSTATE 70 TEST DRIVE MAP

Upon arriving back at the house, the drive was 20.9 miles and 50.5 amp hours were used giving me 2.4 amp hours per mile or 288 watt hours per mile. The controller had not limited amperage and drove normally the whole drive. When the other two modules are installed, I should have a good 60 mile range, that should be sufficient for me to drive to work in downtown Columbus, OH and back with out having to charge. 

Below are the graphs from the Synkromotive log file showing pack and motor voltage, pack and motor current, and all four on the last graph.

PACK AND MOTOR VOLTAGE

PACK AND MOTOR AMPS

PACK AND MOTOR VOLTAGE AND AMPERAGE

The last graph is a little busy but shows that just one module can power the car on the interstate without sagging the pack voltage too much. Also, the 12 volt system did not sag below 11.5 volts and always recovered to at least 13 volts after an acceleration.

There is a feed store and a granary close to my house with scales, so as soon as the other two modules are installed, I want to have the car weighed. The 288 watt hours per mile is a little higher than expected and may just be a result of the weight of the car. Fieros are notoriously heavy for a two seat car, so that may be the reason for the higher than expected watt hours per mile.

Below is a video of the test drive and I didn't put any music or voice over as I wanted to show just how quite the car is when cruising down the highway.

FIERO EV INTERSTATE 70 - 20 MILE TEST DRIVE

The day ended with a visit from my son Shane, his fiance Vanessa, and their husky, Finn. Shane and I enjoyed a growler of Buckeye Lake Blond draft during dinner and while visiting the rest of the evening.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy