BOTTOM BALANCING THE LAST BETTER PLACE MODULE

We have had a few nice weekends in the last half of February, so decided to start bottom balancing the third Better Place battery module. 

The terminals and connectors were  all cleaned with scotch bright and a thin coat of Noalox anti-oxidant compound was applied to the them. The connectors were positioned on the terminals and a small drop of Loctite was applied to each of them before threading them into the terminal. A socket on a Dewalt drill with the torque setting on 3 was used to tighten all of the terminals.  

Then voltages were taken on each half cell and most of them were in the 3.85 volt range but one cell was only 3.65, so the volt meter was hooked on that half cell to monitor the drain down of the module.

Eye terminal connectors had been previously crimped onto the end of an extension cord and two 1000 watt flood lights are used to draw down the module. When the voltage reading on the lowest cell approached 3 volts, the individual half cell readings will be taken again and a different cell will be monitored if necessary. I will drain the module down to 88 volts or 2.75 volts/half cell and let the module set for awhile, as it will drift back up in voltage in a few hours. Then a 100 watt light bulb is hooked up to allow the voltage to be drawn down slowly. Finally a 5 watt night light is hooked up that allows the voltage to be drawn down even more slowly. This is the only way I have found that will cause the voltage to finally stabilize and not keep drifting back up. Even after that, over a couple of weeks, the cells will drift back up to around 3 volts. 

After the initial draw down and couple of weeks sitting, individual half cell balancing is done with a JLD404 and a 4 volt flashlight bulb. The JLD404 is set so it drains the half cell down to 2.75 volts and does not turn back on until the cell drifts back up to 2.95 or so. These are just hooked up and allowed to cycle until the half cell stabilizes under  2.95 volts.

BOTTOM BALANCING MODULE

With spring just around the corner, I want to get a running start to get the Fiero back on the road with all three modules installed.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

A LITTLE MORE PROGRESS,,,,,,A LITTLE SET BACK

This morning the radio/heater control center console cover and glove box were painted and after drying, were installed in the car. The connections were made to the Dell Venue 8 Pro and it is pulling up the Synkromotive user interface.

INTERIOR COMING TOGETHER

The instrument panel bolts were installed and that is where the wheels fell off! The 12 volt wire must have pulled off because I am no longer reading any voltage on the 12 volt system meter. The dash meters have been a constant challenge, as they would work, then quit working when the face plate was put on. The amperage reading on the instrument panel meter, is quite a bit different that the reading on the Synkromotive user interface. I could not find a 1000 amp meter so used a 100 amp meter with a 1000 amp shunt, figuring I would just need to add a zero to the reading to get the pack amperage. The shunts put out 75 ma at 100 amp or 1000 amps, so the basic reading should be correct. 

Once the radio is removed from my son's fiance's jeep, I can install it and the JLD404 and the complete center console can be put back in the car. Then just some seat adjustment cover work and the interior will be finished.

The weather is turning nice, so I want to get the car back outside where it will be easy to get in and out of. A new mounting is going to be made for the Zivan charger, a 220 volt relay installed on the AC, controlled by a EPM-5740TVR from Light Object,

EPM-5740TVR

I am still planning on having an open house for the Fiero on Saturday, April 25th from Noon to 5:pm. I am just east of Columbus, OH close to Kirkersville, OH so drop me an email at randy@cz-ev.com if you want to drop by. The grill will be going and there will be plenty of beverages to quench your thirst.

DIRECTIONS

Hope to see you on the 25th!

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER

There has to a better way to connect the wires to the 12 volt DC-DC isolated converter,  purchased from Light Object. Soldering the wires to the small pins leaves a connection that is just too delicate. A pigtail that plugs into the pins would sure be nice! These are necessary to make sure the 12 volt negative and pack voltage negative are not tied together causing a small ground leak through the meters.

12 VOLT ISOLATED DC-DC CONVERTER

Sunday morning was spend removing the two isolated DC-DC converters, from the dash and re-soldering one of the wires. Finally both of the meters worked, the wires were stuffed back into the dash, and the gauge face was back in place.

METERS WORKING AND INSTALLED IN DASH

Different instrument cluster LED bulbs were purchased from Light In The Box but it seems like only half of the speedometer is working. I don't think it is the bulbs but probably the instrument panel connector or the light sockets, as they have seem to be very temperamental in a 30 year old car.

LED DASH BULBS

No EVTV this morning and EV West did not do a monthly show for February yet, so my EV fix was watching a Youtube Video from Damian McGuire.

Work on the Fiero will continue tonight, so I may post again before I go to bed. The next step is to get the center console back in the car, the heater controls hooked up, and the connections for the Dell Venue 8 Pro made up. It is almost 50 deg today in Columbus, Ohio and spring is just around the corner. My goal for this winter is to get the instruments hooked up and all of the interior completed. This will allow me to focus on getting the other two battery modules installed and the belly pan back on the car, when spring finally gets here and the car can be parked back outside.

Thanks for viewing,

Randy

IF MY HEAD WASN'T ATTACHED..........

Over the last several weeks I have been rearranging the garage to get the Fiero back in, so work can continue when the weather gets cold again. It was time to start bottom balancing the other two Better Place modules, so I made some jumper wires and needed another connector to connect the center two cells that originally had external connections going to them. I remember the bag of connectors being in the trunk of the Fiero when I made up the connections on the first module and remember moving it around, all the time thinking, I need to put these somewhere I can find them again when needed. I finally found the bolts in the shipping crate but the connectors were no where to be found. So all of the work I did rearranging the garage will need to be moved back out until the connectors are found.

Not to worry, the show must go on and I can still look for the connectors while the second module is being bottom balanced. I am using two 150 watt quartz lights for the initial drain and just putting a volt meter on the lowest half cell to monitor the voltage.

QUARTZ LIGHT FOR RESISTERS

After the voltage on the lowest half cell gets down to 2.8 volts or so, a smaller light is hooked up to keep a constant drain at a lower amp draw.

40 WATT LIGHT FOR RESISTER

Finally, after the lowest cell settles below 3 volts, I hook up a small night light to try and drain the battery at close to the same rate as it is trying to recover at.

SMALL NIGHT LIGHT FOR RESISTER

Once the small night light is connected, I take readings on all of the half cells and keep draining until the highest cell will settle at under 3 volts.

The final step is to use the Powerlab and charge all of the cells back to 3 volts. The LiMn2O4 cells seem to work at a higher voltage that the LiFePO4 cells and are charged to 4.2 volts before settling back to around 2.9 volts and at 3 volts are pretty much done when pulling higher amps when driving, so 3 volts as the bottom balance voltage should be fine.

The shifting is still not correct so I pulled the shifter so I could give it a good inspection for wear.

SHIFTER

After an inspection of the shifter, I could not find anything wrong, so put it back in the car and and attempted to readjust the shift cables. It seems that the select arm keeps changing when the adjustments are done, almost like something is not returning to the same position inside the transaxle so my next step is to try and remove the pin holding the select pivot to put now bushings in it. If that doesn't work, I am afraid the transaxle is goint to need to be pulled and sent to a transmission shop to be gone over. 

So as the batteries are draining, the search continues for the lost connectors. As I said in the title; If my head wasn't attached, well you know the rest of the story.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

HURRY UP AND WAIT

The Fiero will be officially insured after midnight, so I am anxious to get the 12 volt cutout box that was purchased on EBAY and test the Better Place Module. I guess the second module could start to be bottom balanced and the Dell Venue tablet finished wiring. This would allow the center console to be installed, so there is actually work I could be doing.

Tomorrow I need to put new brakes on my Miata, as one of the rears has started scraping. New rotors and pads were ordered from Autozone and were shipped to the house as part of the purchase price. I may start discharging the next module while I am working on the Miata, so once all the bugs are worked out with the new connections and connectors, it will be ready to install in the front compartment.

As a JLD404 needs to be mounted in the center console for the fuel gauge, I am going to need to pick up another one from Light Object and below is a link if any of you need to pick one up.

JLD404 METER

 Specification

Dual Alarm output (relay) J1,J2
Power: 12-32V DC
Default DC500V,5A
Max current: 9999A (an external shunt required)
Amp-Hr recording: 0.001~9999AH
Sampling: 3/s
Control Type: Relays
Relay: 3A@125VAC, 3A@14V DC
Display: Blue LED
Size: 96mm x48mm x62mm
Mount Hole: 92mm x44mm x62mm

The weather has been getting cooler over the last several days and it is hard to believe that summer is almost gone. I have been working on the Fiero 3 nights a week and every Saturday and Sunday since April, hoping to get it done enough to take to EVCCON. Now I am hoping to get it done enough to drove to the Columbus National Plug in Week event on September 21st at Easton Town center in Columbus, OH.

NATIONAL PLUG IN WEEK COLUMBUS, OH

Thanks for stopping by,

Randy