FRIDAY THE 13TH

My workload was a little lite and the weather wasn't bad, so I decided to take a half day vacation to work on the Fiero. This week a new dual meter arrived to replace the one that quit working and I decided to test the one that was used on the 12 volt system that was not showing an amp reading. A headlight was wired to the shunt and the meter connections were made on the test bench and after a small puff of smoke, the meter went dead. It is discouraging because at least they both lit up when they were in the dash and the 120 pack ammeter was actually giving me a reading. I thought the low voltage and high voltage sides were isolated on the meters but when I hooked the ohm meter between the grounds, there is a dead short, so a 12 volt to 12 volt isolation dc converter will need to be added to the circuit. I found different dual volt/amp meters and ordered a couple of them. So the meter project is in "Hurry Up and Wait" status.

VOLT AMP METER

On to the heater circuit. The fuse arrived last week and I got on the internet to try to find a holder. The only holder I could find was in a breaker switch, had to be ordered by the case of 40, and was $150, so my $6 fuse was going to cost me an arm and leg to install. Back to EBAY where I bought an inline fuse and holder for a solar system that will work. Again, "Hurry Up and Wait."

FUSE AND HOLDER FOR HEATER

Diodes are going to be needed to run power for the solid state relay that is being used  for the heater so the element will not be energized unless the fan is running and 3 of them were ordered from Radio shack. Once again "Hurry Up and Wait."

NTE5812HC - RECTIFIER

A successful test was done on the solid state relay when the 12 volt control circuit was hooked up and an ohm reading taken across the output side. The indicating light lit up and the reading dropped from 100 mega ohms to around 3k ohms. I am figuring you need the high voltage hooked up for it to actually pass current so am not concerned about the reading.

After burning up the meter, I figured it is time to update the schematic so when they go back in the dash I won't hook up the wrong wires again. The red wire from the positive side of the traction pack also runs to the center of the console for the JLD404 and it was hooked to the low voltage positive wire coming off of the shunt. Since the dual meters do not seem to be isolated, it ended up smoking the power supply on the high voltage meter. Thank goodness these meters aren't real expensive!

DUAL METER SCHEMATIC

The wiring really needs to get finished so I can continue on with getting the interior back together.There is still the JLD404, Dell Venue 8, tachometer, and speedometer wiring to go before the center console and seats can go back into the car. Then I need to come up with a bulkhead to run the wires through the rear firewall. So much work, so little time!

Until next post,

Randy

DASHING AROUND!

Sunday morning I started work around 7 am and continued getting the wires run through the dash. There were quite a few connectors that had to be attached to the wires and I made good progress.

Around 11:30, I got cleaned up and drove the Miata to my parents in Coshocton, Ohio, a little over an hour away. It was a great day and I was able to ride with the top down. We had chicken and hot dogs on the grill and had a very enjoyable time.

My dad has been reading my blog and has taken an interest in the build in the last couple of months. I really want to get the interior done and the seats back in so I can take him a ride. Who knows, maybe I can talk him into coming to EVCCON with me.

Sunday it was back out to the garage and I tried to solder wires on the JLD404 where the circuit board had evaporated. I got 3 of the 4 connections made back up and the meter did power up but would not allow me to enter the set up menu. It would bring up the zeros for me to enter the code but before I could get the 0036 entered, would go back to the hours display. I thought it would be nice to have a second JLD404 to bottom balance with but I guess it is not to be until I buy another one.

Monday morning began with watching the EVTV weekly show. I had watched a little on Sunday but I like to wait for the Youtube version so I can watch it with Chrome Cast on the TV. For some reason, the Chrome Cast streams much better that my computer so when watching it from Youtube, there are no lags or delays.

Then out to finish the wiring on the Fiero. About 9 am, I was putting the dash back in the car and was also working on getting the warranty transferred and updating the bios on the Dell Venue 8 tablet. I think between emailing the EBAY seller, calling Dell and getting on the Dell support site, I got the warranty transferred. After flashing the BIOS, the screen would not change orientation to landscape view, so I will need to work on that also.

By 4pm I had the instrument pod mounted and all of the wires hooked up.

DASH BACK IN THE CAR

INSTRUMENT POD INSTALLED

VOLT AND AMP METER WIRING HOOKED UP

In the afternoon, my wife and I rode over to Buckeye Lake and had dinner at the Smoke House, on the lake. It was still warm but slightly overcast so the ride with the top down was very enjoyable. When we returned home, there was still time to mow the grass, so I had a very productive day.

Until next time,

Randy