EMPTY ENGINE COMPARTMENT

Over the last 2 weeks progress has been made in removing the remainder of the battery racks, charger, and sound system amplifier from the engine compartment and trunk of the Fiero. Also the spoiler has been removed as the studs were rusted quite badly and need to be replaced. Lead Acid batteries sure do a number on any exposed metal. I have been measuring and laying out the weight distribution for the lithium batteries and am going to try and keep the weight a little lower and centered over the axles a little better, as the handling with the old lead acids was a little scarey at times.

I tried to lift the rear of the Fiero up with my engine lift as I saw a Youtube video where they did that. They must have had a higher capacity lift than mine as it seemed to bypass right before the wheels came off the ground. I want to drop the engine/transmission cradle and check the clutch and coupler. Also I am going to install solid transmission mounts and cradle mounts as the motor and transmission shifted around quite a bit before. The dog bone has been replaced with a rod with rubber mounts and I am going to make that solid also. With no ice engine, there shouldn't be any vibration to worry about. This will also be a good time to blow the motor out and install some new Helwig Red Top brushes.

I kind of hit the wall on the Curtis 1231C controller as I am measuring a dead short between the capacitors and some of the new resisters I soldered in are reading infinity. I am going to have to remove some solder as I must have flowed some over and shorted to the other bus. I must have over heated a couple of the resisters, so I will need to replace and use heat sinks when I put the new ones in.

Hoping to get some LiFePo4s soon and that will put some spark into the rebuild.

Randy

LEAD IS DEAD & CONTROLLER BLUES CONTINUED

It is surprising how quick the lead acid batteries sold on Craigslist as I was not even counting them in the component value of the car; So the extra dollars will offset the cost of repairing or replacing the Curtis 1231C controller. Three buyers came and within 2 week all were sold. The battery racks sure will look good filled with LiFePo4 cells!

 

Thanks to my son Shane for shooting and editing the video!

 All of the mosfits & Diodes have been removed from the blown Curtis 1231C controller but there is additional damage. I have found that several of the 47 ohm resisters are blown and at least one small diode on the power board. There is also a fairly large area of copper that has evaporated going from one of the mosfits to the capacitors.The resisters are 47 ohm 1% tolerance and are going to be a little harder to find than just 5% tolerance resisters.  I am not sure the diode values but since there are 2 am hoping they are the same and I can measure the front to back resistance to find a replacement that will work.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

BLOWN 1231C CONTROLLER

The Curtis 1231C has been removed and after bench testing, was opened up for inspection. It really was not as hard as I thought as I just took an exacto knife and cut the edge loose from the case. I found if I just scored the top and kept running the knife along the first cut, deeper each time was easier than trying to cut the entire thickness all at once. Once the outer cover was cut loose at the edge of the case and the bottom bolts were removed, the controller slid out after a little prying and coaxing. All of the MOSFITS were destroyed and the plasma had cut into most of the diodes. Some of the resisters were also burnt up from plasma when the MOSFITS blew up and the copper on the board in one section was evaporated between the Caps and where the MOSFITS and Diodes mounted.

 

OK, sorry about the poor video quality. I am using a Cannon Camera in MPG mode and it is rather tricky trying to hold the camera while trying to perform the tests on the controller. I have a tripod but the camera mount is missing, so I couldn't use it. My son is going to help me do a video one of these days and hopefully we can put together something with a little better quality.

I have been moving forward and have the old battery racks removed from the back compartment. Four of the lead acid batteries have been sold and another guy interested in 6 more of them. I didn't count the batteries in the value of the components when I purchased the car, so anything I get out of them will help offset the cost of repairing or replacing the controller. MOSFITS and Diodes have been ordered to repair the 1231C but if I can get it working, may try to sell it and go with a newer Netgain or Evnetics controller. The goal of this build was to purchase a running car with lead acid batteries, convert it to LiFePo4 batteries, and end up with a respectable build for under $10K, so we will see if I can make that happen.

Also, the vacuum pump has been removed and I am going to try to put a muffler on the exhaust to try and quiet it down. It was mounted on rubber pads but was on a fiberglass fender well that resonated. It worked great, just drove me nuts when it came on.

Randy

LEAD ACID BATTERIES OUT

The Lead acid batteries are finally out of the Electric Fiero and last week was spent making wood racks for  the old batteries until I decide what to do with them. Currently I have been testing to see if they would be good enough to store electricity from a solar panel or use to fast charge the lithium batteries that will be going in the car but so far, they look pretty spent.

After removing 900 lbs of weight, you can see how much the Fiero rose. I am going to need to adjust the suspension when the new lithium batteries are installed as the car look much better setting low.

Before starting the upgrade on the Fiero, I wanted to pull it out for awhile to refinish one of my bedroom doors in the garage. The switch is turned one notch for 15 seconds or so for the Caps to charge, then the key is turned to the start position. When I did this, the car spun the tires and lurched backwards. I turned the key off and coasted out of the garage. When I tried to pull back a little more, the car would not move. I could hear the relay making up but the car would not move. There was no smoke so hopefully there is a fuse somewhere in the circuit that blew. The last few times I drove the car it was acting strange so I was lucky this happened in the driveway instead of out on the road somewhere. After I get through testing the batteries, I will take a look at the controller and hopefully be able to isolate the problem.

If anyone is interested in angle iron racks for 6 volt batteries that will bolt into a 1985 Fiero without any welding, I have a set for sale.

Regards,

Randy

SWEEPING OUT A SPACE IN THE GARAGE

Over the last month I have been selling and trashing much of the clutter that seems to collect in garages. Today I finally was able to clean out a space and actually get the Electric Fiero inside the garage.

 The money from the items I sold on Craigslist went into my fund for lithium batteries and hopefully by Spring, enough funds will be available to make the purchase. Currently there are about six battery manufactures or vendors emailing me on a regular basis offering to sell me batteries and I believe competition is good. It was a common perception that as volumes grew that battery prices would come down but that does not seem to have transpired. They have come down from where they were when first introduced but seem to kind of hit a plateau and just stayed there.

The lead acid batteries currently in the car are a couple years old but may be good enough to use as a solar storage bank. They will be pulled and individually tested to see if they can be used to fast charge the lithium batteries in the event the car was needed quicker that a regular charge would allow.

The interior of the Fiero needs work and after pulling the batteries, is where I am going to start. I have a set of seats that are better than those currently in the car but I kind of have my heart set on leather. They would really set off the interior and lend some class to the Fiero. The headliner is also in poor condition but I have been able to put headliners in myself so that shouldn't cost much. While doing the interior, I am going to work on the instrumentation and heater. The speedometer works but not the tachometer. Also, my JLD404 is not reading current correctly either from not being hooked close enough to the controller or noise on the line. I have good voltage indication but am not able to count amps. The JLD404 has a common ground and I am thinking that the shunt and voltage grounds have to be at the same potential for the meter to read amps properly.

After the interior is finished, the rear drive cradle is going to have to be dropped. The last time I drove the car there was some pretty severe clunking back there and it seemed the car would not move for a few seconds after the noise. I originally thought the cradle bushings were worn but am thinking it may be a transmission problem. While I have the cradle out I am going to check the clutch and motor coupler to make sure they are still good. Also the transmission and motor mounts need gone over. The previous owner recommended I go with solid mounts as the electric motor does not have the vibration an ICE would. This will also be a good time to put the Helwig H60 split brushes in and rebuild the brakes. There are currently 900 lbs of batteries, so I may need to do some suspension modifications as there will be less weight now. Also, the tachometer sensor will need to be mounted and some kind of hall effect rotor added to the motor shaft.

With any luck by early summer I should be ready to start building the battery boxes and installing the batteries. 

Looks like I have my work cut out for me so better get out to the garage and get started.

Until next time,

Randy

EV VW

Saturday I went to Lancaster, OH about 30 minutes from my house to meet with a fellow EV builder who converted a convertible Volkswagen. Joe showed me the details of the car and then took me a ride. The car looks and runs great.

Joe has been building and driving EVs for quite some time now and has a rather nice collection. I am going to have him make up some cables for me when I remove the lead acid batteries from the Fiero and hook them up in the garage to load test. If there is anything left in them them, they may be good for either a solar storage bank or to fast charge  the LiFePo4's when I get them installed in the Fiero.

It's good to finally get together with a fellow EVer in in the area and look forward to working with Joe on our EV projects in the future.


Randy

RANGE ANXIETY

I had been driving the electric Fiero on short errands close to home since the last charge and thought I had plenty of juice left, so I decided to drive to the Hardware Store about 8 miles away to pick up some screws I needed to remount the breaker box I installed in the garage to charge the car.

After going a couple miles, the car felt a little sluggish and I almost turned around, but decided I could probably make the trip. Most of the roads are country with a 35 mile per hour speed limit but there are about 3 miles on main roads with a 55 mph speed limit. I pulled out on the state route and had to accelerate pretty briskly to keep with the flow of traffic and by the time I reached the Hardware Store, it was obvious I should have turned around and gone back home after the first couple of miles but I got my hardware and headed back home. The car would barely go 35 mph and the voltage was dropping so low the main contactor kept kicking out. Fortunately after coasting for a few seconds, it would make back up. There are a couple of small hills and I was barely able creep up them but some how made it. When I was a couple miles from home my wife called and I told her to meet me by an old school house and bring a strap to pull me home. 

Somehow the car kept going and I met her on the road about a mile from the house. One more small hill and I was able to coast the remainder of the way into my driveway. 

The old lead acids are probably really toast now but it doesn't really matter as I am going to be pulling it into the garage soon to start the rebuild and lithium battery install over the winter.

EVCCON DAY 2

This year there was a marked improvement of the build quality of the cars that were brought to EVCCON, with most cars looking like they had been professionally converted. Next year when my Fiero is completed, I am sure the bar will be even higher, so I really have my work cut out for me. 

Last year I met several converters from Ohio, so it was good seeing them again this year and meeting up with some folks who did not attend last year. I think it is important for converters to build a good support network for each other, as many times a fresh set of eyes on a problem are really needed to come up with a good solution.

EVCCON DAY !

Arrived at EVCCON on Wednesday and visited with everyone at the garage.

JD 110 PROJECT & LEAVING FOR EVCCON

The John Deere 110 project is nearing completion, so hopefully this will allow me to kick the Fiero rebuild into high gear. Hoping to sell the John Deere to put in the LiFePo4 battery fund for the Fiero but then again, I may just keep it to mow the grass. They don't make garden tractors like this anymore, as they are now basically just stamped sheet metal with a lot of plastic.

 

It's time to get the lead out of the Fiero. With the New CALB CA cells, I am hoping to find a good set of used cells up for sale for a good price when another builder is upgrading.

Just a little more packing and then off to EVCCON. Next year the Fiero will be rebuilt with new batteries, and will be at the show.

 See everyone at EVCCON this evening!

Randy