CLIMATE CONTROL AND RADIO HOUSING

The old climate control center console housing had the open top for the oil pressure gauges, so I decided to get one with the closed top, off of EBAY. As is common with the console housings, the sides had come loose from the inner plastic shell, so it was time to get out some contact cement and some clamps, to attach the sides back to the inner frame.

CLIMATE CONTROL COVER (BEFORE)

CLIMATE CONTROL COVER (CLAMPED)

CLIMATE CONTROL COVER (AFTER)

The housing may need another application of adhesive, in a couple areas but as you can see from the last picture, it is much better that it was originally. 

Brackets will be made to bolt onto the top corners, where the bolts go through to hold on the face plate, to mount the bracket for the Dell Venue 8 Pro. This arrangement will give a much cleaner look without the big mounting stand bolted to the top of the housing.

VENUE 8 MOUNT ON OPEN TOP HOUSING

Although not exactly sure how the new mounting bracket will be configured, it has to be better than the big mounting I tried to use originally. 

Thanks for visiting my blog,

Randy

BEST GREEN CARS

Last month, I received an email from one of the writers at a new website, Best Green Cars, asking if they could do an article on the EV Fiero. David Klenda, who goes by the pen name of "EightySix" told me he had contacted a group of  EV converters, who had their builds posted on EV Album, and was planning to do a series on hobby and professional conversion, of existing gasoline cars. The first installment of the series was a great article about a 2002 Mercedes-Benz SL500 done by E-V Concepts, of  Charleston, South Carolina.

Check out the article, COULD THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE REVOLUTION HAVE STARTED 4 DECADES AGO by EightySix and make sure and like the article and comment to show the support of the EV Community!

2001 Mercedes-Benz SL500 Conversion

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

EVTV 2015 CATALOG

The Fiero GT EV was submitted to the EVTV Database, just in time to be included it the EVTV 2015 Catalog. Below is the electronic version, and although not quite complete, is a great resource to assist in converting an ICE engine car to magnetic drive.

SUNDAY, PART II

After getting the gauges working this morning, attention was turned to putting the center console back in the car and hooking up the heater control. Extensions were plugged into the continuous 12 volt supply and pack voltage positive wires. A 12 volt switched supply was found, so connectors were added and extensions were run so it could be hooked into the JLD404.

The heater control was hooked up and after repairing the 12 volt positive line that comes off of the heater fan supply, it was tested.

HEATER CONTROLS IN HOT POSITION

SOLID STATE RELAY ENERGIZED

All and all a pretty good weekend of work and I can see light at the end of the tunnel in getting the interior back together.

Until next time,

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

FIXING THE METER WIRING

Last week I put the center console back in the Fiero but when trying to make up the connections to the panel meters, found that a couple of the connectors were wired wrong. I had the 12 volt power wires going to the panel meter shunt wires. There were two wires connected, that I just could not remember where they came from, so today, measured them with a volt meter and found they increased in millivolts as the interior lights were turned on, then increased more when the headlights were turned on, so reasoned that those were actually the 12 volt shunt wires. 

The 12 volt panel meter is not lighting up, so I removed it and checked it across a 12 volt battery. It came on just fine, so went inside the car to run voltage checks on the power feed wires. When the power was originally connected, 12 volt wires branched off, to go to each of the panel meters. The pack voltage meter is working just fine but I do not have 12 volts coming out of the low voltage meter dc-dc converter, so deduct that it went bad. I will need to order another one from Light Object so hopefully this will solve the problem and the instrument panel can be closed back up.

PANEL METER DC-DC ISOLATION CONVERTERS

The pack voltage and shunt wires were connected and when the motor was revved up, I got a current reading. The meter is a 100 amp scale with a 100 amp/75 mv shunt, so  with the 1000 amp/75 mv shunt, I just need to multiply the reading by 10. I searched for a 200 volt 1000 amp duel panel meter but could not find one anywhere, so figured this arrangement would give me an indication of the amps being pulled. I am a little worried because when I switched power to the controller, there was a loud pop in the rear of the car. The motor spun normally and when I went back to investigate, nothing could be found. The Synkromotive Controller is supposed to have built in pre-charge but maybe I still need to wait a little longer before switching the switch all the way to the start position. 

A TCCH charger was purchased on EBAY, as the Pic Chip for the Zivan NG3 charger, would not turn the charger on. I was a little disappointed when when the TCCH charger arrived as it is a good 10 pounds heaver and shutting off at 137 volts, is only rated at 20 amps. The NG3 is rated at 18 amps at 137 volts so I am not gaining that much going to the much heavier charger. I also ordered an AC contactor and will use it as a fail safe, to shut the charger off at 137 volts.

TCCH 3000 CHARGER

To warm the interior of the Fiero, a spot light was put inside overnight, so it would be warm when I started working on the wiring, It worked really well and I was perfectly comfortable working on the wiring, even though the garage was in the 40s.

SPOT LIGHT INTERIOR HEATER

Awhile back I hooked up a TV to keep me company while bottom balancing the modules, so spent the day working on wiring and watching Superbowl coverage. I didn't end up watching much of the actual game but did get to see the final Sea Hawk drive end with the interception on the goal line.

TV TO KEEP ME COMPANY

Spring is just around the corner and if I can get the meters working, the interior back together and the battery charger back in the car, will be able to start driving it in a month or so. I want to get a belly pan back on the car before it is driven in rain or snow but will take it over to a mechanic with a lift in Kirkersville and have him help me put it back on the car. The previous owner claimed that it dropped the amp draw significantly, then the car is driven on the interstate.

Until next post,

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.

DATA LOGGER

Last week the Hantek 365A Data Logger arrived and will be used to log the first charge with the new PIC chip controlling the Zivan NG3 charger. For $75 I thought this logger would be a good addition to my test equipment. It is also available with Bluetooth for a little higher price, and that may be a good feature to have if you are using a tablet to save the log files.

HANTEK 365A DATA LOGGER

The Hantek 365A can record voltage, current, capacitance, and resistance. The sample rate can be adjusted and the data file can be exported to a log file on a computer, so it can be graphed. I am especially interested in the voltage climb at the end of the charge on the Better Place battery module, as it seems it is still rather flat when you approach 4.2 volts per cell. The PIC chip has been set up to end the charge at 137.5 or 4.3 volts per cell and has been charged to this level in the past, with no apparent heating or gassing of the cells.

When the new PIC chip is tested and the log file from the Hantek logger is graphed, I will post the results.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

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

CENTER CONSOLE WIRING

I must admit, even though I graduated from an electronics tech school back in the 70's, wiring is my weakness. I am working on getting the center console back in the car but thought I should put better connectors on the wires going to the tachometer, speedometer, and gauges.

DuraTrax DTXC2250 CONNECTOR

After putting the female plugs in backwards on the first connector set, I had to end up destroying the plastic and use the connector housing from another set to correct my mistake. Ok, no problem, one down and only 3 to go!

CONSOLE WIRING

As you can see, the console wiring looks like a rat's nest and must be cleaned up and organized before attempting to put the console back in place. The 12 volt volt and amp meter quit working, so I am going to need to pull int instrument panel again to see if a wire came loose or if I blew another meter. The meters are very delicate and will blow if any of the wires are connected wrong or shorted together. They come from China and take 3 weeks to a month to get here, so the last time I ordered 3 of them so I would have back-ups. 

The Fiero will drive and as I reported in earlier posts, have had it up to 80 mph on I-70. The shift linkage was adjusted again, as the last time the car was driven, it would only go into first, second, and reverse. This has been an ongoing problem I am hoping to get worked out soon.

I am going to put another push on tomorrow and hope I can finally get the console wiring straightened up and the center console installed. 

Thanks for visiting.

Randy