Electric Vehicle Project: Final Assembly
11/5/2006 Heater--
The electric heater assembly went in today. It is a ceramic heater that is powered by the 120 volt battery pack.
A contactor is used to apply the power only when the blower is set to high. Using the schematics of the vehicle I found the blower wires and tapped into them for the contactor coil.
I had previously removed the original heater core and sold it to a neighbor. The ceramic heater core is mounted in it's place.
It needs to have air flow over it so the heater door must be opened for it to work properly.
In this model S-10 the heater door is controlled by the temperature control knob. It is essentially a potentiometer that drives a motor attached to the door.
Ideally, one would like for the door to be opened automatically when the heat is turned on. I am working on a circuit to do just this but in the meantime the user must turn the heat control to
full hot (fully clock wise) and then turn the blower on high for heat.
Installed the radio antenna.
Connected up the accelerator cable.
11/7/2006 Dash Board--
The dashboard was re-installed today. It has been living on my pool table for six months. While inside I mounted the gauge pod and wired it up.
Initial Testing:
Turned the key switch, voila! The primary contactor engaged! The secondary one does not engage until you put your foot on the gas. (Hmm, what do we call this now?)
Tested the heater controls, works as designed. One fall out from the sand blasting...a lot of particulate was left and got into the blower assembly, so now I have a fine dust all over the interior, ugh!
Tested the vaccuum pump, it runs but it is not optimal. It is barely pulling 15 pounds, I would like to see 20.
11/8/2006 More Testing--
I change out the vacuum check valve. I had originally installed a large brass one. I finally found a small plastic automotive one. It's working better..18 pounds now.
I believe there is a small leak somewhere.
11/9/2006 Button Up--
I buttoned up the cab today, re-installing the plastic panels under the dash. I connected up the motor over-temp relay and installed the pebble screen over the motor.
11/10/2006 Battery Check--
I took battery measurements today, voltage and specific gravity. Checked the water. Checked for ground faults, none were found.
11/11/2006 Controller Test--
Finally, it's time to test the motor controller. I placed the rear wheels up on jack stands so that we could run the motor with the vehicle in place.
Safety was given serious thought. We placed wheel chocks in the front and cleared the area in front of the vehicle. No one was allowed in front of the vehicle during this test.
Turned the key, nothing...the aux (12v) battery was dead. I had a power supply on hand so I wired that up to take it's place.
I tried it again, this time the relays kicked in. Shifted into first, stepped on the pedal, secondary contactor pulled in and the wheels started turning! And in the right direction!
I did notice that the ammeter was wired backwards. Rewired the ammeter.
I bought a battery charge for the aux battery. I bought one that could handle deep cycle batteries as well as normal car batteries.
It took 2 hours to recharge the aux battery.
I replaced the vaccum hose going to the brake system with the original vacuum hose. This was the source of the leak. I am now pulling 20 lbs. easily of vacuum.
I charged the traction pack batteries for the first time. I am using a Zivan NG-3 charger. It is an off board charger (meaning it stays at home). It is connected to a 240 VAC supply.
The batteries charged normally, finishing in under 2 hours (they were partially charged from the factory).
11/12/2006 First On Road Test--
FINALLY! The day is here and we can test the car on the road. I am like a kid on Christmas morning...It's a cold day and we're supposed get some snow. It's early though and the snow hasn't started yet.
I needed to take care of some last minute details though:
- Checked the battery water...I added water to 5 of the 60 cells. Very little in each case.
- Measured the voltage of each battery.
- Added one more battery cable strap.
- Put the license plate on.
- Install new windshield wipers.
Well by the time we got all this done it started to snow...undaunted, I decided to go for it. Here are some video clips (they may take some time to download):
You can hear the compressor going as I back out. It's the low pitch "bubbling" noise, my brother said, "It sounds like the caterpillar drive on the Hunt for Red October!"
You can also here the high pitch whine of the controller as it starts out.
Test Run Debrief--
Well that was fun! I drove 8.8 miles for this first run. We are now in the battery break in period where I will increase my range each time between charges.
The idea is to work up gradually to the full design range (60 miles).
Here are some things that I noted:
1. The DC-DC converter did not hold up well. I am using an Astro-Dyne 350 watt DC-DC converter.
2. The transmission is noisey, it kind of growls when you are coasting. I'm not sure if this is normal so I will have it checked out.
3. The charger quit soon (< 2 minutes) after starting the second charge cycle.
It looks like I have some issues to work out...more to come
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