# HELP! 1980 Lectric Leopard



## monkmonkey (Mar 23, 2012)

The car will not move but the controller is good. The car moved as it should briefly when I connected the green wire (above charger) to the red wire (small red wire coming out of long yellow wire). Since then it has not moved. These 2 wires were not previously hooked up. All connections are tight. I really need some advice on how to diagnose this. I'm guessing the problem is something small since everything worked briefly. If anyone is willing, I can pm you my phone number.

Below are pictures of the setup:


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

monkmonkey said:


>


See that fuse? Never use steel hardware (nuts, washers, etc) in the high current path. That is a certain failure point. Clamp the lugs directly to the fuse tabs. And what is with drilling Anderson lugs to use for battery terminal connectors? Bad, very bad idea. You're lucky it didn't run.

Sorry to be blunt, but your wiring really needs help.

major


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## monkmonkey (Mar 23, 2012)

Thanks for the reply! I bought the car this way. Perhaps someone here can take some time and help me do it right. I'm kinda new to ev cars but I am familiar with the citicar but is totally different than this leopard.


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

Another thing I just noticed. Is gravity the only thing securing the batteries in place?


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## SandRailEV (May 11, 2012)

I have to agree with Major on this one. There's a whole lot of fail in that wiring job. It looks like an accident waiting to happen. It likely wouldn't take much in the line of materials to clean it up, just a lot of labor. In the process you could draw a full schematic for future use and troubleshooting. 

Where about are you located?


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

Two other problems (by no means is this list exhaustive):

1. no precharge resistor across contactor for the Curtis controller
2. low current ring terminal underneath high current terminal on 3rd battery, top row (first battery shows proper stacking).


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

Tesseract said:


> low current ring terminal underneath high current terminal on 3rd battery


Wonder why he tapped 18 volts


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## monkmonkey (Mar 23, 2012)

SandRailEV said:


> Where about are you located?


Near Toledo Ohio


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## monkmonkey (Mar 23, 2012)

I took off the hardware in between the fuse. The car now moves in forward and reverse, however there are sparks inside the motor. It appears the motor is original as its mounting connections are rusty. What should I check for?


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## SandRailEV (May 11, 2012)

Personally, if it were mine, I think I would start by tracing each wire one at a time, and make a wiring diagram. Assuming that everything wiring-wise makes sense, using a volt-ohm meter I would troubleshoot it from there. In the process, I would clean up the wiring making sure everything is mounted properly (including batteries) and all wiring is routed properly and securely. 

It's pretty difficult to troubleshoot something like this remotely.

How ling have you had it and how long was it working??


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## monkmonkey (Mar 23, 2012)

Took it a spin and it appeared to perform flawlessly.No Sparking. Can someone list the parts I need to make it right?


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## monkmonkey (Mar 23, 2012)

Where in the picture would the precharge resistor hookup?


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## skooler (Mar 26, 2011)

monkmonkey said:


> Took it a spin and it appeared to perform flawlessly.No Sparking. Can someone list the parts I need to make it right?


Hi,

What kind of condition are the batteries in?

Do you have a budget?

I'd rip out the wiring and start again. It looks like an accident waiting to happen. Some of the crimps don't look great either. Buy some quality cable. 2/0 is a little overkill but a quality, thick (50mm2+) well insulated cable is a must.
Get some propper lugs, they're cheap as chips. Then buy or borrow a Crimper and make the cables. Ebay is a good source.

Keep your high voltage, high current cables closest to the base of the battery or terminal post. Don't separate with bolts, washers etc. Other cables can then be placed on top.

Sort out battery clamps to stop them from bouncing around. Check out my build thread for a cheap and simple way to clamp them down.

Add a precharge resistor as tesseract suggested

I'd be tempted to pull the motor and give it a good clean up.

Hope this helps,

Cheers

Mike


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

monkmonkey said:


> Where in the picture would the precharge resistor hookup?


Get the manual for your controller. If it is a Curtis, download it from the web site.


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## monkmonkey (Mar 23, 2012)

According to the curtis manual, it says to connect resistor (light bulb) across the main contactor. I did that and it sparked. I'm confused How do I do this with a light bulb?


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

monkmonkey said:


> According to the curtis manual, it says to connect resistor (light bulb) across the main contactor. I did that and it sparked. I'm confused How do I do this with a light bulb?


Hi monk,

I'm all for helping a guy out, but it makes me feel better if you attempt to find the answers yourself. I cannot count the times I have seen questions about precharge on these forums over the years. Use the search feature in the header banner just above where you are reading this. Type in "precharge". It should bring back dozens of posts. I also think there is a section in the forum wiki about it. Take a few hours and read up on the subject....battery hold downs, wiring, precharge, etc. Look at examples in the garage and on the evalbum. Then come back and ask intelligent questions and be able to better understand comments and answers.

Just trying to help....really 

major


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

major said:


> Wonder why he tapped 18 volts


I've learned not to ask such questions... 

Oh, another thing I noticed - there is a splice in a high current cable (near top left battery) that is wrapped with plain old vinyl electrical tape instead of rubber splicing tape. It's probably also a safe bet that the splice wasn't done properly (looks like two ring lugs bolted together).

SandRailEV gave good advice: map out all of the connections and draw up a wiring diagram before doing anything else.


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