# Paul Holmes Controller + Leaf Motor build thread



## hmincr (Jan 20, 2012)

Nice. Do you have a ballpark price of expenses so far? What is your electronics experience level? Thanks for starting this thread. 

I am trying to decide whether to buy tested populated board or go DIY. 

Harold


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## Hollie Maea (Dec 9, 2009)

hmincr said:


> Nice. Do you have a ballpark price of expenses so far? What is your electronics experience level? Thanks for starting this thread.
> 
> I am trying to decide whether to buy tested populated board or go DIY.
> 
> Harold


The bare board was $60 and the components were about $200.

I think Paul sells the populated board for about $300 so that's a ridiculous deal...I'll spend way more on the time it takes to solder it up, even if I account my time at minimum wage. I got the unpopulated board because I want the experience of soldering up a bunch of surface mount stuff. He used big 1206 components for most of the stuff, so it's a good beginner's project.


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## hmincr (Jan 20, 2012)

Thank you. According to his website, a completed board and tested good is $350.00 + S&H. Still probably a good deal.


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## Batterypoweredtoad (Feb 5, 2008)

Very Nice! What are you planning on putting this setup in?


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## Hollie Maea (Dec 9, 2009)

Batterypoweredtoad said:


> Very Nice! What are you planning on putting this setup in?


This will go in my very slowly developing 1970 Opel GT project.


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## chentron (Nov 13, 2017)

I plan to convert a suzuki SJ410
some news ?
what voltages are you choosing on battery side ?
Do you think engine from Prius also be good ?
Now I am think what controller use , P&S or Huebner


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## arber333 (Dec 13, 2010)

I put further development of my leaf motor and Pauls controler on hold. I think i have to try and rebuild power section again. I think i have too much EMI from DC rails. I have to make them overlap. Maybe i will just use flat copper sheet with isolator spacers. Also i will use different shielded encoder cable.

If you are interested here is my progress thus far. 
I made it up to 100Vdc but beyond that motor gets its own mind...
https://leafdriveblog.wordpress.com/

Edit: I will not go back to building poswer sections. I will just use existing one from Volt, Prius, Leaf etc...
I have success with Lebowski board which uses the same chip as Pauls.
https://leafdriveblog.wordpress.com/2019/04/05/single-lebowski-ampera-inverter/

Arber


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## Key (Jun 27, 2020)

Are the Paul holmes leaf inverters still available? It seems that the website is no longer operational.


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## MattsAwesomeStuff (Aug 10, 2017)

Key said:


> Are the Paul holmes leaf inverters still available? It seems that the website is no longer operational.


Paul had his whole life stolen (was moving and the moving truck was stolen with all his things).

I think I heard somewhere that he wasn't much interested in doing inverters for people anymore.

The new meta for cheap DIY EVs is to buy a Prius Gen 2, Gen 3, Lexus GS450H, Nissan Leaf, maybe some other Toyota model inverters, then a controller to hijack them, and use those.

Guys are finding Gen 2 and Gen 3 Prius controllers for like $40. The Gen 3 can handle about 680 horsepower. More than anyone needs. They also have a built-in DC-DC 12v converter, one of the motor controllers can be repurposed as a charger (software is being written right now), and an A/C inverter too. Bulletproof and they soft fail when you overheat, abuse, or tell them to do something stupid.

You can buy Johannes' inverter controllers for around $500 (380 euro) on OpenInverter.org (also forums there). Or Damien's for around the same price on EVBMW.com.

Damien used to offer even cheaper ones but we are frustrating and fickle to deal with, so I think prices go up to make it worth his time and make sure he's not losing money. For example a Gen 2 board used to be $30 and you could flesh it out with components for $70. Plus a few extras needed, easily under $50. Meaning you could have a 500+HP inverter with custom controller for under $200 in many cases.


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## Key (Jun 27, 2020)

MattsAwesomeStuff said:


> Paul had his whole life stolen (was moving and the moving truck was stolen with all his things).
> 
> I think I heard somewhere that he wasn't much interested in doing inverters for people anymore.
> 
> ...


Wow...I have no idea how to do any of that, but I really appreciate the information. It looks like I have even more research to do. I'm beginning to feel like I've bitten off a bit more than I can chew.


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## MattsAwesomeStuff (Aug 10, 2017)

I was incorrect.

Damien sells a Prius Gen 3 kit for 350 eur (~$500). He sells just the partially-filled board (which needs a few extra components) for only 120 euro. You can definitely cheap out there if you can solder a little bit.

Both of the kit versions (Johannes' Gen 2 and Damien's Gen 3) should be pretty much plug and play. You literally just unplug the original board, plug the replacement in, and you're ready to start connecting the gas pedal, brake pedal, etc.

As a general build plan:
1 - Figure out your budget and general build plan. Make sure it makes sense.
2 - Do your motor and mechanical adaption first. Motor is usually cheap and all this mechanical work tends to take longer than anyone expects.
3 - Get your motor spinning from your speed controller on a temp setup, make sure it's all good. These options tend to change as time goes on, but motors are blind to what you use.
4 - Buy and mount your batteries. These prices change constantly, generally downward, and are the most expensive part of the build.
5 - Finish up your brakes and accessories.

Know that 90% of car projects never finish or get abandoned. So, presume those are your odds and:
A - Minimize the wasted money if you walk away.
B - Maximize your odds of finishing by proceeding in a sensible direction.


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## Key (Jun 27, 2020)

Hey Matt, do you offer tutorials? I no desire to walk away nor do I want to waste money, but I am a bit overwhelmed with all of the different choices. If you offer a class or private instructionals of some sort I would love to take part. I understand my shortcomings and need a pros guidance


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## MattsAwesomeStuff (Aug 10, 2017)

Key said:


> Hey Matt, do you offer tutorials?


My advice is worth less than you've already paid for it.

Best I can do is steer you in the right direction.



> If you offer a class or private instructionals of some sort I would love to take part. I understand my shortcomings and need a pros guidance


If you fly to New Ireland Electric (in Ireland), they host monthy DIY EV workshops for $1000 for the weekend. I'm not sure how many they're still doing with Covid now.

They're probably the only ones.

No point in jumping in with both feet. Start reading on other's projects, note the recency of them, tech and the popular way to go changes over time.

Find a car worth converting. You'll spend or save most of your money by making a smart choices here.

There isn't that much to know, you already know most of it.


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## Hollie Maea (Dec 9, 2009)

Key said:


> Are the Paul holmes leaf inverters still available? It seems that the website is no longer operational.


I do still have my board (and stuff to populate it, but I never did get to it). I ended up buying a Scott Drive SD300 so I'm not going to use this board.

Really sad to hear about Paul's stuff being stolen. He seems like a real topnotch guy.


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## JeffAU (Jul 30, 2020)

Hi Hollie. Yeah sad to hear about what happened to Paul and really hope they manage to recover his things and he gets it sorted.

With the project, I did too look at his website and couldn’t find the board or any info. We’re you keen to sell that board and components if you’re not finishing this. I’d be happy to pay what you paid for this. Im in Australia but have forward shipping set up so you would just need to send to the forward shipping in the US and not worry about international shipping.

Is it for the 200kw project in the picture. If not, do you have info on specifications as I still may be keen to buy.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

That looks like the one I have! - I'm using it at 1200 amps and 340 volts


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## JeffAU (Jul 30, 2020)

Duncan, Would you be happy to share the schematic and info with me since Paul said in the article that he was happy for people to use the design and build their own? I would buy the PCB and other components directly from him but sounds like he’s not building them any more. In this case Im planing on converting an old 4x4 for my own use and may look at building my own AC motor as well, unless I can find a good deal on one to repurpose.

If you’re happy to send info my email is [email protected]


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

JeffAU
I will look up what I have - but I'm using it to drive a DC motor - and I'm a numpty about electronics - so I'm not sure what I do have that would be of use


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## JeffAU (Jul 30, 2020)

Duncan, If you have this info that would be great, but if you’re running a DC motor from it I don’t think its the same one so only if you have the info easily accessible.

Thanks 

Jeff


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi JeffAU
It is the same controller for the high power bit - but where you want three phase controllers Paul finagled the three to work exactly the same and then connected them through three lengths of cable

The low power "brain card" is the bit that is different


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## JeffAU (Jul 30, 2020)

Thanks Duncan. The schematic for this would still be very useful if you have it on hand. Still not completely decided on type of motor anyway.


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## Berdo (May 21, 2019)

(У)(У)(У)


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