# static free workstation for diy controller build?



## OMT (May 10, 2010)

*1999 hyundai accent GSI conversion*

ill start of by showing my conversion off to everyone, its a 1999 hyundai accent gsi:
























































as you may be able to tell from the photos the car is dusty and needs a wash. you may also have noticed this car has a full underpan, a fiberglass grillblock, and the rear fenders are made so i can bolt on my rear wheel skirts that i forgot to put on for you guys!! sorry
this build was pretty much a very low budget build, but i took my time and did as much as possible with the money i had to spend 2500-3500.
the motor is a 9"X16", it has i beleive 38 comm bars and came from an old forklift from a metal scrap yard. the controller is an alltrax 72v, 450A. the battery pack is 16.5 KWH, made of 12, 12v 115ah floodies. i have 6 batteries in the front, and 6 in the spare tire well. at the moment the 12v system consists of a large car battery which is placed in a welded box underneath the rear seats.

the car has a top speed of about 115km/h, but i think it would go maybe 130kmh if it was flat.
i have other photos of me sandblasting, and welding stuff; i stripped the whole car down to frame before the build.


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

i also forgot to ask, when the car is fully in series, i assume i can leave my chargers were they are?


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## Salty9 (Jul 13, 2009)

Very nice work. I found this site thru google: http://www.youcanbuildapc.com/computer_assembly/anti_static_wrist_strap.shtml

I remember the wrist strap from an electronics course I took in the dim, dark, past.


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

almost done the control board on the diy controller!! thanks for the website


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## DCEL (Jul 20, 2011)

Good budget car, please let us know if updating the controller imporves the performance!


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

OK it took me two nights to change the wiring, and take out the massive two contactors that i replaced with one smaller, but still capable contractor. some other wiring mods obviously had to be done but i had the first 144v test drive today! the car is much more powerful, i took it to 115km/h and stopped there( it was a farm back road). i noticed that before, at 72v 500A the motor,controller, and both contactors( the coil not the contacts) would get hot/warm on a longer than 20km drive. now at 144v the contactor does not heat up, the controller gets warm but ok temperature, but the motor is still getting very hot ( judging by hand, around 60 degrees C, probobly more..) so i already cut a slot in the underpan were the exaust of the motor is, so that it blows some of the hot air downward and through the underpan, but it seems that is not enough. does anyone have any ideas how i can keep my motor cooler. i have been trying to keep the constant rpm's in the 2500-3500 range.

i think my motor is heating up because it only has a 1kw continuous rating, i beleive for one hour. the motor weighs exactly 120lbs, is 9" wide and about 15" long. i have more motors waiting in my garage for conversions, two of them are huge pump motors, 8.5" dia. and 20" long, they are rated for 16.5kw continious, but i beleive pump motors power rating is for 30 min. is this the reason my motor is heating up too much???( hot hot does YOUR motor get)

my dad, who has helped throughout this conversion is coming back from the US in the morning so i will test it again with him!! i also had a range question. i have a 16.5kwh battery, and right now it looks like im getting 25-35km to about 50% dod. is this normal for this size pack and this size, and modified vehicle ( underpan,grill block..ect) i have read that lead acid batteries need to be "broken in" so that they get full capacity and power, so far i have only had about 4-6 cycles, ussually only to about 50% dod.


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

sorry now that the voltage is higher should i keep my rpm's higher around 3000-4500 rpm?


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

BAD NEWS  when i went to charge my pack yesterday it wroked for about half an hour then when i went to get something to eat and came back of of the chargers had no LED's on. the ac line is getting 120v ac i checked. here is my charger model: http://www.kellycontroller.com/f7210-72v10a-charger-p-108.html


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

ok it turned out the fuse blew on one of the chargers. i noticed the fuse blew only when i put the packs in series. can i not place 2 72v packs in series and charge them with 2 72v smart chargers?? i only have one contactor on the most negative cable running to the controller. i noticed when i put the chargers to work together in series with the batteries the voltage on one of the chargers would spike up and down from 60v-72v so i unplugged them right away. right now i have to seperate the packs and charge them while they are not in series. am i doing something wrong here? the negative of one charger i put on the negative of the front pack, the positive i put on the corresponding packs positive, the next charger has the negative on the same terminal as the positive of the front pack ( because the packs should always be in series i assumed... and the positive on the positive of the rear pack... any mistakes here?


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## DCEL (Jul 20, 2011)

No one is following this thread, i think because of the Title.


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## johnsiddle (Jun 22, 2011)

OMT said:


> ok it turned out the fuse blew on one of the chargers. i noticed the fuse blew only when i put the packs in series. can i not place 2 72v packs in series and charge them with 2 72v smart chargers?? i only have one contactor on the most negative cable running to the controller. i noticed when i put the chargers to work together in series with the batteries the voltage on one of the chargers would spike up and down from 60v-72v so i unplugged them right away. right now i have to seperate the packs and charge them while they are not in series. am i doing something wrong here? the negative of one charger i put on the negative of the front pack, the positive i put on the corresponding packs positive, the next charger has the negative on the same terminal as the positive of the front pack ( because the packs should always be in series i assumed... and the positive on the positive of the rear pack... any mistakes here?


Your connections are basically correct but I think there may be a problem with the way the controllers are earthed inside so that you may be shorting one of the controllers out and blowing the fuse.
The negatives of both may be at earth so when you connect the positive of the first one to the negative of the second one you are shorting the second one. You may even be shorting both but as soon as a fuse blows the short is gone so one charger will still be active. 
Get an teccy person to have a look inside or just do an ohms check to earth on either terminals and see if this is the case. He may be able to isolate the outputs safely so that they float. The case of the chargers MUST still be earthed tho. It might be worth trying to contact the manufacturers for their advice.. 

Although I do not know exactly how your battery packs are connected I would suggest that the packs are separated in the middle with a contactor and then when the ignition is turned on the contactor closes and completes the line so putting the battery packs back in series.
Are the chargers still connected when the ignition is on if so you are lucky, because its probably only the fuses that has stopped you from burning out some wires. Ideally chargers should be disconnected when the batteries are in use, your motor could cause spikes which could blow the chargers.
Is it not possible to get a charger that will charge 144 volts???

Your hot motor is probably due to the fact that it is only rated for 72volts, has it got any forced cooling fan on it?
John


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

thanks for the suggestion i changed the title, does anyone have any suggestions on what is happening? should i but the batteries in series with the chargers and observe with a voltmeter again?


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

how do you change the title? or should i just repost a new thread


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

the motor has a cooling fan, a metal one. yea i thought about putting a contactor betweent the packs but im trying to only use one contactor. I could use that one contactor to "turn off" the car (controller), and seperate the packs?

i just bought these chargers a few months ago so im definately not looking to buy a new charger. i ahve contacted the mnufacturer (kelly) and no answer yet. 

i could find someone to try and isolate the output liek you said, but would the one contactor inbetween the packs most likely be the simplest, and most cost effective method.


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## OMT (May 10, 2010)

i usually keep the precharge resistor on the contactor so separating them in the middle wouldn't work because the resistor would just pass the voltage through even when it is open, unless i somehow made a timed relay with the precharge resistor.( any tips?)


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## johnsiddle (Jun 22, 2011)

OMT said:


> i usually keep the precharge resistor on the contactor so separating them in the middle wouldn't work because the resistor would just pass the voltage through even when it is open, unless i somehow made a timed relay with the precharge resistor.( any tips?)


I think my first step would be to see if the chargers do have one of its terminals connected to earth.

Use your multimeter set to ohms and test for a short firstly between chassis and negative and then between chassis and positive. If you get a short on either one ( you wont get one on both ) then this is deffo where your problem lies.

You then have no option but to either locate where they are grounded to try and remove this ground or isolate the two battery packs when charging.

The contactor must not have any form of connection when open, I assume this resistor you mention is a sort of spark supression across the contacts, if so it* must be removed.* You could then use this to turn your car off. This would be my method, I would not worry about timing this resistor because when you connect the packs to drive the car there is no current being drawn at that point unless you had your foot on the throttle at the same time which I doubt.

Does your contactor engage when no power is applied or do you have to apply power for it to connect, I assume it is the latter which is good.

Firstly go to my first step and check for a chassis connection *make sure the chargers are not plugging into the power outlet when you do this.*
John

PS I was reading in the EV Photo Album where a guy wrapped 1/4in copper pipe around his motor and pumped water/antifreeze around and thro a radiator, this could give you some in car heating if worked right, and cool the motor at the same time..... just a thought.


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