# Mike Willmon (Crazy Horse Pinto) joins EV Components



## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Cool, now tell him and his NEDRA buddies to start posting more over here in the Performance section instead of that annoying yahoo groups thing


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## electrabishi (Mar 11, 2008)

JRP3 said:


> Cool, now tell him and his NEDRA buddies to start posting more over here in the Performance section instead of that annoying yahoo groups thing


Sure why not 
I was on here a while back, must be before you got the performance section. 

I'll get some more folks over here. Is Husted still hanging out here too?

Mike


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

electrabishi said:


> Sure why not
> I was on here a while back, must be before you got the performance section.
> 
> I'll get some more folks over here. Is Husted still hanging out here too?
> ...


Congratulations on the new job, Mike. Haven't seen much from Jim on this forum lately. But look at that thread he started http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/using-forklift-motor-and-choosing-good-7598.html 902 posts and 111,145 views. Has to be a world record.

Regards,

major


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## electrabishi (Mar 11, 2008)

major said:


> Congratulations on the new job, Mike. Haven't seen much from Jim on this forum lately. But look at that thread he started http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/using-forklift-motor-and-choosing-good-7598.html 902 posts and 111,145 views. Has to be a world record.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> major


Holy cow, I remember that thread started near 2 years ago. Must be some more good stuff in there now, I need to read through it. Thanks

Mike


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Jim's been MIA for a while now. Probably got burnt out on all the same motor questions and left it up to major and the rest of us to cover the basics. How many pictures of dirty forklift motors can a person look at?


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## electrabishi (Mar 11, 2008)

He probably has them burnt into his retina's so he don't even have to look at them. I've talked to him recently and it sounds like he's staying busy


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

EVComponents said:


> Mike will be working for EV Components in a variety of roles including:
> Zilla controller development, Zilla support, development of other new products and helping customers configure their EV projects. ​
> James Morrison, CEO
> 
> ...


Hello James,

Has Mike started yet? I need what is probably a simple question answered concerning the Zilla and HairBall connections. How do I contact him? Got a contact email for me?

Appreciated,

major


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## electrabishi (Mar 11, 2008)

I'm here. Whatchya got? We can talk on the list here or you can find my e-mail address (at least until I get to Washington end of January) on my EV Album pages http://www.evalbum.com/1093

Mike


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

electrabishi said:


> I'm here. Whatchya got? We can talk on the list here


Hi Mike,

I have the 1kHV and HairBall wired per the manual. There is a large DC/DC and a 17 Ahr aux battery. Everything is wired and waiting on some unimportant stuff like brakes. So just sitting for a couple of weeks. The DC/DC is disconnected from the traction battery when the keyswitch is off.

The other day I noticed that the two idiot lamps powered from the HB were glowing on the dash. Odd since the key was in my pocket. Well, come to find out, the HB was telling me I had a low SLI battery. Yep, down to 5 volts.

I suspected the DC/DC was draining it. But today I figured out it is the HB or the Zilla. Drawing 52 mA. This coming from the unswitched 12 volt connection to pin#2 called SLI+14V in. I disconnected the wire from pin#2 and current went to zero. The Zilla manual says to leave 12V to this HB input "always on". See page 9. What is the downside to switching it with the key?

Also, I noticed when inserting the fuse on the 12 volt battery, it draws a fair size arc. This went away after I disconnected the 12v feed to pin#2. Are there some good size caps in the HB or something? Is that arc going to degrade my keyswitch?

Thanks in advance.

major


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## CroDriver (Jan 8, 2009)

major said:


> Also, I noticed when inserting the fuse on the 12 volt battery, it draws a fair size arc. This went away after I disconnected the 12v feed to pin#2. *Are there some good size caps in the HB or something?* Is that arc going to degrade my keyswitch?
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> major


Hi major. 

Could be... I noticed that a LED is on for days after I disconnect the HB from the 12V battery


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## electrabishi (Mar 11, 2008)

Yes this is annoying. The Mitsu battery always went dead on me so I just put a toggle switch under the dash so I could eliminate that stray draw. If you run the car every day it isn't a problem to leave it hooked right to the SLI all the time. But with the Pinto and other projects sometimes the truck sits for a while.

In the Pinto I just key switched that line. However Otmar has recently told me that the +14V SLI and the key on should not be turned on at the same time lest the hairball throws some odd error codes. In fact the Pinto's hairball was throwing odd codes. So I did the same thing as in the Mitsubishi with the under dash toggle. I believe the jist of what Otmar was explaining to me was that the hairball must have power be on an stable before telling it to do stuff like turn the car on. But switching the power to it just prior to turning the key seems to be fine.

HTH,
Mike


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## electrabishi (Mar 11, 2008)

Just resurrecting this old thread. Major did you get your stray hairball draw figured out? I said I had a switch under my dash for the Electrabishi..... well forgot to turn it off a while back. Went to pull the controller out last week to send to my Junior Dragster friend in Alaska, Morgan Carter, and my SLI batt read 0.00V. Not the first one I burnt. However when I first converted the Electrabishi the original 12AH starting battery lasted 2 years when I was running it every day. Pinto has been in the trailer for several months now... sure hope I turned the switch off :-(

Mike


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## electrabishi (Mar 11, 2008)

CroDriver said:


> Hi major.
> 
> Could be... I noticed that a LED is on for days after I disconnect the HB from the 12V battery


Which LED are you guys talking about? Is it the one on the Hairball telling you the pack voltage is applied but the "Main Contactor" is open? Or is it one of the Hairball "Check Engine" or "Battery Indicator" ports that you ran a dash LED to?

Mike


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## CroDriver (Jan 8, 2009)

It's one of the LEDs on the hairball. I can't remember which one it was. I think it's yellow. 

Btw. I have a Solectia DC/DC which was installed in the car but never used. A couple of weeks ago I wanted to try how it works and turned the contactor between the HV battery and the DC/DC on. I measured the current that was going into the SLI battery and it seemed to work fine. When I tried to run the car the controller seamed dead... This happened two days before the race I attended to. Big shock... I opened the hairball and checked the components connected to the +14 pin. I removed a diode (swapped it from my other hairball) and the controller worked again. But now I'm afraid to use my DC/DC so I have to change the 12V batterie at the track which is annoying and looks stupid. Maybe the DC/DC kicks in at a too high voltage and fries the diode?


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

electrabishi said:


> Just resurrecting this old thread. Major did you get your stray hairball draw figured out?


Hi Mike,

Glad to see you're still with us  I installed a second key-switch which disconnects that pin on the hairball. It uses the same key as the main key switch and is located next to the charge port. This way, if the EV is parked for longer than a week, it can be turned off and save the aux battery.

Had a mechanical delay on the project but hopefully it gets back on the floor this week. And running in a few weeks. Can't go too far without axles 

I haven't seen a lot about EV drags this season. Any of you guys running? 

major


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## CroDriver (Jan 8, 2009)

major said:


> I haven't seen a lot about EV drags this season. Any of you guys running?


This interests me too. Why is John so slow with his build? He got the batteries and all the needed parts for the pack machined by sponsors. What is he waiting for?


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## toddshotrods (Feb 10, 2009)

major said:


> ...I haven't seen a lot about EV drags this season. Any of you guys running?
> 
> major





CroDriver said:


> This interests me too...


times 3... Waiting for that first ten-second street-legal EV pass. Wasn't Smoke Screen supposed to be getting a new motor in search of the nines? Did anyone buy his 13" GE?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Looks like Wayland Invitational in July is next:
http://www.nedra.com/upcoming_events.html


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

electrabishi said:


> Just resurrecting this old thread. Major did you get your stray hairball draw figured out?


Hey Mike,

You still with us?  I finally got the axles in and car up and running. I ran into another Zilla problem. I hope you can help. It is a real pain in the a$$.

All worked well like 7 months ago after the complete electrical install. Zilla 1K and Warp9. Then tore it all out and powder coated the frame and wait for mechanicals (axles and such). Put it all back together. 

Now, when I start it up, I get an 1131 error  Shorted/Loaded Controller during precharge. Everything looks goods otherwise. I figured out that if I turn off the DC/DC converter, the error does not happen. After the precharge, I can turn the DC/DC on and drive. But I have to go to the back of the car to turn the DC/DC on and off. A real pain  DC/DC is a MES Zebra. It appears to function normally.

What gives? It did not do this 7 months ago. Except for that switch on SLI+14V In, which is on, nothing else is different. The 12 volt battery is small and I cannot run without the DC/DC. Pump and fan draw a lot.

Hope you can help. Is it possible to get a replacement Hairball to try?

major


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## Powered By DC (Jan 3, 2009)

I would set the DC/DC up to turn on after the controller fires up using a relay. That should solve your problem.

Best Regards
Dave Kois
Current EV Tech, LLC
http://www.currentevtech.com
[email protected]
253-988-5020


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

Powered By DC said:


> I would set the DC/DC up to turn on after the controller fires up using a relay. That should solve your problem.
> 
> Best Regards
> Dave Kois


Yes Dave,

I thought of that. It is a band-aid approach which I would rather not use for several reasons. The Zilla is an expensive piece of equipment with an excellent reputation. It functioned with this set up previously. Now it doesn't. I want to know why.

Regards,

major


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## Powered By DC (Jan 3, 2009)

Hi Major,

It's not really a bandaid fix, I think it is how it should be setup from the beginning. I have noticed both with the Zilla and Synkromotive controllers that if the 12v is small or weak that unless you start the DC/DC after startup you will encounter errors. 

I ran into the same problem on one of the Rav4 conversions and once I added the relay to turn on the DC/DC after startup everything worked properly.

Dave Kois
Current EV Tech, LLC


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

Powered By DC said:


> Hi Major,
> 
> It's not really a bandaid fix, I think it is how it should be setup from the beginning. I have noticed both with the Zilla and Synkromotive controllers that if the 12v is small or weak that unless you start the DC/DC after startup you will encounter errors.
> 
> ...


Hi Dave,

I have a theory on this. But I need to wait on that.

Now if this is proper operation of the Zilla, then the manual should tell the installer about it. It only took me about an hour or two to trace it down 

What do you use to turn on the relay?

BTW, thanks for addressing my problem.

major


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## Powered By DC (Jan 3, 2009)

I always used 2 contactors for the main power, the first one powers up with the Key and the second by the controller. When the controller turns on the second one I used 12v relay wired to that contactor's 12v coil to power up another contactor to turn on the DC/DC.

It is best to use a relay that has a internal diode or add one because I had a few of them fail without it.

I will ask Otmar what he thinks causes this issue

Best Regards

Dave Kois
Current EV Tech, LLC
http://www.currentevtech.com
[email protected]
253-988-5020


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## electrabishi (Mar 11, 2008)

Hi Major,
don't want you to think I forgot about you. Been a lot of stuff happening lately ;-) Did you figure out your starting problem?

Mike


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