# Interpreting Soliton Errors?



## PeterH (Mar 20, 2009)

Hi there,

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of error warnings, in the form of a blinking check engine light, from my Soliton Jr. They are not over-temp warnings. My cooling system runs any time the ignition is powered and the high temp here is only 50 degrees F. Plus, my log file records a max of only 34.80C.

I'm using a pack of 45 CALB 130Ah cells for a nominal voltage of 144 volts.

I presently ask my Soliton Jr. to warn me if pack voltage under load reaches 120 volts and to also warn me if pack voltage under no load reaches 130 volts. I'm fairly certain the Soliton Jr. is working just fine and is doing exactly what I've asked it to do. But maybe I need to better understand what I'm asking it to do? 

On a full charge, I see an error only when I'm reaching for highway speeds and really applying the throttle. After using much more of the charge, perhaps 40% of the full charge, usually on a second 16 mile drive to town on the same charge, I'll see the warning light frequently.

I finally dug out my copy of the logger.exe program and hooked up my notebook and went for a drive. I collected some very useful data and returned with several questions.

1. In the Mode column, what does "133 Running, Slewrate active" mean and would that generate a warning? I believe my current slewrate is set at "300".

2. In the same column, what does "2053 Running, Low pack volt" mean? 

That obviously implies I've hit one of the pack voltage warning levels. I'd like to know which one. I'm assuming it is the low voltage warning when the pack is under load because it happens when I'm demanding a lot from the system. However, I also monitor the pack voltage using two different instruments. That would be my JLD404 and another system status display with a name I can't recall at the moment. I never see the pack voltage fall below 130 volts... mostly because I'll let up on the throttle when the voltage is sagging that far. So maybe I misunderstand the meaning of those settings in the Soliton interface?

At the end of todays driving, which is when I ran the logger program on which this posting is based, I checked the voltage of each cell in my pack. The were all at 3.2 vdc, +/- no more than 3/100's of a volt. So my pack is fine.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer with this situation.

Peter


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

PeterH said:


> ...
> 1. In the Mode column, what does "133 Running, Slewrate active" mean and would that generate a warning? I believe my current slewrate is set at "300".


It means that the controller is limiting the rate of rise in motor current relative to rate at which throttle was applied. It's not a "warning" or "error", just an advisory. Note that the last two columns in logger (one numeric, one verbose) are to report controller status, and are not just for warnings/errors.



PeterH said:


> 2. In the same column, what does "2053 Running, Low pack volt" mean?
> 
> That obviously implies I've hit one of the pack voltage warning levels. I'd like to know which one. ...


There aren't two discrete pack voltage warning levels. Rather, there is a range of allowed pack voltages versus pack currents that spans the two specified voltage levels.

E.g., if minimum pack voltage at no current is 130V and minimum pack voltage at full current is 120V then you will be allowed 50% of max current at 125V, or 20% of max current at 122V, etc...


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## PeterH (Mar 20, 2009)

Ok, so if I understand correctly, I can basically ignore these advisories so long as nothing else is wrong such as a serious drop in pack voltage. Correct? I keep a close watch on the pack voltage.

I think I'll ramp up my permitted slew rate to perhaps 450 to see what happens. I suspect it will reduce the number of times I see that check engine light when at the top half of my pack's capacity.

The limit on current when I'm in the voltage monitoring range I've selected makes sense. I thought I had 'detected' a drop in responsiveness between my throttle selection and acceleration. The Soliton Jr. must be limiting current proportionally to the pack voltage and my requested acceleration. Additionally, it also explains why the check engine light will stop flashing its advisory as soon as I let up on the throttle.

Starting to wish I had crammed larger capacity cells in my pack! Who would have thought bigger would be better!? 

Thanks for clearning this up for me. 

Pete


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## Roy Von Rogers (Mar 21, 2009)

45 X 3.3v = 148.5v


??????


Roy


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

PeterH said:


> I think I'll ramp up my permitted slew rate to perhaps 450 to see what happens. I suspect it will reduce the number of times I see that check engine light when at the top half of my pack's capacity.


Noooo, that doesn't make the lamp flash. It's probably the controller warning you that you drain the pack too hard (too much sag) so I'd suggest that you try to lower the max power to the motor to decrease the peak battery current.

EDIT: Or you could just lower max pack current too. Of course. Doh...

Q: When do you know a software has enough features?
A: When not even the SW dude remembers them all...


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## PeterH (Mar 20, 2009)

Interesting... ok, I'll make some adjustments and post the results just to complete this thread.

Starting a new job on Monday after 5.5 months of unemployment. Seems I've timed it perfectly... got laid off just in time for ski season to start, skiied all season on the pass I bought last Spring... and the day after the season ends (April 14) I start a new job on my birthday! Now THAT is timing!

But the most exciting thing is that I'll be driving my EV to work daily! Nine miles each way over fairly flat terrain so perfect match for my EV. If I want to, I can even avoid the highway. This is also why I've finally gotten off dead center and investigated these Soliton indications. 

Pete


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## dladd (Jun 1, 2011)

PeterH said:


> Starting a new job on Monday after 5.5 months of unemployment. Seems I've timed it perfectly... got laid off just in time for ski season to start, skiied all season on the pass I bought last Spring... and the day after the season ends (April 14) I start a new job on my birthday! Now THAT is timing!
> 
> Pete


That's great news  Congratulations!


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## PeterH (Mar 20, 2009)

Thanks... I'm SO excited to get back to work so I can fund my EV habit!! 

Oh, and check this out... during my interview with the Chief of Engineering Services, he asked me if I thought I was "handy"... since I don't have an A&P liscense (the job is with Quest Aircraft who manufacture the entire aircraft here in Sandpoint, Idaho), they were not sure if I had the right technical aptitude for the position. What a great opportunity to brag about my EV effort! It was really hard to stick to a 10,000 foot description of the project (the interview was already going long...) but it worked. I think that really helped me land the job!

How's that for another reason to build your own EV! 

Pete


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## Yukon_Shane (Jul 15, 2010)

Wow, not only do we share an affinity for Geo trackers, and the soliton jr. but we have the same birthday too!
We should asked evnetics if their client demographic is slanted towards Aries (Jeffrey strikes me as an Aries). 
Congrats on the new job and happy b-day.


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## PeterH (Mar 20, 2009)

Look for a private message here in this forum.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

My read on your setup with the Soliton jr is with 130AH calbs you can set the current limit to motor and battery wide open unless there is some reason not to on the motor side. And with 45 cells you can set the low voltages to 122 for the high voltage and bottom voltage to 72 volts so the car will go well on those cold winter days. You will never see that in the summer anyway. Sag below 2 volts is nothing to worry about under high current. As for slew rate, 500 amps per second is more than fast enough for a street vehicle. I had my Soliton 1 set to 2000 amps per second but I found that when I let other people drive it they could get the drive train bouncing when they would take off in second gear. It is a lot nicer to drive at 500 for people not used to it.

It sounds to me like everything is working correctly.


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## EVfun (Mar 14, 2010)

Woah Doug, that seems way to low for a 45 cell pack. Since the Soliton has duel low voltage settings (full load, no load) I would suggest a minimum under load of 90 volts (2 vpc) and a minimum no load of 135 volts (3 vpc.) I haven't found any useable range once the no load voltage falls to 3.0 volts per cell. Because voltage spring back isn't perfectly instant perhaps 130 volts for the no load minimum voltage.

Since I have a single minimum voltage limit (Zilla) and a 38 cell pack I have had to approach it a little differently. In the winter I use a minimum pack voltage of 92 volts (just over 2.4 vpc) and a warning light voltage limit of 101 volts (just under 2.7 vpc.) I limit current to 5C in the winter (300 amps.) A good uphill freeway on-ramp run can light the low voltage dash light below about half charge. In the summer I raise both numbers by 4 volts and turn the current up to 6C.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

EVfun said:


> Woah Doug, that seems way to low for a 45 cell pack. Since the Soliton has duel low voltage settings (full load, no load) I would suggest a minimum under load of 90 volts (2 vpc) and a minimum no load of 135 volts (3 vpc.) I haven't found any useable range once the no load voltage falls to 3.0 volts per cell. Because voltage spring back isn't perfectly instant perhaps 130 volts for the no load minimum voltage.


You are probably correct if the pack isn't bottom balanced. My recommendation is for 1.6 volts per cell. I chose that because it is essentially the max power point of a cell. Keep in mind that it is cell reversal that kills these cells, not low voltage. I bottom balanced to 2.5V. If a cell is weak this could kill it off when the pack gets low SOC. That isn't an issue to me because there is nothing you can do to fix a bad cell. All you might do is baby it along for a while and whats the fun in that?


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## PeterH (Mar 20, 2009)

Thread update: 

I drove my EV to the first day of my new job today. I had re-tuned the Soliton a bit to increase the slew rate to 450 and lower the minimum voltage under load to 110V. 

Had a nice tail wind all the way to work in 35 degree F weather so of course, no errors showing. On the way home, with a slight head wind, I had no trouble. That is after she sat out in the 40 degree F weather all day. My instruments indicated the pack was above outside air temp.

The EV seems to have a bit more pep off the line with an increase slew rate and since I'm not triggering any warnings, I'm not being limited by the Soliton due to voltage sag.

Thanks,
Pete


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