Hello Dave,
My name is Steve and I live in Southern CA. We have a Ford Th!nk that we have owned since 05. We only use it maybe 100 miles a month in the summer and 50 in the “winter”. When we bought it, the owner had made Ford replace the batteries with Gel, and the Delta- Q 912-7201 charger. Our batteries are basically toast at this point. I’ve brought them back to life a few times by charging individually, etc.
I’ve had a couple of EVs, including a current Bolt and a plug in hybrid Mitsubishi, so I am pretty mechanical and have pretty good EV knowledge. I have been researching getting new batteries and it’s been recommended that I upgrade to the QUI Delta Q charger for the 13.5 volt DC/DC and the Deka Gels. So, that bring me to you!
I’ve always wanted to go Lithium instead of Gel for this rig. I know Scott in No. Cal who works on the Clusters did it years ago, but says they are too expensive.
Have you supplied any cells for the Th!nk, and have you done any wiring of the Delta Q with Th!nk connectors?
Not much knowledge of Think specifically.
I have dq dci chargers for $350.
Connection is pretty straight forward. They connect to batteries directly or the same place your other charger did.
If you want to use the dc-dc. There are output wires for 13.5v continuous and switched.
I have supplied other Think owners with 5kwh of lifepo4 batteries. $1250.
The dq charger can be programmed for them.
If you monitor cell levels once in a while, bms is not needed.
Else, for $250 I can supply a prewired monitor for all 25 cells.
Dave
Thanks for getting back to me so soon.
I have a few questions.
Looks like there are 25 cells producing 5kwh. What is the total voltage and the kh rating of a single cell?
Also, are these from a Volt or Spark or ?
Is the configuration all in one pack or two or?
How do they ship and do you have any idea the cost to So Cal?
Do you know if the other Th!nk buyers used the same motor and controller?
It looks like the Delta Q Qui comes with fairly short leads for connectors. I would probably need to find some jumpers, or something to get to my current connectors. Any idea what the others might have done?
Would probably get the BMS just to be safe.
The cells are 3.2v nominal 60ah. For a Gem 72v system I recommend from 25 to 28s. 5 pcs 5s modules fit very well.
I get them in 10s an 5s modules, but can build any configuration.
These are new old stock cells, not recycled.
I do have a DQ charger now. It’s my understanding, that one of the major issues that seems to plague the Th!nk, is that the external DC/DC converter or (converters in my case, with the 12v acc/cig plug receptacle), tend to start getting “weak” and cause problems with lights, multi light switch, the cluster, etc. So the Qui with the internal DC DC converter apparently has more stability and is 13.v. Could just be bull, but I know my lights are much more dim than before and I’ve had some switch issues.
Plus, my charger is displaying the amber light on the AC Power is on, and there is a flashing light on the l level on the ammeter. So I’ve been told that might mean that it’s gone bad…
Dq are very reliable. Count the blinks to see what’s wrong.
That seems like a good reason to change to a dci model.
I can supply programmed for lithium.
Good Morning!
I had a few more questions that came to me over night…
Do you “connect” the cells in each pack together? If so, do you use a bar, cable,?
Also, how about cables or something to connect each pack to the other?
Would my current cables work to bridge from one pack to another? (They are standard, orange battery cables with stud, connector ends…)
What about the BMS connector wiring?
When you program the charger, what algorithm do you use for lithium?
Also, how do you typically ship and what do you think the cost is to 92651?
Thanks again!
Steve
The 5s modules come wired together with copper flex bars.
Stock cables work to connect modules together.
UPS is about $50 per module to ship. You can look for freight or U-Ship quote. I can put them on a pallet.
Charger depends on voltage and cell count. Most of the forum members run high voltage for hotrodding.
25s will use #53 87.6 volts.
We should move this to the open forum, so you can get others results.
I can build a bms with numbered wires. One wire connects to B- (neg) and one to each pos terminal (25).
I’ll be converting a Think this spring with David’s batteries. What is the process of changing the charger (Delta) to #53? Do I need to get a programmer to make that happen?
You can rent a programmer if you don’t want to take charger out. Or send it to me. $50
Charger needs to be dqcp with black dot or newer. dqct, dqd* etc.
Starting to get back on the Lithium upgrade for my Think and had another question…
You mentioned earlier that 10 of the “modules” would make a 50 mile car. Is it your experience that with only 5, a person could get 25 miles or so? (I know it’s not an exact science…) I would assume to get 50, you would wire half in parallel in order to double the 60ah, to 120ah?
