Typiclly, Yes.
On a Gem, it is one of the Power-ON safety checks and will prevent the Main Contactor from closing (and the car from moving).
It should also illuminate the Service Wrench on your Cluster Display. (letting you know there is a stored code).
The wrench only displays on start up briefly then disappears but I do have the warning triangle. Maybe that’s related?
Red Triangle is another issue. Thinks have a circuit that monitors frame voltages. If it detects too much V on the frame it turns on this light. It keeps people from attaching Main Battery to frame. I don’t know what it uses as a reference. Measure across B+ and Frame to see what is there. Manual does not state if this error will stop the car.
It sounds like you could use a manual.
What is your email address?
As a work on the final configuration for these two packs, do I need to space them apart or would it be ok to have them stacked, one flat on the other?
My thought is regarding heat dissipation. I don’t know how hot they get or if cooling air is necessary. If I need to space them, any suggestions on minimum air gap between?
You can stack them -
If you can get .5" inches between them great, if not, no big deal. IMO
We don’t run them hard enough or long enough to get them that hot.
Don’t be afraid of stepping away from traditional thinking. I believe these can be stacked on edge if that helps for a better package solution.
A nice length of all thread through the holes in the corners and a bunch of jam nuts makes for an easy tie point.
Good news. I used an inverter tied to a space heater for a few hours to run the pack down to 84v and reconnected everything, and it drives. Once the spoof and the vw oem battery connector arrive I should be able to cleanly mount everything, connect the ANT BMS, charge to <96vdc and give it a test drive. No clue how the d1 controller and 4hp motor will hold up, but excited to find out.
If it runs well I still anticipate having motor over temp issues, which was a problem before. Probably more of an issue with the increased power applied. But if the d1 holds up, I may just upgrade the dc motor and roll with that through the Christmas golf cart parade. Then work phase two for for little league season and summer fun.
What’s the best deal going for an upgraded bolt up option? I have heard of refurbished options but don’t know where to get them.
Thanks for all the help so far
I can call my FSIP rep and see if they’ll let you upgrade to a D2 with a D1 core. @Old_Houseboater usually has a bunch of reconditioned motors.
PS… i can probably run that 5wk motor up the hill today if you want to see if it will fit.
Are we doing this again? That was a ton of fun!!
Yeah for sure! That was our third annual one and it seems to double in size every year.
Got anxious, strapped it all together with the starting voltage at 83.8v and took it for a test.
Worked great, slightly better than before the old batteries died. Drove just under two miles of hard hills. pack finished at 81.0v.
Definitely noticed increased acceleration and slight improvement on hill climb but still dropped from 29 to 19 mph up the hill.
If I had to guess it is a mix of losing a good amount of old battery weight, plus a slightly higher operating voltage.
I am expecting better performance with voltage in the 90-96 range.
It is a pretty cold night and motor was very hot to the touch. In my experience it would likely over heat with continuous use or on a hotter day.
I am curious if with hilly terrain motor cooling has been an issue for other people.
Got anxious, strapped it all together with the starting voltage at 83.8v and took it for a test. Drove just under two miles of hard hills. pack finished at 81.0v.
I’m not sure what you were expecting here or what was gained?
It gets tricky when using recycled batteries. Not having real manufacturer data and/or specs available we are just guessing at operating windows but if you cross reference over to something fairly parallel for some guidelines it might give an idea.
Just looking at the SDI Chart (because it is handy)
You started off with this 2 mile test at ~11% (83.8v/24) to see how this would measure up against your old tired pack?
The scary part is that you ran a 2 mi test involving the cartkiller hills in your neighborhood.
and came back with below 0% SOC. I’m guessing you measured the finish V after a bit of rest (manually with a handheld meter). I bet your surface charge came up a bit when your stopped.
I wonder how far your V actually dropped at full load during your test?
At least you know what it feels like when your pack is fully depleted. (better performance than a fully charged LA pack).
motor was very hot to the touch
Did it get hot on the old pack? I don’t think you can really blame this on the new pack at this point. Depending on what is in the controller for programming some of this might be adjusted to get the motor to run cooler. It might be also how much regen or if your car uses Plug braking?
When you get your car properly hooked up and still want to study hill climbing you might have a look at voltage drops across your whole power system.
Technically, for these 12s and 8s VW modules, he is just above the cut-off (79.2).
FYI - I have always run cells down to 3.2v even 3.1v and not seen any issues. However, you will see performance fall off quickly once you pass 3.3v.
Charge voltage cut-off:
Cell = 4.2V
Discharging cut-off:
Cell = 3.3V
Maximum Discharging Current (10 sec.): 1000 Amps
yea, with a 4hp motor your going to toast it pretty quickly - reads like you are running a MM to get those speeds as well. That is a lot of Volts and Revs for that little motor.
I would plan on a D2 and 6hp motor sooner than later 
That will get your motor hot faster than a decaying orbit around the sun.
It was a mix of 1. needing to verify that everything still functions properly before adding spoofs/reprograming/and then attempting in starting @ 96v and 2. doing it for fun.
I had the hand held hooked while driving and the droop low was 80.2. 81v was pulling into the garage.
Not blaming the new pack at all. Fully expected and definitely had overheating problems previously.
I used 2 ga off the battery but that is a good point and I should check all connections. I think the cables on the motor are smaller.
I have the batteries installed cleanly, but running without the BMS installed as I still need build the harnesses. I have installed the spoof on p1 that @MikeKC sent and the motor controller, solenoid, and motor seem to be running fine.
I repeated the same test, 2 mi of hills. Starting 96.01 finished 95.13. MUCH more acceleration. Hill climb was much more consistent. Drooped from 29 to 24 but then held.
One issue, it seems as though something doesn’t like the higher voltage, maybe my cluster or perhaps a relay. Nothing on my multifunction switch will work until the voltage comes down
If anyone has experience with that it would be appreciated.
@David_Illingworth when you switched to 96vdc did you have to do anything other than the motor controller spoof?
Is the d2 a plug and play swap or is there more to it? Is it the same connector and harness?
Nothing on my multifunction switch will work until the voltage comes down
I’m guessing you are talking about turn, horn, headlights, wipers?
That sounds like the DC Converter is shutting down at the new higher V. Check it’s output. It may only be rated to ~90V. Replace it with one rated for 100V?
How are you charging this new pack?
I will check the converter output tonight. You are correct, no lights(headlights, taillights, signals) no wipers. Weird thing is the cluster is working fine so I assumed the converter was doing its thing.
I was using a bench charger to charge each 12s separately. Last night I reprogrammed my delta Q to a lipo profile to charge to 93.8 v. Once I get the BMS wired and installed I will switch to the 98v profile and use the BMS to limit at 96v.
If I do a swap to the 7hp or 11hp d&d motor that is allegedly a plug and play, do I need to do anything in the motor controller?
