[QUOTE=new dawn;517]I used a 120 volt ceramic heater for my car I have a couple of ideas on it I might be able to use the controls for various tempatures and the fan I can use to ventilate the trunk when I charge the batteries. I will put a vent on the top of the trunk and force the air thru with the fan. I have a idea on how to do it, and make a Mr. Fusion container to cover it when not in use. LOL no telling on how far I’ll go on making it look like the car in Back To The Future. I might paint it silver if rustoleam has a silver color this winter. I have a idea on the time circuts and the flux capacitor.[/QUOTE]
Today I took the car to Gene Butman Ford in Ypsilanti and my cuz took it for a spin. He is a mechanic there, it got his seal of approval!!! All the other mechanics gathered around and asked questions and thier nods too. On my way back home the batteries took a turn to low voltage, I had to pull over to the side several times to get back home. :eek: :eek: but I made it!!! I was about 4 miles out. I put it on the charger as soon as I got home. The KTA charger is still in the shop waiting for a GFCI. The mileage I got was 11 miles today. Plus the 25 yesterday, so driving the way I wanted to I went 32 miles on the freeway and around town and 4 miles limping back home. You have to understand it will take 50 cycles to break in the batteries, and the correct charger will make a difference too. Even though the mileage is dissapointing the car is very quiet and it is cool and fun to drive.
Here is the Vaccum resivoirare I’ll mount it in the area the exhaust used to be. Here are a couple of pics of the trunk vent one closed one open, and the gauges on the dash.
I could not tell from the photo, but you want to make sure that the vacuum hose you use is heavy enough it does not collapse on itself when under vacuum. In the lab we use the rule if it cannot take 120 degree bend it is not heavy enough.
I used Neopream hose it is 1/2 inch for maximum vaccum delivery and very heavy duty. It will kink if you make a tight bend but there are no bends tight enough to make it kink. It is the same stuff I covered the wires with just smaller. I was just on my way to murrays to get some wire ties to sling the tube with. the tube is made with 3 inch pvc and is about 5 feet long with caps in both ends and a fitting drilled into one end and glued in. It should make a exelent resivoir for the vaccum.
I found out how the Saturn works after a little digging on the wiring diagrams. The tach gets it’s signal from the ignition circut, so me and my mechanic came up with a simple idea that I am going to try. The abs pickups go off a signal too. I have a place on the back of the transmission that the clutch hooked to. I’ll make a bracket for the abs module to bolt to and see if I need one signal or four per revolution of the motor turning. it may take some time to make it work, as I have to pull the board to get to this area.
I had a electriction friend of mine check the transformer wiring out and he said it was ok, so it was just a bad charger or maybe when I started it the fan on the side it mat have sucked some debris into the inside of the charger and it shorted out. It does make me feel better that it wasn’t something I did like wire it wrong.
I got the Charger back yesterday and hooked it up. the gfci was tripping and I couldn’t get it to stop. I tried to clean the tops of the batteries and it still was grounding out to the frame. So I called Bob this morning and found the problem to be the insulatation I used around the batteries to be the cause. I’ll have to remove the battery pack and install a pvc liner between the batteries and the frame I welded in to keep the electricity from grounding to the frame. I hope this works. The insulatation has a aluminum backing to reflect the heat back to the batteries, it is very durable as when I walked out of home depot the wind caught it and bent it 180 degrees and it didn’t break in half. I was impressed as it is only 1/2 inch, but now I have to insulate the batteries from it and the frame. :eek:
I trailered the car up north this last week and now have 60 miles on it, everyone was impressed with it, the only thing is the limitation of the miles it can go, which I still am not sure of as I haven’t got a good charge in the pack yet. Maybe I’ll get it together today again.
I worked on the back trunk area today and got it done. I put another 1/2 inch of insulatation under the batteries and then the plastid. I went to the local recycle center and there wes a old pool there. No liner but the side was made of thick plastic, just what I needed. It cost me a whopping 5 dollars . What a deal I am glad I stopped. It is easy to work with just score it and it will break there!!! I tried the charger again and it still doesn’t work still tripping the gfci. Tomorrow I’ll get on the front four.
I found the problem with the gfci. I had the front batteries tied down with a nylon strap and when I disconnected it the charger started to work. The directions said I could run it at 13 amps but the best I can get is 12 amps, when I run it at 13 amps the circut beraker kicks off. I am waiting for the CONSTANT VOLTAGE MODE to kick in. It is supposed to kick in at 169.2 volts, but this is the first time charging the batteries and will probably need to be adjusted. At the moment the pack is at 156 volts. Tomorrow I will be able to see what a fully charged electric car will do!!!
I still plan to remove the front batteries and insulate them with the plastic.
[QUOTE=new dawn;621]I found the problem with the gfci. I had the front batteries tied down with a nylon strap and when I disconnected it the charger started to work. The directions said I could run it at 13 amps but the best I can get is 12 amps, when I run it at 13 amps the circut beraker kicks off. I am waiting for the CONSTANT VOLTAGE MODE to kick in. It is supposed to kick in at 169.2 volts, but this is the first time charging the batteries and will probably need to be adjusted. At the moment the pack is at 156 volts. Tomorrow I will be able to see what a fully charged electric car will do!!!
I still plan to remove the front batteries and insulate them with the plastic.[/QUOTE]
Got the batteries charged, the plastic installed and the car put back together. I took it out tonight and went for a drive in the night air. I had about 23 good miles of driving and I could tell that the batteries were getting low. I drove the last 3 miles home around 20 to 30 mph maxing it out. the curtis meter was in the orange area, I checked the volts and they were at 136 volts. I had the brights on as it was very dark tonight and the cd player was on too. I’ll take it out tomorrow during the day.
I took a look at a Fiero tonight and it would make a awesome electric vehicle. it is a rear wheel drive just like the front wheel drive cars with the engine set sideways but mounted behind the drivers compartment. Lots of room for batteries up front and a little area for the controls in the back.
There are a couple of examples of them on line. The biggest thing is that fieros had iffy brakes to start with. Pretty good instructions around on how to fix that problem.
I started out during the daylight and drove 14 miles to a friends house we visited for a couple of hours and it was getting dark when we left. I decided to go to another friends house about 15 miles away so off we went, we found her home and talked for a while. Then off to where my wife works, all the guys ohed and ahed over the car and I answered thier questions as good as I could. When we left we still had plenty of power so I decided to take my son to Steak and Shake on the way home. I got a vanilla malt and he got a Frisco melt. The batteries were dhowing sighns that I should get home quickly. The curtis meter was in the orange area. I was about 4 miles out and started to go home. decreasing speed the closer to home I got. I had to drive on Michigan Ave for about a mile at 25 to 35 mph they usually travel 55 or more on that strech of road. I had to pull over a couple of times but I made it home. but by the time I got here the curtis meter was flashing red. The official mileage was 44.3 miles today on a overnight charge. The more I break in the batteries the longer I’ll be able to drive. I’ll get out earlier for my drive tomorrow. It is fun to drive and very quiet. Even with the windows down.
I checked out the fierro site and it is way cool. I thought the fierro would make a good conversion because of all the room you have to work with, and it is a decent looking car. I had to just about shoe horn the components into my car and now know what to look for for building space. LOL
I got up early and had a few errands to do on the other side of town. I had 34 miles on the odometer and had to take my dad to the dentist in a couple of hours, Put the car on the charger for 2 hours and then took him to the dentist. When I got home there was 20 miles on the odometer, totaling 54, I put it back on the charger and later I had to go to Saline and put 18 more miles on it. Totaling 72 miles in a 24 hour period. The car is on the charger now and will be ready to go in the morning again. Oh yes I forgot to tell you the last 18 miles were after dark thus the lights were on too!!!
Here is a site worth checking out for tax credits on electric vehicles http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/progs/view_ind_fed.cgi?afdc/307/0
Today I took the car to Gene Butman Ford in Ypsilanti and my cuz took it for a spin. He is a mechanic there, it got his seal of approval!!! All the other mechanics gathered around and asked questions and thier nods too. On my way back home the batteries took a turn to low voltage, I had to pull over to the side several times to get back home. :eek: :eek: but I made it!!! I was about 4 miles out. 
