...and install a "Oi! You've left your flamin' lights on AGAIN, numb-nuts!" alarm as well. It's just a relay and a 12V buzzer wired to the interior (curtesy) light/ignition circuit. $5 worth of bits and 30 mins to fit? Don't keep putting it off! Do it now! MW
On 8 Jan 2013, at 05:31, Mike Nickerson wrote: > Today was an interesting drive in my EV. The weather was very snowy, but I > drove the EV anyway. I've never had the chance to drive it in the snow yet. > It has been on blocks during the last two winters for various work. > > The ride in the morning was very uneventful. The car handled very well in > the snow. > > When I got back in the car after work, the car was dead. No gauges, no > radio, no fan, etc. At that point, I realized I had left my lights on all > day. Crap! > > However, I was prepared for this. I have been carrying a couple of 10 ga. > wires in my trunk for just this reason. Each cable had an alligator clip on > one end and a ring terminal on the other end. With the key on, I connected > the clips to the 12V battery terminals and simply touched the ring terminals > across 4 of the LiFePO4 cells. That was close enough to 12V. With that > voltage, the main contactor engaged and the DC-DC converter turned on. > After that, I could remove the cables because the DC-DC converter was > keeping the 12V system alive. > > I was pretty happy with my solution until I got back inside the car. The > process of killing and jumping the battery had reset my "fuel" gauge, but I > could tell from the voltage meter that I didn't have a full charge. In > fact, I could tell I had gotten very little charge. Unfortunately, I no > longer had range to make it back home. Luckily, my local mechanic was > within range, so I drove it there to charge overnight, in a nice, warm shop > and caught a ride home with a friend that happened to be picking up a car > there. > > It took me some time to realize what must have happened. My MiniBMS system > has a DC-powered Solid State Relay to disconnect the charger from the > incoming AC line if a cell is being overcharged. Because of this, my car > requires a solid 12V system (but not a lot of current) in order to keep > charging. When I left the lights on, my car only charged as long as the 12V > battery held up. Because the battery is very small (and kind of old), I > don't think it lasted very long with the headlight load. > > So, watch your 12V systems! It is quite possible you need that system to > recharge your EV! > > Mike > www.evalbum.com/2778 > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > Regards, Martin Winlow Herts, UK http://www.evalbum.com/2092 www.winlow.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20130108/97c391eb/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
