> From: Rick Beebe via EV <[email protected]> > > Also check out Jehu's travails with it on http://www.electricsamba.com/
Interesting. Jehu admits that he didn't have much experience with electronics at the time. (I could tell all the parts apart that he claims could not be told apart.) He also admitted he abused it, by pushing too much current through a connector, causing it to melt. Finally, the video is sponsored by someone who sells other chargers. Then, the president of the company drove to Jehu's place and hand-delivered a brand-new charger, after Jehu had arguably ruined two others! Then, he took off on a long trip, knowing he was having trouble with the charger's cooling fans, and admitted his troubleshooting skills were lacking, limited to "shotgun" random replacement of components. I'd say he was treated pretty good, considering the circumstances! "We need a supercharger, and this is it," Jehu admits, "The main problem is keeping everything cool," which he apparently didn't do, on several occasions. I heartily agree that, unless one is sure of one's electronics assembly expertise, one should not take on a project of this magnitude! Or at least get hold of an old Griefkit manual, so one can learn the difference between a resistor and a capacitor. I think the OP (Jay) sounds like he has some electronics experience. I'd dissuade anyone from "going kit" based on money savings alone -- it's not likely to be such a bargain in the long run. But like Jehu, I'm totally turned off by the proprietary nature of most EV chargers. I've talked to several manufacturers about adapting their charger to SAFT NiCd batteries, and have gotten answers that ranged from "Huh?" to "Why would you want to do that? Just buy batteries WE support!" to "You'll have to buy the charger from one of our retailers, then send it in to the factory with a cheque for $500, and then our engineers will develop a custom charging profile for your battery, and you'll have it back 180 days." NO ONE is willing to give me access to re-programming their charger myself! To summarize, YOU SHOULD NOT BUILD A 12,000 WATT ANYTHING UNLESS YOU ARE AN EE OR HAVE ACCESS TO AN EE! These are life-threatening power levels! And when a component is rated 50 amps, DON'T PUSH 70 THROUGH IT! And if your fans aren't working right, DON'T HEAD OFF ON A 300 MILE TRIP! One last thing: if you aren't absolutely confident of your electronics skills, start with something simpler. Perhaps you can find an un-assembeled Heathkit from eBay. Work your way up to a 400-watt audio power amplifier -- those things are scary enough -- before tackling anything in the multi-kilowatt range. That said, I'm planning on getting an EMW open-source charger. But I'm an EE. :::: You know what? What makes our economy grow is energy. And Americans are used to going to the gas tank (sic), and when they put that hose in their, uh, tank, and when I do it, I wanna get gas out of it. And when I turn the light switch on, I want the lights to go on, and I don't want somebody to tell me I gotta change my way of living to satisfy them. Because this is America, and this is something we've worked our way into, and the American people are entitled to it, and if we're going improve (sic) our standard of living, you have to consume more energy. -- Chuck Grassley :::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality Co-op :::: _______________________________________________ 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)
