Hello Bob,
That one thing I don't have to do is to craw under the dash. I use to work for
the Boeing Company back in the 60's on the electrical control systems. I
gutted the EV of all the wiring, switches and indicators. Remove the entire
interior, dash panel, and console.
Made a new dash where the dash plates holding each indicator, can be remove
separately by removing four front facing screws, or the whole dash plate can be
hinge down accessing the back of all the components.
If you ever see the dash panel of a F-15 or F-16 jet, you will see rolls of
square indicators that light up when a circuit is activated. It will indicated
the power at any point in the circuit.
Example of turning on the control power in my EV which are all lighted heavy
duty rocker switches:
1. Start switch ON - Panel indicator lights up saying DC POWER
a. Precharge indicator LED comes on
2. Ignition switch ON - Panel indicator lights up saying IGNITION
a. A 12 volt meter indicates the voltage
b. A 12 volt amp meter indicates the amperage
There is wires tap off at every control junction in the circuit. If I get a
GREEN indicator lights all through from the beginning of the circuit to the end
of the
circuit, then I know that the circuit is good.
If the indicator lights are only on to one junction point, than I know, that I
did not turn on that device or that device may not be working.
I also run backup circuits, to shunt a device that may not be working. This is
normally done on the START, IGNITION and BATTERY CONTACTORS.
Only one time, in thirty years that I had to use the back up Contactor
circuits. I driving up a steep hill, came to a stop at a light and the
contactor drop out. Look down on the INDICTOR CONSOLE PANEL and press the back
up circuit and the way I went.
It is normal for some aircraft to have up to 3 backup switches and 3 backup
circuit breakers.
The control switches are a block of 54 switches that must be put in a select
order or the vehicle will not stop. Works good as a security cypher systems.
I have alarms switches mix in the switch panel. If someone pushes the wrong
switch it may eject them out of the vehicle.
Roland
----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Bruninga via EV<mailto:[email protected]>
To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List<mailto:[email protected]>
Cc: Bob Bruninga<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2016 8:36 PM
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Lead Acid charging...
Old Honda Civic EV conversion troubles (after 2 years of abandonment).
1) PbAcid batteries are stll hissing 8 hours after the first charge in a
year was removed? All ten batteries were between 13.5 and 14.5 under charge
when I stopped for the night at 6 amps. Some hissing was still there in
the morning.
2) Darned Brake ligths are on all the time. I assume it is a switch on the
brake pedal and not a pressure switch somewhere...
3) I have no schematic. Controller is a brick the size of a shoebox and no
label. 3 terminals plus a 2 wire accellerator pot and a microswitch. But
it appears the HV contactor has a pre-charge resistor across the open
contacts. Measures 1k ohms. And there is about half the pack voltaqe
across that resistor . But 60v across 1k is 60 mA and that should be 3.6
watts... Hummh, ill remember to touch it next time to verify it is hot.
But should the controller be drawing that much with accellerator off and
main contactor open (except for precharge resistor).
I just realized that if that is the drain, no wonder the batteries were
always dead. I guess that 500 amp circuit breaker by the driver seat is
really more of an ON/OFF switch than an emergency kill switch. I should
have been turning it off when not in use.
And of course, when I move the accelerator pot, nothing happens.
I know how to troubleshoot these things, but it is easier to sit here and
type about them than to contort myself under the console for the brake
light problem and try to troublehoot in the driveway at night...
Bob, WB4APR
On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 2:55 PM, Roland <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello Bob,
>
> As the battery discharges, the electrolyte level will drop which is
> normal. Do not add distill water in a discharge battery. When you charge
> the battery, the electrolyte level will rise.
>
> If the electrolyte is below the plates, then add just enough water to get
> to the top of the plates. If you add more water in a discharge state, then
> you may be changing the specific gravity to a lower reading when full
> charge.
>
> Back in the 50's. I work in a military battery shop. The specific gravity
> of theses type of batteries was at 1.300 sg at full charge at a voltage of
> 13.34 volts after rest.
>
> Today, the specific gravity is normally set at 1.275 sg for deep cell
> batteries and 1.265 sg for a starter battery. The reason they use a lower
> specific gravity is that the acid is not so hard on the pasted plates
> making a longer life.
>
> After charging your batteries to 1.275 sg, then finish adding the distill
> water to the bottom of the fill tube. You will note that the fill tubes
> have a split cut in them. Do not fill above the split fill tube. The
> reason for the splits tubes is this allows for the electrolyte vapor to
> flow back down into the cells.
>
> If you cannot get your batteries to 1.275 sg, then what happens over time,
> when a person adds too much water, the specific gravity becomes lower. It
> is possible to rebalance the electrolyte by adding sulfuric acid that has a
> specific gravity of 1.800 sg. The method to do this, is to pull out a
> ounce electrolyte and add the 1.800 acid.
>
> Then try charging it to see if the electrolyte specific gravity will
> rise. Check the electrolyte specific gravity and repeat this process until
> you are satisfied.
>
> If you have a commercial battery shop, then you can take the batteries to
> them and have them do a analyzing test on them. Normally gulf cart
> shops have all the equipment and supplies to do this job.
>
> Roland
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Robert Bruninga via EV <[email protected]>
> *To:* Electric Vehicle Discussion List <[email protected]>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 07, 2016 8:21 AM
> *Subject:* [EVDL] Lead Acid charging...
>
> Finally, Back to Lead acid and a FOUR WIRE EV! (Something I can
> maintain)!
> (4 wires, means 2 from the battery, and 2 to the motor and a controller in
> the middle. Done)...
>
> I have given up on modern EV's (two THINKs) who are BRICKS because the
> computer in them thinks something is wrong and they want to "call home"
> but there is no "home to call" (they are out of business). And I HATE
> trying to hack an unknown embedded CPU... I prefer turning wrenches and
> pots....
>
> Anyway, I pulled my old converted Honda Civic (ten Lead Acid) out of the
> weeds last night and of course, having been sitting for at least two
> years, the batteries were dead and would not take a charge form the
> installed charger. SO I moved through each one with a small parallel 12v
> battery and a normal 12v charger. The battery helped convince the
> portable 12v charger that there was a working battery until the charge got
> started, then I could move on to the next battery.
>
> Now they are all hissing and bubbling away. And after maybe 12 hours (on
> and off, since I only charge while I am nearby and can monitor them),
> anyway now, the charge is finally beginning to taper from the original
> 9.2A down to about 7A. Then I had to come to work. Maybe this evening
> they will reach full charge and the charge will further taper.
>
> All the cells had water over the plates, some higher than others, so I now
> have them all topped off.
>
> I know that long-term sulfation is a problem. But these batteries were
> close to charged when they were abandoned more than a year ago. So they
> did not start their long abandonment discharged, but did so over time.
>
> So any opinions on recovery?
>
> Bob
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