Re: [EVDL] On the Road Again

2017-09-12 Thread Pestka Dennis via EV 
Damon;


Glad to hear another old Datsun truck is on the road.

I'm having a ball driving mine since the Lithium conversion.

Dennis
1965 Datsun L320


From: EV <ev-boun...@lists.evdl.org> on behalf of damon henry via EV 
<ev@lists.evdl.org>
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 11:32 AM
To: EV List
Cc: damon henry
Subject: [EVDL] On the Road Again

Yesterday was my birthday and for my birthday present this year I decided to 
complete my lithium conversion on my 1970 Datsun Truck http://evalbum.com/1524 
and start driving it again.  I finished up a couple of days ahead of schedule.  
The truck has been sitting waiting for new batteries for the last 3 or 4 years 
now.  I have not been EVless in the mean time as I have been riding my 
motorcycle about 1000 miles a year during the summer, but it is great to get my 
truck back to keep me dry during the rainy NW winters.  I picked up 4 Chevy 
Volt (48 volt) modules which are now my new traction pack and included a new 
DC/DC in the upgrade.  I also  took care of some brake and clutch issues that 
cropped up during the downtime.  For charging I special ordered some 6 amp 
Constant Current chargers set to cutoff at 49.8 volts from China, one for each 
module.  I still have my 50 amp Anderson connectors in place which I can use 
with any appropriate 96 volt charger as well.
[http://www.evalbum.com/imgm.php?n=1524a.jpg=250=140]<http://evalbum.com/1524>

Damon Henry's 1970 Datsun PU 520 - evalbum.com<http://evalbum.com/1524>
evalbum.com
Seating Capacity: 3: Curb Weight: 2,550 Pounds (1,159 Kilograms) Additional 
Features: I originally built this with an Alltrax 7245 72 volt 450 amp 
controller.




I was so happy when I plugged in the new pack for the first time and the Zilla 
woke up and spun the motor just fine.  Also, my cooling fan for the motor and 
water pump for the Zilla cooling both kicked in and ran as desired once the 
motor warmed up.  I was able to drive the truck to work and show it off for the 
first time Friday, which was fun.  I started a new job last November for a 
company that does control systems for paper mills, so I am surrounded by 
engineers who really enjoyed the show and tell.

I considered getting rid of the truck a couple of years ago and just buying a 
used Leaf, but in the end, I decided I will always like my truck more than I 
ever would a Leaf.  It took a couple of years of patience until I felt it was 
the right time to tackle this project again, but I am very happy with the 
results :)

I do not plan on ever doing another conversion project however.  My truck and 
motorcycle may get upgrades and continue to live on, but any future EVs will be 
factory made.  It's great to finally have that option.

Damon
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Re: [EVDL] On the Road Again

2017-09-12 Thread Pestka Dennis via EV 
Damon;


Glad to hear another old Datsun truck is on the road.

I'm having a ball driving mine since the Lithium conversion.

Dennis
1965 Datsun L320


From: EV <ev-boun...@lists.evdl.org> on behalf of damon henry via EV 
<ev@lists.evdl.org>
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 11:32 AM
To: EV List
Cc: damon henry
Subject: [EVDL] On the Road Again

Yesterday was my birthday and for my birthday present this year I decided to 
complete my lithium conversion on my 1970 Datsun Truck http://evalbum.com/1524 
and start driving it again.  I finished up a couple of days ahead of schedule.  
The truck has been sitting waiting for new batteries for the last 3 or 4 years 
now.  I have not been EVless in the mean time as I have been riding my 
motorcycle about 1000 miles a year during the summer, but it is great to get my 
truck back to keep me dry during the rainy NW winters.  I picked up 4 Chevy 
Volt (48 volt) modules which are now my new traction pack and included a new 
DC/DC in the upgrade.  I also  took care of some brake and clutch issues that 
cropped up during the downtime.  For charging I special ordered some 6 amp 
Constant Current chargers set to cutoff at 49.8 volts from China, one for each 
module.  I still have my 50 amp Anderson connectors in place which I can use 
with any appropriate 96 volt charger as well.
[http://www.evalbum.com/imgm.php?n=1524a.jpg=250=140]<http://evalbum.com/1524>

Damon Henry's 1970 Datsun PU 520 - evalbum.com<http://evalbum.com/1524>
evalbum.com
Seating Capacity: 3: Curb Weight: 2,550 Pounds (1,159 Kilograms) Additional 
Features: I originally built this with an Alltrax 7245 72 volt 450 amp 
controller.




I was so happy when I plugged in the new pack for the first time and the Zilla 
woke up and spun the motor just fine.  Also, my cooling fan for the motor and 
water pump for the Zilla cooling both kicked in and ran as desired once the 
motor warmed up.  I was able to drive the truck to work and show it off for the 
first time Friday, which was fun.  I started a new job last November for a 
company that does control systems for paper mills, so I am surrounded by 
engineers who really enjoyed the show and tell.

I considered getting rid of the truck a couple of years ago and just buying a 
used Leaf, but in the end, I decided I will always like my truck more than I 
ever would a Leaf.  It took a couple of years of patience until I felt it was 
the right time to tackle this project again, but I am very happy with the 
results :)

I do not plan on ever doing another conversion project however.  My truck and 
motorcycle may get upgrades and continue to live on, but any future EVs will be 
factory made.  It's great to finally have that option.

Damon
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EV as a ...



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Re: [EVDL] On the Road Again

2017-09-11 Thread Alan Arrison via EV 
Congrats Damon, I hope to do the same with my first (lead sled) 
conversion, a VW Rabbit pickup.


Al


On 9/11/2017 12:32 PM, damon henry via EV wrote:

Yesterday was my birthday and for my birthday present this year I decided to 
complete my lithium conversion on my 1970 Datsun Truck http://evalbum.com/1524 
and start driving it again.  I finished up a couple of days ahead of schedule.  
The truck has been sitting waiting for new batteries for the last 3 or 4 years 
now.


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[EVDL] On the Road Again

2017-09-11 Thread damon henry via EV 
Yesterday was my birthday and for my birthday present this year I decided to 
complete my lithium conversion on my 1970 Datsun Truck http://evalbum.com/1524 
and start driving it again.  I finished up a couple of days ahead of schedule.  
The truck has been sitting waiting for new batteries for the last 3 or 4 years 
now.  I have not been EVless in the mean time as I have been riding my 
motorcycle about 1000 miles a year during the summer, but it is great to get my 
truck back to keep me dry during the rainy NW winters.  I picked up 4 Chevy 
Volt (48 volt) modules which are now my new traction pack and included a new 
DC/DC in the upgrade.  I also  took care of some brake and clutch issues that 
cropped up during the downtime.  For charging I special ordered some 6 amp 
Constant Current chargers set to cutoff at 49.8 volts from China, one for each 
module.  I still have my 50 amp Anderson connectors in place which I can use 
with any appropriate 96 volt charger as well.

I was so happy when I plugged in the new pack for the first time and the Zilla 
woke up and spun the motor just fine.  Also, my cooling fan for the motor and 
water pump for the Zilla cooling both kicked in and ran as desired once the 
motor warmed up.  I was able to drive the truck to work and show it off for the 
first time Friday, which was fun.  I started a new job last November for a 
company that does control systems for paper mills, so I am surrounded by 
engineers who really enjoyed the show and tell.

I considered getting rid of the truck a couple of years ago and just buying a 
used Leaf, but in the end, I decided I will always like my truck more than I 
ever would a Leaf.  It took a couple of years of patience until I felt it was 
the right time to tackle this project again, but I am very happy with the 
results :)

I do not plan on ever doing another conversion project however.  My truck and 
motorcycle may get upgrades and continue to live on, but any future EVs will be 
factory made.  It's great to finally have that option.

Damon
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[EVDL] On the road again.

2015-05-27 Thread damon henry via EV 
After 5 years under the tarp, I put my EV motorcycle back on the road this 
week.  http://evalbum.com/preview.php?vid=497  It's been great fun and I am 
looking forward to a summer of riding.  Both my EV's have been in needing new 
batteries mode for a while now.  My truck http://evalbum.com/1524 is what I 
would really like to see going again, but the old Nicads just don't give me 
enough range anymore to make it worth the cost of keeping it on the road.  
After years of using just about every battery available and understanding the 
pro's and con's of all the different flavors, I am excited to finally be part 
of the lithium crowd.  I purchased 16 Calb CA60ah cells which fit well in my 
existing battery boxes.  These have been sitting on a shelf in a warehouse for 
about 18 months, but they seem to be waking up quite nicely and charging and 
discharging very evenly across the pack.   I do not have any BMS installed, but 
on such a small pack with good access it is easy to be my own BMS
 .   The back battery box I can easily pop the lid off and measure individual 
cells with my DVM.  The front box is packed in a much tighter space and has to 
be slid out to get the top off so I have individual test leads run out of the 
box to do the measuring.  To balance the cells I can charge in series until one 
of the cells reaches my top voltage level then individually bring all the other 
cells up with a hobby charger.  I don't expect to need to do much balancing 
however.  I also don't plan to fully charge or discharge the battery on a 
regular basis.  I plan on charging the cells up to the 3.4 - 3.45 range.  Most 
of my rides are in the 10 mile or less range so with a projected range of 
around 25 miles I'm usually not even dropping below 50% SOC, although I reserve 
the right to go further if I feel like it :)
BTW - I purchased my Calb cells through Don Blazer (theoldcars at aol.com) who 
I know shows up on the list once in a while to offer them to anyone interested. 
 He is local to me which made it convenient, but his pricing, knowledge, and 
integrity are all top notch.  He has a fleet of business vehicles that he uses 
them in for himself and offers them to others at a very good price.  So if you 
are in the market for some new lithium cells he is definitely worth reaching 
out to. 
damon
  
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Re: [EVDL] On the road again.

2015-05-27 Thread EVDL Administrator via EV 
On 27 May 2015 at 9:23, damon henry via EV wrote:

 After 5 years under the tarp, I put my EV motorcycle back on the road this
 week.  

You must have been awfully bored, living under that tarp for all those 
years! ;-)

 I purchased 16 Calb CA60ah cells which fit well in my existing battery
 boxes.  

So if my math is right, ~3.4 kWh.  That's the equivalent of about four T-125 
golf car batteries (useful capacity 900Wh each).  I'm thinking this is going 
to be a short-range truck, and probably short-lived batteries from working 
so hard.

 I do not have any BMS installed, but on such a small pack with good
 access it is easy to be my own BMS 

As long as you don't get busy with something else and forget.  I know of a 
guy around here who destroyed an entire set of rare and expensive Saft STM5-
180 NiCd batteries when he forgot he was charging them.

I wouldn't even do an E-bike lithium battery without a BMS.  But that's me, 
and I know how forgetful I can be!

David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
EVDL Administrator

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EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/
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Re: [EVDL] On the road again.

2015-05-27 Thread Willie2 via EV 

On 05/27/2015 02:52 PM, EVDL Administrator via EV wrote:

I wouldn't even do an E-bike lithium battery without a BMS.  But that's me,
and I know how forgetful I can be!


I met this guy the other day:
http://evalbum.com/4939

Personally, I'd rather have a BMS than not.  OTHO, they have been a 
tremendous source of trouble for me.


The above bike has a fractional Leaf pack.  The guy charges to a certain 
voltage which should insure individual cell voltages in the proper 
range.  IF they are balanced.  The guy has easy access to cell voltages 
and checks regularly after charges.  He has only a few cycles on it but, 
so far, so good.



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Re: [EVDL] On the road again.

2015-05-27 Thread Cor van de Water via EV 
Hi David,
I don't know if Damon liked his tarp,
but I believe it was his motorcycle that was living there and is now set free 
with a new pack.
It is not his other EV, the truck - which still had an old flooded NiCd pack - 
but this
motorcycle with a small pack and indeed, it has limited rage, but apparently 
enough for Damon.

Hope this clarifies,

Cor van de Water
Chief Scientist
Proxim Wireless Corporation http://www.proxim.com
Email: cwa...@proxim.comPrivate: http://www.cvandewater.info
Skype: cor_van_de_water XoIP: +31877841130
Tel: +1 408 383 7626Tel: +91 (040)23117400 x203



-Original Message-
From: EV on behalf of EVDL Administrator via EV
Sent: Wed 5/27/2015 12:52 PM
To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List
Subject: Re: [EVDL] On the road again.
 
On 27 May 2015 at 9:23, damon henry via EV wrote:

 After 5 years under the tarp, I put my EV motorcycle back on the road this
 week.  

You must have been awfully bored, living under that tarp for all those 
years! ;-)

 I purchased 16 Calb CA60ah cells which fit well in my existing battery
 boxes.  

So if my math is right, ~3.4 kWh.  That's the equivalent of about four T-125 
golf car batteries (useful capacity 900Wh each).  I'm thinking this is going 
to be a short-range truck, and probably short-lived batteries from working 
so hard.

 I do not have any BMS installed, but on such a small pack with good
 access it is easy to be my own BMS 

As long as you don't get busy with something else and forget.  I know of a 
guy around here who destroyed an entire set of rare and expensive Saft STM5-
180 NiCd batteries when he forgot he was charging them.

I wouldn't even do an E-bike lithium battery without a BMS.  But that's me, 
and I know how forgetful I can be!

David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
EVDL Administrator

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 
Note: mail sent to evpost and etpost addresses will not 
reach me.  To send a private message, please obtain my 
email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ .
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =


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[EVDL] On the road again with my new Zilla

2013-06-25 Thread damon henry 
After my Logisystems controller finally let out the magic smoke I was able to 
purchase a slightly used Zilla 1k at a good price and now have it installed and 
my truck back on the road. http://evalbum.com/1524
It's been a couple of years since I have been able to drive my truck and it is 
fun to get the EV grin back.  My Nicads are getting a bit long in the tooth 
though and I am hopeful I will have the funds to move to lithium before winter 
sets in.
Here are a couple of things I learned about my Zilla along the way.  First, the 
14+ volt SLI input has a Zener Diode tied across it to act as a crowbar circuit 
for protection against over voltage.  The very first thing I did was try to 
configure my hairball on the bench.  I checked all my 12 volt batteries that 
were handy and they all were long since dead, so I reached over for my 
Superbrain 989 charger which has a power supply mode and dialed in 12 volts and 
1 amp and brought the hairball to life... for a few seconds.  Apparently the 
charger doesn't mind significantly overshooting the dialed in voltage, perhaps 
it was trying to force 1 amp when I thought 1 amp was a limit.  That's when I 
learned about the zener diode.  I don't believe early hairballs had this 
protection so if you have a real old one it might not.  It took a couple of 
weeks to recover from that.   First there were shipping problems with the 
replacement diode, then I had to wait a while for a competent solderi
 ng expert to become available.  I had a friend (John Wayland) lined up who is 
very good at soldering and my own skills are only so/so which made the extra 
few days worth the wait for me.
After that was taken care of I was ready to install the Zilla.  I towed my 
truck to Johns house for the soldering and configuration which went smoothly.  
I already had everything mounted and all the wires ran and in place, but I had 
not plugged anything in yet as this was my first Zilla install and John has 
done many, so I wanted him there before I applied voltage to anything this time.
We ran into one glitch.  There are 3 SLI inputs total.  One is for power always 
on, one for the run position on the ignition and one for the start position on 
the ignition.  The Zilla mimics the startup of an ICE in that it wants you to 
blip to the start position on your ignition which initiates the pre-charge 
sequence and tests for any anomalies before engaging the main contactor for 
you.  When the key returns to the run position the Zilla keeps the vehicle on 
by keeping the main contactor engage unless it finds a fault which requires it 
to drop the main contactor.  When you turn the key off the Zilla drops out the 
main contactor but still has 12 volts available through the SLI 14+ input.
When we blipped on the start position the main contactor would not pull in.  It 
took us a bit of time to troubleshoot this, but we found that the wire I had 
used for the run position on the switch was actually the 12 volt accessories 
line which blips off anytime the start position is engaged on the ignition 
switch.  This was causing a fault in the starup sequence although not logging a 
error code.  We were able to spot it by watching the DAQ4 data stream with 
Otmar on the phone guiding us (another good reason to have JW handy, he's got a 
direct line to Otmar).  We looked all under the hood of the truck and could not 
find a true ignition line, so we temporarily tied the run and start lines 
together which allowed the truck to start up and run and I towed it back home 
where I ran a new line directly off the ignition switch to under the hood where 
I needed it.
The one other interesting note about my install that I would like to add has to 
do with the water cooling.  First, let me state that I do not believe I need 
liquid cooling in my implementation right now.  I have a fairly light 
conversion with very limited range and from what I can tell the Zilla air 
cooling is easily sufficient for my present needs, but I wanted to add liquid 
cooling anyhow because I know in the future my needs may change, plus I want 
this Zilla to last a long time, and when it comes to electronics cooler often 
equals better longevity.  I took John's advice for a cooling system which I 
could not be more happy with.  I bring this up because I have seen this issue 
hotly debated in the past and I really had no opinion until after I did my own 
install and saw how well it worked.  My cooling system includes two low cost 
Harbor Freight items, a bit of plastic tubing and a plastic container that was 
headed for the recycling bin.  The Harbor Freight items are the key
  and work incredibly well together.  The first is a fountain pump and the 
second a low cost inverter.  I already have a cooling circuit in place with a 
thermistor mounted inside my motor which turns on my forced air cooling to my 
motor when it starts to warm up, so I used this same switch to turn on the 
water circulation to my Zilla.   It is completely