[Colonel Monk]

Howdy Guys

I'm getting one of these controllers and I was curious about any experience with them.

My objective is to limit current for maximum range. I'll be using flooded lead-acid cells and thanks to our dreaded friend Mr. Peukert I'd like to keep the overall load on the bank to a minimum.

I've looked at the screen shots in the manual of the programming software - there appears to be a slider to limit the % of overall current. Does anyone know the resolution of the slider? e.g. is it in 1% steps, 5% steps, etc...

I'd like to limit the current to the motor to about 50 amps for my project if possible.

Thanks...

PS: as I stated in another thread, this EV will be an art vehicle - think of it as a parade float. I need it to be slow and steady, with good range. Acceleration performance and top speed are something I don't want.

[Jimdear2]

Colonel Monk,

Call or email Alltrax tech support, they will answer your questions.

http://www.alltraxinc.com/index.html

[Duxuk]

I e mailed Alltrax to ask if the current limit was "absolute". They told me (promptly!) that the controller would only ever allow the current to stray above the set level by a small amount, momentarily. I think, from memory, that the percentage control is in small steps but I can't remember if it is 1% at a time. I have set my 300 amp controller to 60% or 180 amps. Haven't tried it up hill yet but it seems to accelerate OK. The manual which you can down load suggests that the ouput current will be to an accuracy of <10%

[Colonel Monk]

Hey There

I forgot to update the thread yesterday...

I called them in the morning but nobody was available at the time... So I made my second call to evdrives.com and spoke to someone about it. He confirmed that you could set it as low as 0%, but said that in his experience the controller is really flaky at values under 50%. Apparently the motor response becomes jerky in the lower ranges.

That would be well aligned with the comments you received from them - +/-10% if it happened rapidly could cause your vehicle to buck.

I guess I'll have to try it for myself. If it's not that annoying and improves the range then no problem. I really would like to limit the current to a hard stop of 75A or so for best range. Won't be tangling with many hills and I don't care how long it takes to accelerate.

He also said that the throttle profiles work pretty well and might be a much better way to accomplish my slow and steady requirements.

Thanks,

CM