[rwaudio]

Originally Posted by ricklearned

I may ask rwaudio to chime in about the concerns some of you have expressed.

I have some long term results with the use of a celllog 8 monitoring 4 cells in my 12v battery that I was using to power my PL6's and there was no detectable drift or imbalance when using ONLY the first 4 cell inputs.

Others have documented that there is a difference between 1-6 and 7, 8 along with the modification that lets 7 & 8 share the load. I have not yet implemented the modification on my Cell Logs, but I would recommend it based on feedback from other members of this forum. (I WILL be doing the modification to my cell logs)

The good thing about the cell logs is that they will make you aware of any issues that are caused by the cell logs themselves if/when the cells did drift far enough for some cells to be over/under voltage depending on how you use the alarms.

Even with modified cell logs and the use of my Cell Log 8 Breakout Module which "turns off" the cell logs. If the car is going to be stored for a long period of time (6 months+) I would recommend pulling the cell logs from the Breakout Module as an extra level of safety. Along with disconnecting any dc/dc converters or other loads that could drain the pack. The cell logs would present a very small (in the microamp range) load on cells 2-8 (cell 1 being electrically disconnected by the turn off method I have implemented).

[MN Driver]

Originally Posted by ricklearned

Yes that is what I was trying to do. I have four 12 ahr alarm batteries in parallel. I don't care as much about charging at that rate as I do about discharging. I will try your trick of doing it in the PL8. Thanks.

Hey, speaking of discharging, did you see Simon's video of the 1000 amp discharge test of a CALB200 on EVTV? Wow, that is some way to cook a hot dog!

It was a CALB 180Ah CA series and the amperage was a bit higher at times! Behold the glowing wrench!

If there was anything that changed my mind about going to the CA series, it's that video!

[ricklearned]

Originally Posted by MN Driver

It was a CALB 180Ah CA series and the amperage was a bit higher at times! ........
If there was anything that changed my mind about going to the CA series, it's that video!

That is over 10C. I am sure I am not going to get that from my Winstons. I have Headways on my bicycle and they are supposed to give you that kind of burst.

[ricklearned]

Originally Posted by rwaudio

I have some long term results with the use of a celllog 8 monitoring 4 cells in my 12v battery that I was using to power my PL6's and there was no detectable drift or imbalance when using ONLY the first 4 cell inputs.

Others have documented that there is a difference between 1-6 and 7, 8 along with the modification that lets 7 & 8 share the load. I have not yet implemented the modification on my Cell Logs, but I would recommend it based on feedback from other members of this forum. (I WILL be doing the modification to my cell logs)

The good thing about the cell logs is that they will make you aware of any issues that are caused by the cell logs themselves if/when the cells did drift far enough for some cells to be over/under voltage depending on how you use the alarms.

Even with modified cell logs and the use of my Cell Log 8 Breakout Module which "turns off" the cell logs. If the car is going to be stored for a long period of time (6 months+) I would recommend pulling the cell logs from the Breakout Module as an extra level of safety. Along with disconnecting any dc/dc converters or other loads that could drain the pack. The cell logs would present a very small (in the microamp range) load on cells 2-8 (cell 1 being electrically disconnected by the turn off method I have implemented).

Thanks for the insight. I love my Breakout Module. I especially like knowing what each cell is doing while I am charging and discharging. (OK, Officer, it is not texting and I only look at it when stopped.) Only one BMS can deliver that kind of real time information and all the proponents of bottom balancing don't get that kind of data either. Thanks for giving me that choice and making your Breakout Module available for guys like me.

[ricklearned]

I thought I would post a few pictures of my motor and controller installation. I originally used a breadboard approach and had the controller mounted on plywood so I could move things around easily. Once I got it going I knew I should have a better heat sink. I mounted a 3/16" piece of aluminum on the firewall made some hinges and connected them to a 1/2" piece of aluminum that you see the controller mounted to. As I gather data about how hot the controller gets I can add a fan, then finned heat sink material and if that doesn't work I can go liquid cooling. Unlike Miz, who lives in the desert I live in a little beach town in California where we get a nice cool breeze off the ocean. I don't have the range to venture inland where it gets really hot.

At the top of the photo on the right you can see I have Bondo'd the standard VW vents and eventually I am going to get a fiberglass apron, deck and fenders. I am going for the California look with a retro spin. The deck will have a frenched license plate indentation and I am going to use LEDs to light the plate. I have ordered the Watson Streetworks third brake light and plan on using LEDs for stop, tail and turn indicators. I am looking at some cool '39 Ford teardrop lights.

[onegreenev]

Originally Posted by gary k

I just finished a 1957 bug and it came out great. See www.ZWheelz.com for details. 32kWh lithium pack, 40kW BLDC drive, 12kW charger. Mounting speakers for new stereo system now.

Very nice build.

[onegreenev]

Originally Posted by ricklearned

I thought I would post a few pictures of my motor and controller installation. I originally used a breadboard approach and had the controller mounted on plywood so I could move things around easily. Once I got it going I knew I should have a better heat sink. I mounted a 3/16" piece of aluminum on the firewall made some hinges and connected them to a 1/2" piece of aluminum that you see the controller mounted to. As I gather data about how hot the controller gets I can add a fan, then finned heat sink material and if that doesn't work I can go liquid cooling. Unlike Miz, who lives in the desert I live in a little beach town in California where we get a nice cool breeze off the ocean. I don't have the range to venture inland where it gets really hot.

At the top of the photo on the right you can see I have Bondo'd the standard VW vents and eventually I am going to get a fiberglass apron, deck and fenders. I am going for the California look with a retro spin. The deck will have a frenched license plate indentation and I am going to use LEDs to light the plate. I have ordered the Watson Streetworks third brake light and plan on using LEDs for stop, tail and turn indicators. I am looking at some cool '39 Ford teardrop lights.

I'd do liquid cooling for that controller.

[ricklearned]

I have ordered the Unique dash from Glass Action. In a few months I am going to order an apron, a deck and rear fenders. Here is a photo of the dash. It comes blank and I think I will have room for all the gauges, a 7" tablet display, a radio and possibly a GPS. I have an old radio, an old tablet and 5 year old Garmin GPS which should get me started. I think I mentioned that I also have a Speedhut tach and Speedometer ordered and they should arrive around the same time as the dash.

I am still undecided about the consol shown in the picture. I do have some digital gauges, that might fit down there. ( JLD 404 and voltmeters for the 12v and 96v systems.)

[ricklearned]

Originally Posted by onegreenev

I'd do liquid cooling for that controller.

If I were living in Chico, the midwest or the desert I would do liquid cooling too. I already have a form of liguid cooling. It is called the Pacific Ocean and every day a nice sea breeze picks up like clockwork and keeps the temperature nice and pleasant. With my limited range I can't and won't venture too far inland. It got up to to 72F in Hermosa Beach today vs 99F in Redding, while Miz was enjoying a cool 91F in Phoenix. He is doing some experiments because he thinks he doesn't always need to circulate coolant to his Curtis. He may get some benefits from convection without having to turn on his pump.

As I have said before, it is simply a matter of priorities based on my circumstances. I would rather put some money into instruments while I figure out my cooling needs. My half inch aluminum heat sink has got to be absorbing some of the heat from the Curtis. In the meantime I will be monitoring my controller temperature while squinting at my Curtis 840 display. It will be nice to have some guages that I can see.

Speedhut makes a nice dual gauge temperature/ fuel gauge that may also fit on my dash. Otherwise I can get separate 2" guages. The nice thing about Speedhut is, for a price, I can customize the gauges. I could put Controller on the temp gauge and SOC or something appropriate for the fuel gauge.

Tomorrow I hope to put my turn signals and stop lights back on and take the car for a spin.

[Ziggythewiz]

How much does that console run?