[david85]

You went above and beyond with that steering box! Gotta love having access to a machine shop.

Its nice to see custom controllers like this comming to fruition. Does Darius plan to mass produce your model, or is it strictly a one-off?

[DIYguy]

Thanks David. Darius hand builds all his units. He will build one for anyone who wants to pay for it. He was planning the higher power model for a while...he just needed some daredevil to order one. lol

[DIYguy]

Looks like I will be picking up my batteries in about 2 weeks. They aren't my first choice or even my second...but I guess they will do for a first timer. I do like somethings about VRLA..... but the energy density really sucks.. Oh well, the truck can haul 'em.

I found these (see pics) from a large UPS application. They get cycled for 30 seconds - 4 times a year. There is still 5 years left on the warranty. They come with a load test. They are 140 Ah and weigh in at about 100 lbs ea. I will install 15 of them in my truck for a 180 volt pack... and buy a spare or two. If I buy 20, I can get them for $50 each. Anything less will cost me $55. It's not a big investment and ok for a start.

[DIYguy]

I was getting antsy so.... I just had to mount my heat sinks to something. It will be a better way to mount the controller too....
C'mon, I have to justify it somehow! lol

8" x 13" x 1/2" thick Al plate. Cuts like butter on my table saw with a carbide blade. Hard maple is harder to cut..

It's just a "test run" anyhow....need heat transfer paste and a few details. Waiting for mount hole dims from Darius.

[DIYguy]

Been chipping away at the engine (motor) bay. Cleaning and painting that frame is not a nice job. Wherever there isn't oily goop, there is rust. I managed to get some sections painted. Also installed that darn manual steering box finally. That was about the easies job of all. I left the cotter pin out of the pitman arm hex nut though... as the rubber boot has a tear in it. I hope I can buy a separate boot. This inner tie rod is about 4 ft. long. Anyone know?

[DIYguy]

I removed the tranny x-mbr also. It was very goopy... cleaned er up and give er a coat of lipstick.

I had to cut both bolts off at frame mounts. There is an inner sleeve inside the rubber bushing and u cant get to it to heat it or anything... unless u destroy the bushings... so, I just cut the bolts. Thats the easiest to replace.

[DIYguy]

Received a msg from Darius (Electrocraft) last evening. He has my circuit board stuffed and tested out ok. He wants me to bring my heat sink down this week so he can mount it all up. He did end up building the controller as discussed.. "up-side-down" if u will, the IGBT's and circuit board will be mounted directly to the Al plate attached directly to my heat sink. This should work real well. He was just waiting for the sheet metal which is in the S/M shop now. I guess the firmware will be next for what I want. I'll see if I can snap a pic or two when I go, . . . might be on Thursday... we'll see. (girls swimming competition this weekend.....

[PatricioIN]

This is all looking great.. What is your projected timeline for being able to start driving this sucker? You should find someone with a video camera to go with you on the first test drive!

[DIYguy]

Originally Posted by PatricioIN

This is all looking great.. What is your projected timeline for being able to start driving this sucker? You should find someone with a video camera to go with you on the first test drive!

Hey Pat, thanks man. It's nice to get some feedback here and there. You are always surfin and pumpin people up. When I started this thing, my goal was to be able to drive it in the "spring". I don't have any more specific goal than that. (I have three kids, two girls in competitive swimming and boy in rep hockey.)
I will say that the refurb of the truck is more time consuming than the conversion though. I just don't want to finish the conversion in a very short period of time and have a crappy looking ride. I like to open the hood and feel good about what's in there..rusty frame looks like crap.... not to mention that I know the state of all components from brakes to gear box's and differentials, wheel bearings etc. It's fine to tear through a job, but what do you have at the end of it. I do have a video camera, so shouldn't be a problem to get some clips.

[DIYguy]

So, I visited Darius last week and took down my heat sink/fan unit. He will mount it for me since it will be screwed from inside the controller. Board looks nice..

We had a discussion about voltage capability. Darius told me that the IGBT's are rated at 600 volts. He says that it's needed to protect for spikes and that a high voltage spike can peirce one of these little puppies in a nano-second. He was very comfortable though, with the application of this controller up to 250 volts and said that it would likely handle 300 volts without any problem. (This is an example of the marketing I spoke of before). Interesting. I think that the controller I ordered would be called a 1000 amp/300 volt unit if made and marketed by some other firms.... just an opinion... but, probably not far off.