[JRP3]

All is not lost. You can get a Sepex controller, Alltrax makes them, as do some others, so you can still use it to move the car around shows, plus you get regen The only problem is I don't think there are many high voltage Sepex controllers, though I could be wrong. Kelly may make some. I never considered the possibility that was a Sepex motor, I didn't think they made them that large for forklifts.
http://www.evdrives.com/alltrax_dcx_products.html

[toddshotrods]

Originally Posted by JRP3

All is not lost. You can get a Sepex controller, Alltrax makes them, as do some others, so you can still use it to move the car around shows...

That's where I am right now. Immediately, the biggest problem is I was already walking a tightrope to get the chassis together and rolling. I was doing pretty good with coming in on or under budget, and getting the parts here in a timely fashion. This may screw all that up though. It cost me a lot more than I had planned to get the chassis here yesterday, plus I still forgot some parts, and now this... I hate that I love cars so much!

I asked Jim about the possibility of having him convert this into a series motor when he does my race build. He said he is working on something similar right now, and to bug him for more details later. It sounds like there may be hope yet for my motor. From the email it's more about keeping the cost down, than an issue with actually converting it.

[JRP3]

I was thinking Jim might be able to rewind it. Since the Alltrax was going to be a temporary setup anyway you can probably sell it for what you paid for it, get another Sepex controller, probably for a little more, and run that till you're ready to go to race mode. Or sell the motor you have, keep the controller, and start again looking for a series wound motor.

[toddshotrods]

I'm leaning towards the sepex setup. I emailed Carl at EV Drives to see if he has a used DCX in stock. I'm also tempted to keep the AXE for the E-bike project we talked about. I have the forks, and now a controller; if I happen to find a decent deal on maybe an 8-inch series motor when I have the money, I'll have a good start on the bike.

[JRP3]

Do a search for "Alltrax" on Ebay and you'll see a bunch of Carl's Sepex controllers, plus some from other sellers. The Sepex ones even go up to 600 amps if you want to fork out some extra cash.

[toddshotrods]

Carl replied to my email with another hurdle. He said:

I am sorry to say that the DCX line of controller are built to a known motors. Each motor has a unique field map or the controller will overheat the motor or burn itself out from sourcing too much current. If you can find a graph for your motor I might be able to match it to an Alltrax existing map.

SO, now I have the challenge of trying to figure out what the field map for my motor is and matching it to a controller.

I am considering pushing myself to meet these new challenges, and taking advantage of the opportunity to push my vehicle a little further with a little higher tech setup than I had planned (regen, no trans, reverse with the motor, etc).

Just thinking it through. Anyone got any tips and suggestions on the field map issue?

[JRP3]

I wonder if one of the Kelly programmable sepex controllers would avoid that problem? More expensive of course. Also, apparently, sepex controllers don't automatically give you regen, it has to be a regen specific controller. I'll poke around and see what I can find about field mapping.

[toddshotrods]

The Curtis 1244 seems to offer a lot of programming control, including the field map. I haven't looked at the Kelly controllers yet.

[JRP3]

Yeah I looked at the Curtis but thought it might be too expensive, but maybe you can find a deal. Bonus is it goes to 84 volts, at least some of them do. The Sevcon does as well I think.

[toddshotrods]

It probably is; I'm just looking. I'll probably have to postpone my goal of having a driveable chassis next month, because this seems like it's going to cost more and take much more time to get sorted out. If that's the case, I figure I might as well push the controller further down on the list and shoot for a better one. Ideally, I'll go for a 600-650 amp/80-ish volt version.

I'm not going to lie, the wind has been let out of my sails right now. I am just trying to chart a way forward, for when my adrenaline starts flowing again. I made a few dumb mistakes by not doing enough research before ordering. I just assumed the motor was a series motor, and that it was the same as a Warp 11. I didn't think to ask more questions. Had I realized all this up front, and still made the decision to go forward with it, I would have been prepared for the hurdles.

I also found out today that the motor's output shaft, though very stout, is not the same pattern as a TH400 transmission's output shaft. That means I have some searching to do to find something with a spline pattern that matches it.

Topping it off, I drove seven hours (round-trip), spent four times what I had planned to, and still forgot some parts. You would think this is my first rodeo, but I have been doing this crap for decades now (custom vehicles, not EVs). Before I start spending again, I'll get my head together and make sure I don't repeat the same mistakes. I'll also find a way to turn the ones I made into something good.