2012 Chevy Volt Battery:

329893 Views 663 Replies 95 Participants Last post by remy_martian, Dec 4, 2021

McRat

Discussion Starter · Feb 4, 2014

3

Paid $2000 + $150 shipping from a junkyard.
It is a work of art. I'll be sad to tear it apart for the cells, but that's life.
I'm getting 373 vdc for the battery, and 3.88 vdc per cell.

IF there are 288 cells. Already things aren't making sense. I count 72 modules about 1" thick.

Video: http://youtu.be/X8J-zfBnSEQ

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621 - 640 of 664 Posts

inwo

· #621 · Oct 1, 2019

4

I use cheap Chinese bms up to 32s. After that I've been using a super cheap 7s cascadable "bms?" to monitor with bluetooth. I have that on my Miles truck using 8pcs on 40s LTO. 2 boards for every 10s module.
Up to 24s I often forgo bms and use 24s active balancers. They can also be cascaded by overlap. Boards are available that were custom made for a boat builder. Connects 3 x 12s = 36s Volt to 3 active balance boards.

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WattsUpDoc

· #622 · Oct 1, 2019

Duncan said:
The biggest problem is that 96v may not be enough for highway speed!

I started with 144v - 44S with my Headway cells worked fine top speed above 110 kph and felt good

Good point! Were you running a single speed, or with a transmission? I'm planning on keeping a 5 speed manual in this setup.

I've been trying to find the motor constant (Kv) and resistance specs on the Netgain motor that would let me model maximum speed vs pack voltage under varying load, but haven't come across them. Trying to estimate that from their power performance charts, I see them running up to 7200RPM on a 120V supply, but torque starts dropping at about 2200RPM, and peak power is at 3600 RPM. So I can see that being an issue with the low pack voltage - I'll need to do some more math...

major

· #623 · Oct 1, 2019

Hi Watts,

I assume you're referring to the series wound motor. As such it has a variable Kv. Unlike PM motors, the series motor flux varies with load. And its series resistance is likely on the order of 10 milliohms or less.

Regards,

major

brian_

· #624 · Oct 1, 2019

WattsUpDoc said:
I've been trying to find the motor constant (Kv) and resistance specs on the Netgain motor that would let me model maximum speed vs pack voltage under varying load, but haven't come across them. Trying to estimate that from their power performance charts, I see them running up to 7200RPM on a 120V supply, but torque starts dropping at about 2200RPM, and peak power is at 3600 RPM. So I can see that being an issue with the low pack voltage - I'll need to do some more math...

The Netgain performance charts are... "interesting". It appears that they spin the motor up without load, then progressively apply resistance with a brake setup to measure torque, and quit when it stalls. I think this would be a good high school science project, but is laughable for a 21st century motor supplier. They have no data below the peak torque point, but presumably if you maintain current below that speed you'll get roughly constant torque.

WattsUpDoc

· #625 · Oct 1, 2019

major said:
Hi Watts,

I assume you're referring to the series wound motor. As such it has a variable Kv. Unlike PM motors, the series motor flux varies with load. And its series resistance is likely on the order of 10 milliohms or less.

Regards,

major

I'm actually looking at the Hyper9 SRIPM motors. From what I understand, those are not series wound, so should be constant Kv. Happy to be corrected, as I'm still finding my way around.

brian_ said:
The Netgain performance charts are... "interesting".

Agreed, the performance charts are a creative representation. I'd be interested in trying to extract some standard motor parameters from a few points in the chart data to make useful comparables to other motors.

I'll take further discussion on this to the https://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/anyone-heard-hyper9-187593.html thread instead of cluttering up this battery thread further

.

Duncan

· #626 · Oct 2, 2019

WattsUpDoc said:
Good point! Were you running a single speed, or with a transmission? I'm planning on keeping a 5 speed manual in this setup.

I've been trying to find the motor constant (Kv) and resistance specs on the Netgain motor that would let me model maximum speed vs pack voltage under varying load, but haven't come across them. Trying to estimate that from their power performance charts, I see them running up to 7200RPM on a 120V supply, but torque starts dropping at about 2200RPM, and peak power is at 3600 RPM. So I can see that being an issue with the low pack voltage - I'll need to do some more math...

I am direct drive - no gearbox and a 4.1:1 diff

Gearboxes are reduction units - in the old 4 speeds top gear was 1:1
In modern 5 speed top may be a slight overdrive

So if you are rev limited a gearbox does not help!

In my case I calculated that I would be able to spin the tyres in top gear - so the other gears would be useless - so I was able to put the motor where the gearbox would have gone and free the entire "engine bay" for batteries

WattsUpDoc

· #627 · Oct 2, 2019

Duncan said:
I am direct drive - no gearbox and a 4.1:1 diff

Gearboxes are reduction units - in the old 4 speeds top gear was 1:1
In modern 5 speed top may be a slight overdrive

So if you are rev limited a gearbox does not help!

Good point! In my case, I have a bit of overdrive in 5th gear (0.84:1), so there's some improvement. But even so, running 2P 30S chains and being able to hit highway speeds comfortably may be better than the increased capacity of 4P 24S chains.

brian_

· #628 · Oct 2, 2019

WattsUpDoc said:
I've been trying to find the motor constant (Kv) and resistance specs on the Netgain motor that would let me model maximum speed vs pack voltage under varying load, but haven't come across them. Trying to estimate that from their power performance charts, I see them running up to 7200RPM on a 120V supply, but torque starts dropping at about 2200RPM, and peak power is at 3600 RPM.

brian_ said:
The Netgain performance charts are... "interesting"...

I was assuming that you were referring to Netgain's usual series-wound brushed DC motors, for which this is the only performance data provided.

WattsUpDoc said:
I'm actually looking at the Hyper9 SRIPM motors.

That motor is another matter entirely. Netgain publishes more useful performance data, which is provided by the motor's manufacturer. But that's a subject for that other thread...

Duncan

· #629 · Oct 8, 2019

Hi Guys

I weighed my modules when I had the whole pack apart - and now I can't find the results!

Has anybody got the weight of the 2 kWh and 1 kWh modules handy?

arber333

· #630 · Oct 8, 2019

Hi

Can anyone measure Ri, internal resistance of couple of Chevy Volt gen 1 cells and provide reference to milage? I would like to compare with my pack. I have 180000km pack with 2.1mohm Ri. I saw some conflicting values online. I use SM8124A device.

tnx

swoozle

· #631 · Oct 10, 2019

Duncan said:
Hi Guys

I weighed my modules when I had the whole pack apart - and now I can't find the results!

Has anybody got the weight of the 2 kWh and 1 kWh modules handy?

I'm out of town right now, can do it tomorrow if you still need it.

WattsUpDoc

· #632 · Oct 21, 2019 (Edited)

Duncan said:
Hi Guys

I weighed my modules when I had the whole pack apart - and now I can't find the results!

Has anybody got the weight of the 2 kWh and 1 kWh modules handy?

So, I'm now the proud owner of a Chevy Volt pack

.

Duncan, I weighed the packs, assembled as they are. The 4kWh pack is 82.8 lb, and the 5 kWh pack is 103.2 lb. So I'd say the 2 kWh submodule is about 41.5 lb and the 1 kWh submodule is about 20.5 lb (depending how much coolant is left in there

).

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WattsUpDoc

· #633 · Oct 22, 2019

inwo said:
I use cheap Chinese bms up to 32s. After that I've been using a super cheap 7s cascadable "bms?" to monitor with bluetooth. I have that on my Miles truck using 8pcs on 40s LTO. 2 boards for every 10s module.
Up to 24s I often forgo bms and use 24s active balancers. They can also be cascaded by overlap. Boards are available that were custom made for a boat builder. Connects 3 x 12s = 36s Volt to 3 active balance boards.

Inwo, I'm interested in wiring up either 4p 24s, or 3p 30s, from the Volt battery modules to an Orion BMS. It looks like your harness adapters would do the trick. Would you be willing to share your design, or sell a few cable assemblies and boards?

inwo

· #634 · Nov 15, 2019

I'm out of harness until I get a big order again.

These do a really nice job.
You can reuse the oem sockets or order for a few bucks from mouser.
Keyed "C" dor 12s or "D" for 6s. Boards work on either and fit in the oem housing.

$10 for bare board. Only have a few left as I'm shipping 22 completed boards today.

Two weeks to get more.

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inwo

· #635 · Nov 15, 2019

ps.
Also have a jst-xh version.

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joekitch

· #636 · Nov 20, 2019

WattsUpDoc said:
So, I'm now the proud owner of a Chevy Volt pack .

Duncan, I weighed the packs, assembled as they are. The 4kWh pack is 82.8 lb, and the 5 kWh pack is 103.2 lb. So I'd say the 2 kWh submodule is about 41.5 lb and the 1 kWh submodule is about 20.5 lb (depending how much coolant is left in there ).

so one full pack is like ~400 pounds..?

brian_

· #637 · Nov 20, 2019

joekitch said:
so one full pack is like ~400 pounds..?

The complete pack (with housing) weighs

first generation: 196 kg (432 lb)
second generation: 183 kg (403 lb)

VOLT_BATTERY.pdf

streber

· #638 · Sep 7, 2020

lobrien said:
If you are talking about the conenctors on the front of the pack interface (alongside HV connectors) then someone else posted that a standard 3/4in US hose fitting will screw in place of where the fancy locking connectors are now, you just need to unscrew them

They are a 3/4" ORB fitting. I'm using two of these: Meziere Barb to Male AN Fittings WP12034S
Meziere Barb to Male AN Fittings WP12034S

Standard 3/4" pipe will screw in, but won't seal without a ton of tape. It really wants the o-ring to seal.

brian_

· #639 · Sep 7, 2020

streber said:
They are a 3/4" ORB fitting.
...
Standard 3/4" pipe will screw in, but won't seal without a ton of tape. It really wants the o-ring to seal.

Pipe threads seal on the thread itself - the thread is tapered so that the fit gets tighter as the parts move together with fitting rotation. O-Ring Boss (ORB) fittings seal with an o-ring outside of the straight threads between the boss around the female port and a matching face on the male fitting, and the threads are just to mechanically hold it together. Please don't ever try to fit any tapered thread into or around any straight thread, and don't try to seal the threads of anything other than a pipe thread fitting.

swoozle

· #640 · Sep 7, 2020

Whether or not they are supposed to work, I'm using nylon US garden hose thread (3⁄4-11.5NH ) to hose barb fittings on those threads and they have performed without leaking for more than a year now.

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