[Baratong]

Right from my first full charge there seemed to be some problems with my traction pack. I did buy the batteries used from a stranger, so it was a gamble to start with. I did monitor them and added some juice with a bench power-supply regularly until I was ready to put them in the car and start using them.

While I drove my Spitfire a little over 100 miles, it got at best 15 miles to the charge, and my BMS was showing significant voltage sag in most of the cells. I bought a Powerlab 8 to do some checking on the cells. As it turned out the cell with the most capacity had 54ah. The lowest capacity cell I had was 43ah. Not good, as these were 100ah cells.

So, it was time for a new traction pack. I decided to go with a name brand purchased from a reputable supplier that includes a decent warranty. I purchased 45 CALB CA100 (100ah) cells from Electric Car Parts Company. I arranged a will-call pickup from CALB USA and took a road trip out to Pamona to get them.

It was fun meeting the people at CALB USA, they were very friendly and helpful. They carefully loaded the 375 lb. container into my car, and away I went. Arrived home with no problems and started unpacking.

Now it was time to start taking apart the battery boxes that I spent so much time making. <argh> One last picture before tearing it down.

Then I started looking at how these CALB's would fit. (No, I'm not planning on stacking them, just moving them around in this pic).

I will be able to fit 28 in the front, and perhaps 16 in the back... so time to start making the front battery box!

 

[Moltenmetal]

Oh Baratong, I'm so sorry to hear that!

Glad you were able to get some CALBs, which by all reports here are quite excellent cells. But to have to spend money on anything twice on one of these projects is always regrettable. And with the effort you've already invested in careful planning and workmanship, I certainly understand your reluctance to go back and stuff a Volt pack in there.

What are your plans for the bad cells? I'm sure you've got something up your sleeve...

 

[Baratong]

Hey Molten! Yes it was unfortunate to have to buy another pack. I had plans for my second conversion and already have an AC-51 and Curtis controller for it, but having to replace this pack put those plans on hold for a while.

For now I'll move the old pack to my lab, and use them as a dedicated test-bench for finalizing my BMS. Their biggest problem is their internal resistance is high, so they have pretty bad voltage sag making them not suitable for much.

 

[Moltenmetal]

Exciting! What is the donor you have in mind?

You could probably make a hell of a ups from those bad cells- the ir is worse than you'd get from lead acids?

 

[Baratong]

I'm looking at building a kit-car for my next project. My wife has said she would love to have a vintage Porsche 356, so that's top of my list right now:

 

[Moltenmetal]

Picture causes envy, and drooling...Excellent choice!

 

[Baratong]

Picture causes envy, and drooling...Excellent choice!

Well, I think that's the only way I'll get my wife on board for another car project!

 

[Moltenmetal]

Hey Baratong- how's it going?

Would you mind posting the listing of the CREE XML2 bulbs you bought for those headlight housings? Presume they're H4 bulb pattern, right? There's such a diversity of bulbs being offered, with some very pricey with large fin-fans on the back etc. I've got another retrofit reflector in mind than the one you bought, but am interested in the bulbs. LED auto lighting is such a rat's nest of crap being offered- it's tough to get a realistic idea of how the bulbs are going to work in the reflectors, and how many lumens you can realistically achieve per watt of input power etc. I do want my original sealed beams gone and going LED makes sense- just want a better shot of getting it right with my first buy!

 

[Baratong]

Hey Baratong- how's it going?

Would you mind posting the listing of the CREE XML2 bulbs you bought for those headlight housings? Presume they're H4 bulb pattern, right? ...

Hey Molten,
Here's an eBay listing for the same LED bulbs: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-PAIR-8000...E-WHITE-JDM-/322157261604?hash=item4b0211b324

The fins were a bit large and getting the rubber boot over them to seal the rear of the housing was not easy. I noticed that they now make bulbs with braided copper heat sink that is flexible, making it easier to fit.

I can't speak to how many lumens they produce as I haven't measured, but they are bright enough for me to see well with when night driving. I do have a lumen meter, I'll see about taking a reading and post it.

 

[Moltenmetal]

Thanks- wow, there are so many types of these on the market! At 80W, there won't be much power savings relative to the original sealed beams- just a lot more light and hopefully longevity too.

 

[Baratong]

I'm not sure where they are getting that 80W value in the headline. Aside from the headline, the spec's say power draw is 17W per bulb -- which tracks with my measurement of ~4amp draw on my 12v system with headlights and all other lights on.

 

[Moltenmetal]

Yeah, I found that most of them quote 80 W but really mean 40 W x 2 (2 lamps), which I presume from your comment would be the draw if you ran the HB and LB on both bulbs at the same time.

Did yours say anything about needing to run either the LB or the HB but not both? Wonder what the drivers and heat dissipation are designed around.

 

[Baratong]

Well, it's really just a bunch of high-bright white LED's on a stick.. .. not really two 'bulbs'. I haven't really noticed what's going on when the brights are on... whether additional LED elements turn on, or if all LED's simply get brighter. It's too bright to really see what's happening.

The 4amp figure I measured was with low+high on plus all other running lights excluding brake and reverse lights. My system was at ~13v at the time so a total of 52w. All of my lights are LED, so my estimate was that 34W total for both headlights on sounded right.

 

[Tamber]

I think that they usually throw those figures as a "this replaces an incandescent of X wattage", rather than "this is what it actually draws/produces"; because who'd buy a 17W bulb to replace an 80W one?

Oh, also, "because marketing".

 

[BWA]

Watts are useless as a measurement for lights, except for the draw on the power source.....

Lumens is the correct measurement for light output, and, the only real way to compare one light source to another.....

 

[Baratong]

The new battery boxes and batteries are in, connected and ready to go!

Front box with 28 cells:

Rear box with 16 cells:

So, finally, she's back on the road.

 

[Moltenmetal]

Your pics are too huge to display, or at least they seem to be so on my tablet...

 

[Baratong]

Your pics are too huge to display, or at least they seem to be so on my tablet...

Those pics were a bit large. Here are some sized versions:

Front box

Rear box

The pictures bring out all the flaws that aren't very noticeable in person...

 

[Moltenmetal]

No flaws that I see! I see a lot better layout than on mine, and a lot more room to work especially on the rear pack!

 

[Duncan]

Looking very smart!