Got some more work done on the project yesterday.
Using some scrap metal, I measured, cut, and welded a frame for the generator. This frame spans the spare tire well. The generator then sits on/in the frame, with part of the generator hanging down further into the spare tire well.
The material I used was old bed frame. Part of this rack was what I originally used for mounting my batteries when I originally had the batteries in the trunk area of the car. That material cuts OK with a cut-off blade on an angle grinder, but it is THE WORST to drill a hole through!
I also noticed that the drain plug holes in the bottom of the car match up well with the size of the exhaust and muffler. It seemed like a simple matter to run the exhaust straight out the bottom.
Also, for a few months now, my BC-20 battery charger has been acting up. (Since then, I have been doing individual battery charging - which works fine, but it's a pain in the butt!) The problem with the charger is that it very quickly tapers off amperage - almost as though the charger works fine, but thinks the batteries are charged when they aren't.
Since the Milwaukee Makerspace is now more or less set up, the Electronics Club has been meeting again. So, I took my charger down there to get some help from some friends.
Here's the charger opened up.
The only obvious problem was this charred resistor.
That resistor is in-line with the VOLTAGE adjustment on the charger, so it would make sense that the resistor wasn't working, based on how the charger was acting.
We had to do some guestimating and logic to figure out what the value of the resistor would be. (Couldn't read the color codes. Ash is not a color.)
I am NOT a master solderer. It must have taken me an hour to remove the older resistor, clean out the solder, and add the new one. The trace on the one side came off with the old resistor. So, some sort of jumper would be needed to complete the circuit. I left the leg of the new resistor long, pulled it THROUGH the board, and it JUST BARELY reached the next solder pad.
I also converted the output of the charger to a 50 amp Anderson connector. This will make it easier to take the charger in and out, or use it with other projects.
While at the
MakerSpace, I also picked up some 6 ga wire. I need an ignition cable to run from the accessory battery to the electric starter on the generator. I plan to use the car's "crank" position on the key to run a relay, which will ground the remote starter pin on the generator. That activates the remote start feature.
I will have an electric car with 3 key positions - off, EV system ON, and START the Generator.
I'm still not sure exactly where I want to mount the propane tank.