Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[drbobwoolery]

Paul, I have a B&K 1472c oscilloscope I have no current need for. If you want it, I'll ship it. I have a Fluke 97 and a dinosaur Tektronix 547 with 4 trace preamp, so this (inherited) scope is spare.
Re: liquid cooling. X-ray tubes and HV circuits are filled with transformer oil. I bought 5 gallons of Shell Diala AX (for $20),15 years ago, and use it to refill any such I open up.

There was one mention of Alumox. Please use it between the copper heat spreader and any aluminum parts. Both corrosion and heat transfer should improve.

I'll shut up now, and resume reading at post 1541. Don't try to edit this forum thread, as it is a joy to read. If a noobie cannot enjoy Moby Dick, read the Classics Illustrated comic book and go on.

bob (drbob at comcast dot net)

[MPaulHolmes]

FIRST, IF ANYONE HAS BOUGHT THE CONTROL BOARD BILL OF MATERIALS FROM THE WIKI, IT HAD A MISTAKE IN IT. R16 SHOULD BE 3K AND NOT 1K. I FIXED THE BOM TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.

I'm going to triple check the other parts too. The circuit actually works with the rest of the stuff how it is, but I want to make sure it is all right anyway.

Hey Bob! My oscilloscope is working again. It is a little flickery sometimes, but I like the sense of danger of living on the edge!

[drbobwoolery]

well, it's here, if you get to needing it.

Those considering the highest power versions with liquid cooling might well consider hanging the whole power section from the bolted on top of a can of transformer oil. Look up at a power pole. like that.

I'll claim the reading triathalon, in the NON- ev-er category. My madnesses run to IC/stirling hybrids, nonstandard Chiropractic X-ray, with transport by Geo Metro.
bob

[MPaulHolmes]

speaking of higher power versions:

freewheel diodes:
Digi-Key - APT100S20BGMI-ND (Manufacturer - APT100S20BG)

Mosfets:
http://ixdev.ixys.com/DataSheet/DS10...230N20T%29.pdf

There are also higher voltage mosfets in that same family with only slightly higher rdsOn, so a 200-250v mosfet based controller isn't that unthinkable. There are lots of diodes with really high voltage ratings.

[LouMan]

wow, paul great spec's and not much more money!

so when are you building your 2300A controller?? hehe
that should give a good 1000A for a few seconds and a good 750A up hill pulling capacity.
do you think the foil on the power boards will need to be thicker? like got with a 6 or 7 oz. copper board?

[MPaulHolmes]

unfortunately, yes. 6 or 7 ounce copper isn't exactly available at your local corner drug store. Wherewolf (andy) on here found some 6 ounce copper. You had to buy it in bulk. Minimum of like $600 or $700 for a big sheet that they would cut down for you.

Also, for a 1000 amp controller, the LEM is more expensive. Still, not THAT expensive.

[NiHaoMike]

What about use copper sheet over the board to increase the current capacity?

[MPaulHolmes]

That could probably be made to work.

[Wherewolf]

It worked out to about $30 per board if we order a sheet of 6oz....and have it cut to size. That was based on 6x9 inch board - different sizes would be different prices depending on the final amount of cuts. But it would be 36x48 so someone with a large CNC could mill the entire thing and then cut it. We had kicked the idea around a long time back. It's about a 2 week or so lead time - shipping cost would depend on if we had it cut by the board house, or shipped it whole....let me know if anyone wants to pursue this line of thinking....

Wherewolf

edit: Oh yeah...instead of wrenching on electric conversion today, I got tired of lugging my welder and plasma torch around...so I decided to build a cart for them...and then; as usual; things got a little out of hand....
24 volt powered welderchair anyone?
Betcha never seen one of these.....

(24VDC drive - the welder and plasma torch still need 220VAC, just in case anyone was wondering....)

[sawickm]

Another idea for buss bars is the buss plate ?

Searching out other controllers on the internet I found a controller called the Soliton1 made by EVnetics.

They designed their high-end Soliton1 Motor Controller to compete with the Zilla Controller.

Their high performance controller the has a lot of innovative features including; A multilayer buss bar design using contoured 0.090” copper buss plates with Mylar separators (see attached picture). The controller is designed for IGBT modules, but I think that getting creative you could mount a re-designed Revolt power PCB with discrete MOSFETs & Diodes to a copper multilayer buss bar design using copper standoffs ???.

Another interesting feature is a single (1) film capacitor CDE 947C. No– electrolytic capacitors are used in the controller