Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

reissmachinist · 06-05-2010, 12:47 AM

This is my first post here. I will tell about my ev project using Paul's controller.
I have the ev grin because I took the first test drives in my car last week. This
morning I added a finned heat sink and 2 5" muffin fans to the 3/8 x 8 x 11 alum.
plate.
The control had been shutting down from over heating after about 2 miles and I
would have to set and let it cool off.
Today I drove the furthest, about 5-6 miles. Finished strong. Stayed with traffic 30 mph.
Didn't over heat.
This was done as a super low buck quick and dirty project. Junk yard parts wherever
possible.
4/0 welding cable and 3/4' copper water pipe cable ends.
1/4" copper bus bar material for the controller.
200 amp 3 pole breaker, emergency breaker good for 27 bizillion amps interupt.
Parrelled the 3 poles.
4" x 6" x 10" Note, never dissassemble and let all of the little stainless and ceramic
pieces for the arc
quenchers fall out of place.
3/8 alum. plate
Finned alum. heat sink
5" muffin fans
A fuel injection throttle body with 0-5K pot on it.
12 identical light truck 12 v batteries. Had terrific zap. Were probably in fleet service
and had been replaced on a schedule.
12" variac for the charger. For charging, I am connecting the 96 volt armature pack,
the 24 volt shunt field pack and the 12 volt battery all in series for 132 volts.

Drove the ev there this afternoon, They were impressed with my usage of their junk.
An 83 subaru stationwagon using the clutch, flywheel and 4 speed.
Excavated a no longer popular 400 amp aircraft starter/generator, 24 volt 400 amp relay
and adapter coupler from the bottom of my treasure heap. Theese had all been in my
mazda conversion in the late 70's ala mother earth news.
I had discovered Paul's controller in December 09 and ordered parts at the end of January. Read the whole thing and tried to take notes of some details. I must be very
slow, it took me 9 hours to solder all of the parts onto the low powered part of the control. At the time that I ordered parts some were not available so I went with the
higher voltage, higher powered parts listed by Paul.
Mounted the control in a chopped/ lowered Craftsman tool box with the bottom
removed for the heat sink.1 1/4 cable clamps and a db-9 for the laptop connection.
I don't really under stand what I was doing, but I played around with the controller
settings and got a little more zip and responsiveness than with the default settings.
Joe's settings for a impulse 9 would cause the control to run at reduced hertz if I depressed the throttle hard.
Next is to add a cooling blower to the motor, badly needed.
My hopes are modest for this ev, If it will make 12 mile round trips without
discharging the batterie to much at 35 mph, I will be happy.
Thank You, Paul very much, This has been a great journey.

06-05-2010, 12:47 AM	#3444 (permalink)
reissmachinist EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Omaha, Nebraska Posts: 8 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	My experience so far This is my first post here. I will tell about my ev project using Paul's controller. I have the ev grin because I took the first test drives in my car last week. This morning I added a finned heat sink and 2 5" muffin fans to the 3/8 x 8 x 11 alum. plate. The control had been shutting down from over heating after about 2 miles and I would have to set and let it cool off. Today I drove the furthest, about 5-6 miles. Finished strong. Stayed with traffic 30 mph. Didn't over heat. This was done as a super low buck quick and dirty project. Junk yard parts wherever possible. 4/0 welding cable and 3/4' copper water pipe cable ends. 1/4" copper bus bar material for the controller. 200 amp 3 pole breaker, emergency breaker good for 27 bizillion amps interupt. Parrelled the 3 poles. 4" x 6" x 10" Note, never dissassemble and let all of the little stainless and ceramic pieces for the arc quenchers fall out of place. 3/8 alum. plate Finned alum. heat sink 5" muffin fans A fuel injection throttle body with 0-5K pot on it. 12 identical light truck 12 v batteries. Had terrific zap. Were probably in fleet service and had been replaced on a schedule. 12" variac for the charger. For charging, I am connecting the 96 volt armature pack, the 24 volt shunt field pack and the 12 volt battery all in series for 132 volts. Drove the ev there this afternoon, They were impressed with my usage of their junk. An 83 subaru stationwagon using the clutch, flywheel and 4 speed. Excavated a no longer popular 400 amp aircraft starter/generator, 24 volt 400 amp relay and adapter coupler from the bottom of my treasure heap. Theese had all been in my mazda conversion in the late 70's ala mother earth news. I had discovered Paul's controller in December 09 and ordered parts at the end of January. Read the whole thing and tried to take notes of some details. I must be very slow, it took me 9 hours to solder all of the parts onto the low powered part of the control. At the time that I ordered parts some were not available so I went with the higher voltage, higher powered parts listed by Paul. Mounted the control in a chopped/ lowered Craftsman tool box with the bottom removed for the heat sink.1 1/4 cable clamps and a db-9 for the laptop connection. I don't really under stand what I was doing, but I played around with the controller settings and got a little more zip and responsiveness than with the default settings. Joe's settings for a impulse 9 would cause the control to run at reduced hertz if I depressed the throttle hard. Next is to add a cooling blower to the motor, badly needed. My hopes are modest for this ev, If it will make 12 mile round trips without discharging the batterie to much at 35 mph, I will be happy. Thank You, Paul very much, This has been a great journey.