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thingstodo · 03-14-2016, 03:23 AM

Build log for my DC controller

March 13. Paul got a BUNCH of stuff done yesterday .. he was on a ROLL!
- made the current sensor cables
- fixed my mistake on the copper sheets with a piece of copper sheet and some solder (to cover the hole I drilled by mistake)
- mounted the capacitors on the copper sheets
- the DC controller boards (2 controllers being built) were installed with the temperature sensors and the current sensor cables
- found the source code and did a test build to make sure all was well

I had my old Android phone charged up, a samsung tablet as well, a gopro 3 ... the high voltage DC fuses for Paul were packed in my backpack ... and they all stayed at my sister-in-laws instead of coming with me!

My main phone and a headset is all I had. Yeesh! Audio only for most of the day with a few pictures of the boards and the setup ... but I messed up and hit the button .. sometime during the day ... to take pictures with the front-facing camera. So instead of pictures of the boards, wiring, and other interesting stuff I was looking at ... I have boring pictures of the inside of my hand as I hold the phone ... I don't seem to be able to remember much these days!

Onward!

Today we canibalized Paul's solar setup and other test stuff for
- a 12V supply for the controller
- 4 x 6V golf cart batteries
- interconnecting cables for the batteries
- a PICkit 3
- a laptop
- a 0 - 5K throttle
- a serial cable
- and ... various cables and alligator clips

Paul and I got the wiring and old (dead) batteries removed from the golf cart
The new batteries (well, solar battery bank batteries) installed and wired ..
Everything is ready for the DC controller.

Paul had a few things left to do, so I jacked up the golf cart and put some blocking under it so the rear wheels are off the ground. Out first test will be done with the wheels up so we don't have to chase the cart around the yard.

When Paul was done, the first DC controller board was powered up and programmed.

12V to the DC/DC power supply. 24V output ... adjusted to 24.17V

Power up the DC control board ... And .. Umm .. we got a whiff of burnt plastic and felt some heat from the board. There was a 'snap' from the board ... we knew something was wrong but we didn't know WHAT was wrong.

SSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo ... we went looking.

After checking out the power rails - which were fine - Paul found that there was a fault on the DC Control board. Hmm ... Some connector re-seating followed .. and one connector was wired wrong. For the B phase current sensor. But the Hall Effect sensor can likely handle a wiring problem ...

After that was fixed, there was another fault. A hardware fault. But it does not seem to be set anywhere? It is set at the beginning of the initialize code .. then reset ... and that's it. Nothing else seems to touch it? Paul says he ended up not implementing anything for this.

It resisted break points .. Port displays ... some added debug code ... I learned a few things! Like that in a PIC you WRITE to a LATCH variable mapped to a PORT, and that you READ back from a variable mapped to the INPUT of that PORT. If they don't match .. the output port has failed.
Turns out that the AND gate used to generate the hardware FAULT signal was installed backward .. pin 1 is marked for a reason .. but there is a notch on that end and a circle on the other end .. looks pretty close to the same in bad light ... so we think that the PIC output port pin was fighting with the output of the AND gate. Or that's the present theory ... we'll see when Paul gets the AND gate pulled off and checked. Then the PIC port (Port F bit 0) can be checked to determine if it is bad. At this point, we gave up on this board. Paul may have another PIC .. and definitely has another AND gate ..

The second DC controller was switched in, everything connected again, and the program burned into the PIC. Preliminary tests show PWM output, the debug code works, there are DC voltages of the appropriate values at the appropriate places on the board ... and we were done for the day!

We're set up to continue on Wednesday morning (if I can get over to Paul's in the morning .. I've had issues getting up in the morning!)

03-14-2016, 03:23 AM	#2627 (permalink)
thingstodo Master EcoModder Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Saskatoon, canada Posts: 1,488 Ford Prefect - '18 Ford F150 XLT XTR Tess - '22 Tesla Y LR Thanks: 746 Thanked 565 Times in 447 Posts	Build log for my DC controller March 13. Paul got a BUNCH of stuff done yesterday .. he was on a ROLL! - made the current sensor cables - fixed my mistake on the copper sheets with a piece of copper sheet and some solder (to cover the hole I drilled by mistake) - mounted the capacitors on the copper sheets - the DC controller boards (2 controllers being built) were installed with the temperature sensors and the current sensor cables - found the source code and did a test build to make sure all was well I had my old Android phone charged up, a samsung tablet as well, a gopro 3 ... the high voltage DC fuses for Paul were packed in my backpack ... and they all stayed at my sister-in-laws instead of coming with me! My main phone and a headset is all I had. Yeesh! Audio only for most of the day with a few pictures of the boards and the setup ... but I messed up and hit the button .. sometime during the day ... to take pictures with the front-facing camera. So instead of pictures of the boards, wiring, and other interesting stuff I was looking at ... I have boring pictures of the inside of my hand as I hold the phone ... I don't seem to be able to remember much these days! Onward! Today we canibalized Paul's solar setup and other test stuff for - a 12V supply for the controller - 4 x 6V golf cart batteries - interconnecting cables for the batteries - a PICkit 3 - a laptop - a 0 - 5K throttle - a serial cable - and ... various cables and alligator clips Paul and I got the wiring and old (dead) batteries removed from the golf cart The new batteries (well, solar battery bank batteries) installed and wired .. Everything is ready for the DC controller. Paul had a few things left to do, so I jacked up the golf cart and put some blocking under it so the rear wheels are off the ground. Out first test will be done with the wheels up so we don't have to chase the cart around the yard. When Paul was done, the first DC controller board was powered up and programmed. 12V to the DC/DC power supply. 24V output ... adjusted to 24.17V Power up the DC control board ... And .. Umm .. we got a whiff of burnt plastic and felt some heat from the board. There was a 'snap' from the board ... we knew something was wrong but we didn't know WHAT was wrong. SSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo ... we went looking. After checking out the power rails - which were fine - Paul found that there was a fault on the DC Control board. Hmm ... Some connector re-seating followed .. and one connector was wired wrong. For the B phase current sensor. But the Hall Effect sensor can likely handle a wiring problem ... After that was fixed, there was another fault. A hardware fault. But it does not seem to be set anywhere? It is set at the beginning of the initialize code .. then reset ... and that's it. Nothing else seems to touch it? Paul says he ended up not implementing anything for this. It resisted break points .. Port displays ... some added debug code ... I learned a few things! Like that in a PIC you WRITE to a LATCH variable mapped to a PORT, and that you READ back from a variable mapped to the INPUT of that PORT. If they don't match .. the output port has failed. Turns out that the AND gate used to generate the hardware FAULT signal was installed backward .. pin 1 is marked for a reason .. but there is a notch on that end and a circle on the other end .. looks pretty close to the same in bad light ... so we think that the PIC output port pin was fighting with the output of the AND gate. Or that's the present theory ... we'll see when Paul gets the AND gate pulled off and checked. Then the PIC port (Port F bit 0) can be checked to determine if it is bad. At this point, we gave up on this board. Paul may have another PIC .. and definitely has another AND gate .. The second DC controller was switched in, everything connected again, and the program burned into the PIC. Preliminary tests show PWM output, the debug code works, there are DC voltages of the appropriate values at the appropriate places on the board ... and we were done for the day! We're set up to continue on Wednesday morning (if I can get over to Paul's in the morning .. I've had issues getting up in the morning!)