Today was another EV work day.
I was mostly working on the motorcycle, as I had a problem with it the other day. (Turns out it was that darn battery post again!)
But staying on the topic of the car -
I got some fun new parts from Tom G. He found a matched 300 amp ammeter and 0-100V volt meter (analog - moving needle) in a single case, off of an old welder.
Looks like both work, and I think the ammeter will work with the 50mv shunt I have off the forklift charger.
I also got an AC relay and some extruded aluminum rail.
I hooked up the AC relay to the AC output of the cars battery charger, which turns on when it's plugged in. That activates the relay. I then have the power wire to the main contactor coils running through the "normally open" part of the relay.
When the charger is plugged in, it activates the relay, and prevents power from going to the main contactor. So, you can turn the contactor on normally, but you simply can't if the battery charger is plugged in.
This will save me big headaches the first time I try to drive away in the car while it's still plugged-in!!!
I am hoping to use the extruded aluminum as a support piece to mount various things to. There just aren't a lot of good places under the hood to pin things down. Also, the aluminum is black anodized, so it will look good with the rest of the car. It's a channel shape, so I could pin power cables back under it too!