Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[lespaul109]

The scienceprog dot com link is some type of file that I can't open. Were you trying to send a link to a website for me to read?

jake

[MPaulHolmes]

Originally Posted by twotires

I ordered an equal since that particular part wasn't available at Digikey or Mouser, and alas, the equal (rated for 3A instead of 2A) is a larger part and won't fit the board.

Well dang it! That's not good. Right, it's just there for reverse polarity protection. In general, it's never going to conduct unless you reversed your 12v wires by mistake. I think those others you have would be just fine.

[emeded]

Originally Posted by emeded

By the way, if anyone has found that their serial communications isn't working, it may be because of using 0.1uF caps with a MAX232 chip. It was just pointed out to me by a friend that I had been misreading the max232 datasheet. The max232 datasheet says 1uF caps are required, whereas you can use 0.1uF caps with the max202. But I had sent 0.1uF caps with a max232. I'll order some 1uF and figure out who to send them to. It should be pretty easy to add them to the top of the board without having to desolder the 0.1uF caps.

Thanks Paul!
I will update wiki part list with the new parts.
For the capacitors, are we talking about C2-C19 caps (K104K15X7RF5TH5)?
Do you have a specific part for the substitution?

Thanks

Erni

Hi Paul,
what's the deal with those caps? Do you have a part number for the new ones? I wanted to update the wiki.

Thanks

Erni

[emeded]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

Well dang it! That's not good. Right, it's just there for reverse polarity protection. In general, it's never going to conduct unless you reversed your 12v wires by mistake. I think those others you have would be just fine.

twotires,
could you update the part list once you find part that fits on the board, or just write it here in the forum so we can update the part list?

Thx.

Erni

[MPaulHolmes]

I changed the wiki this morning so that everything should be good. Instead of a max232, it's the equivalent of a max202, which can use 0.1uF caps. Also, the 3 amp diode was replaced with one that will fit.

[emeded]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

I changed the wiki this morning so that everything should be good. Instead of a max232, it's the equivalent of a max202, which can use 0.1uF caps. Also, the 3 amp diode was replaced with one that will fit.

Great, thanks Paul!

[twotires]

Uh-oh ... I already soldered in a MAX232. Do I need to swap out C7, C8, C9, C10, and C12 to 1uFs instead of 0.1uFs?

Also, the 9-Pin sub-D Female serial connector needs to be added to the BOM, and the 5-Pin Molex connector and pins can be removed, I think.

Most people don't install that 5-Pin connector, do they?

Now I wish I had taken time to read all 423 pages of this thread!

[emeded]

Maybe we should keep this thread for the 144V 500amp controller, and create another thread for new 1000amp controller, one for AC controller and one for the charger. It would keep things more organized, and easier to find/navigate/read. Just a suggestion.

Paul what do you think?

[MPaulHolmes]

Hi Two Tires! I just ordered some 1uF caps. You could remove the 0.1uF caps or you could add the 1uF caps by soldering their legs to the legs of the 0.1uF caps, and chopping the head part off of the 0.1uF ones? I bet that would be pretty easy. I can mail you some for free if you want. PM me your address, and I'll send you some.

There is a AC thread, but no 1000amp thread. That's not a bad idea. Man, it would be so easy to do it now. I just need another week or so where I'm not doing anything. makes me mad!!!

[twotires]

Hey, thanks Paul. I've got some 1uF tantalums - they're polarized, though. Not a big deal as the schematic shows which end is + and -.

Is it just the (5) caps around the RS232 interface, or should I change out all (13) of the 0.1uFs?

My controller has passed all the checks up until you hook it up to the power section - I've not bought a power section yet, so I've no current sensor or RT1 hooked up yet - powers up fine and the yellow LED is flashing about 100 HZ, so I think everything is successful to this point! Yeah! This is way cool - can't wait to finish up the whole thing.