Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[flores]

Originally Posted by Roche

You could just use a serial port from the main controller to send data to a second controller that does the user interface - that would minimise the overhead on the main controller...

That is the plan, in the form of an arduino..

[jedsmd]

My Kelly controller bit the dust.



Fortunately I was in a parking lot and was able to push the truck out of traffic's way.
Still had to get towed home

This is the third controller to die in this truck. This one had about 20,000 miles on it. I am surprised it lasted as long as it did as it was a warranty replacement for a Kelly that failed in less than 1000 miles.

So I am taking advantage of this down time to clean up some of the wiring rat nest that has formed over the years and clear out a spot under the hood to fit Paul's new Beta.

[flores]

That controller is seriously fried..

[MPaulHolmes]

I'm still trying to finish a project in Oregon at my job, and coming up to Olympia on the weekends, since my mother in laws surgery was pushed back to the 13th of this month. It's taking way longer than I thought it would. I haven't been able to do any testing on the controller while I have been here. Maybe we can get together after the 13th before we drive back down to Arizona. I'm hoping the code doesn't take that long to work the bugs out.

[jedsmd]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

I'm still trying to finish a project in Oregon at my job, and coming up to Olympia on the weekends, since my mother in laws surgery was pushed back to the 13th of this month. It's taking way longer than I thought it would. I haven't been able to do any testing on the controller while I have been here. Maybe we can get together after the 13th before we drive back down to Arizona. I'm hoping the code doesn't take that long to work the bugs out.

Thanks for the update. I hope all goes excellent for your Mother-in-law.
Don't feel rushed because my truck is down - its not that big a deal.
Jerald

[jedsmd]

Originally Posted by flores

That controller is seriously fried..

I was in a parking lot and I barely touched the throttle. It blew the back cover plate off the controller - made a bang so loud I thought that I had popped a tire for a moment. I've had three controllers fail over the years and they always fail at zero or very low throttle. You would would think they would fail when accelerating hard or climbing a long hill. I don't really get that.

[artc]

Just in case people are subscribed to this thread and don't read the rest of ecomodder, I'm looking for an accurate number for Open Revolt switching time. I've seen the 3us number in this thread repeatedly, but I don't know where that came from and so that accuracy of the number. If you have a verified value could you please respond on a Sepex thread I started - ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/open-revolt-sepex-29146.html (you may need to add the http since I don't have enough post to add a real link..)

Any additional insight into MOSFET control for Sepex appreciated. Success at forward motion seems probable. I haven't done much with regen yet. Without regen there's no compelling benefit to Sepex, so that's my goal.

[MPaulHolmes]

We just arrived back home late last night. holy cow it's not fun driving 23 hours with a 2 year old and 6 year old arguing in the back. haha. I'm sorry we never met up for the controller. I'll try to get back to work on it this week between other things. Things were so peaceful when I started the controller, and then suddenly, just when I was about done, all heck and darn-nation broke loose.

artc: The switching time is less than 1 uS. Like 500ns or so. I've looked at it on the oscilloscope. Well, the gate is still climbing a little, but the mosfets are on/off at that point.

[flores]

Okay, cool.

How did things turned out with your mother in law?

[MPaulHolmes]

They took out all the stuff that needed taking out. She's in a lot of pain at the moment, but is getting better.