2000 Insight - TLC and ecomodding build

[Insight for life]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

I'll start a build thread for the Turtle later today.

I don't mean to hijack Ecky's thread, I'm just gonna follow his lead!

Welcome to the Insight family!

[cowmeat]

I started a thread in "success stories" so I'm bowing out of Ecky's thread!

Other than to get good ideas, of course

[Ecky]

Started ordering parts for a grid charger. Looking to build the whole thing for under $30 shipped.

Here's a diagram I kipped from a post on InsightCentral and made minor modifications to:




These are my chosen 90v power supplies. - $19 shipped

This is my chosen 12v power supply. - $3.38 shipped


Apparently if your transformer isn't isolated, it will cause CELs and may even be dangerous. I need to learn a bit more about circuit design because I don't know how to tell if one is or isn't; I only know that these are safe because they've been confirmed so in threads on IC.

I haven't yet picked out a permanent voltmeter because I haven't found one with 12v leads that are properly isolated, and I'd rather not use a battery powered unit. I can still assemble the grid charger without it.

Also need to decide on what connectors to use and buy them, and find a box to build it in. I'll probably use an old PC power supply.

[Ecky]

How grid charging works, as I understand it:

Basically, your maximum usable capacity is determined by the difference between the "worst" and "best" cells in your battery. Some cells may have a low capacity due to degradation, and will have a limited voltage range. Other cells may just be low because they're out of sync with the rest of the pack, and may only, for example, be 75% charged when most of the other cells hit full charge. Cells are most likely to drift apart when left to sit for extended periods, but will do this to some extent even if used daily.

The current theory on grid charging is that even a healthy battery that's driven daily will benefit from an occasional grid charge (maybe once every 6 months), because the onboard systems have no way to balance the low cells with the rest of the pack. Charging too often may result in earlier degradation of the battery as a whole though, because in order to achieve a balance, you overcharge the full cells until the low cells are also full.

It's commonly held that a deep discharge will maximize benefits of a grid charge but my system isn't able to do that, and as I understand there are some dangers to deep-discharging this type of battery system.

It's also possible to restore the capacity of degraded cells somewhat with this system, but not to the extent of a unit that reconditions individual cells by cycling them.

Some considerations - a slower charge will produce less heat, which is the worst enemy of these batteries. Even charging at 300ma I'm going to be running the battery cooling fan.

[Ecky]

Also, here is a folder containing all of my Insight-related resources:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?...2s&usp=sharing

I've added it to my first post as well.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

Screw all yall, I should have gotten a darn insight instead of my civic oh well.

Half the time we end up riding in our roommate's RSX or my brother's Saturn, lack of backseats is definitely restrictive.

[nemo]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Half the time we end up riding in our roommate's RSX or my brother's Saturn, lack of backseats is definitely restrictive.

Saves wear and tear on your car.

[Ecky]

Found a case for my grid charger:

[Ecky]

Began construction of my grid charger. I cut off the corner of the PCB in the power supply that had some useful solder points and a fuse, to use for my own purposes. Construction will proceed when other parts come in.

[Ecky]

Grid charger completed. Next step is to get some diodes from RadioShack and hook it up to the battery.