500A Controller troubleshooting

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by Lectrik

I received my parts yesterday and got everything put back together this morning.

I replaced U6 with HCPL-4506 and also replaced U7. If anyone needs some 4504's I have two.

Sounds like good progress .. and I may take you up on the 4504's ...

After connecting to RTD explorer and powering up I get ...
Cougar OS controller firmware v1.11b

There is no data displayed and no response from command line.

Sounds like exactly what I am seeing - the initial display of the firmware but nothing after that.

Back through the troubleshooting steps we covered earlier everything appears to be working. I can see throttle changes all the way to pins 6-7 of U7.

My next steps are to reverse my transmit and receive wire on the RS232 connector and put it in the car and see what happens.

Yikes .. reversing transmit and receive when you are seeing the message and can read it is a bit of a long-shot. But I guess it's worth a shot!

[MPaulHolmes]

Ya, it sounds like the actual functionality of what makes it drive is good. Some serial to USBs work better than others, although I don't know if that's the problem. Have you tried realterm? Maybe rtd explorer isn't compatible with your setup for some reason?

[Lectrik]

"Yikes .. reversing transmit and receive when you are seeing the message and can read it is a bit of a long-shot. But I guess it's worth a shot!"

After I typed that I rethought how ridiculous the idea it was and didn't reverse them. But I did find an open U4-13 to J2-2. Thought for sure it would fix my problem, but NOT.

[Lectrik]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

Ya, it sounds like the actual functionality of what makes it drive is good. Some serial to USBs work better than others, although I don't know if that's the problem. Have you tried realterm? Maybe rtd explorer isn't compatible with your setup for some reason?

Well I thought I was on to something but it still isn't working.

First tried it with a 12v AGM I had kicking around. When that didn't work thought maybe it just didn't have enough juice so I hooked up the traction pack.

I'll pull it out of the car tomorrow and start following the schematic and traces and make sure I don't have any more open connections.

[Lectrik]

BYW...

I usually use TeraTerm but haven't tried it today.

[Lectrik]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

Sounds like good progress .. and I may take you up on the 4504's ...



Sounds like exactly what I am seeing - the initial display of the firmware but nothing after that.

Yeah you can have them. The postage cost more than the parts.

[Lectrik]

Finally some progress.

I finally pulled the controller from the car and went over some of my soldering. It appears I still have issues still but I can connect to the laptop, run the command line and re-load the software. I don't get any data recorded or see a change from the throttle but life is better. I seems I need a few more posts before I can attach another screen shot.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by Lectrik

Finally some progress.

I finally pulled the controller from the car and went over some of my soldering. It appears I still have issues still but I can connect to the laptop, run the command line and re-load the software. I don't get any data recorded or see a change from the throttle but life is better. I seems I need a few more posts before I can attach another screen shot.

Good to hear that your command line is operational.

I will be doing some re-soldering when I get the chance.

[Lectrik]

Today was somewhat productive.

I went over almost all of my solder joints. Did some continuity checks where I thought traces were missing and added two jumpers.

I connected the laptop and RTD Explorer shows data, temp, status light and graphs when I twist the throttle.

Great.... except current feedback and battery amps are at zero.

Could this be an indication of a short in one of the mosfets?

Also I found that the RS232 extension cable is not any good. I have to use the USB/Serial device directly to the controller. I even tried using a null modem.

Wish I could post my screen shot.