Ben Nelson's Electro-Metro Build thread

[jackbauer]

Or wire em up via an opto to run defunct engine related dash lights such as oil pressure and alternator.

[bennelson]

Yep, I am familiar with a couple different ways that a person could remount an LED or otherwise direct it's light, but I didn't have any of those things, and a drill just works SO WELL. That, and low-tech will beat high-tech EVERY time.

Here's a video of my software upgrade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVpGwqIWmu8

[bennelson]

Here's the new configuration for my car with the main contactor and a few other things in the front of the car inside a weatherproof box.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h93tK3MxxvI

[Daox]

Wooo, getting all fancy on us now I see! Good stuff Ben.

Is that the contactor I gave you? How does it compare to the one you were using?

[bennelson]

Yeah, that's the 12 volt one you gave me.

It doesn't look quite as beefy as the 24/36 volt one I was using, but it's still pretty decent. There was a bit of char on the contactor points, which I cleaned up with some sandpaper, but those should eventually be replaced. I should check to see if the parts happen to be interchangeable, and put the best together....

[Nevyn]

How big of a piece of plastic do you need as a cover? I may have some I could mail out to you.

[bennelson]

The big box with the contactor and fuse already has its own weather-tight cover.

What I would want plastic for is to make a custom cover for the Open Source Controller.

I am having someone check on a "plastic bender" which would allow a piece of plexiglass or Lexan to be bent into the same shape as the existing sheet metal cover on the controller.

I already have some scrap plexiglass around, so I really don't need anyone to send me anything.

I would love to have a clear cover for the controller, as it would let me see the indicator LEDs inside AND show off the cool guts of the controller.

[Christ]

Ben -

Can you cut a hole in the metal cover, a'la custom computer cases, and install acrylic on the back side? You could even put in some LEDs or CCFLs and make a sweet little controller... might attract the "younger" crowd a little bit?

Here's a walkthrough for something similar:
MetkuMods - Because you love your hardware!

[bennelson]

Yep, that could be another possibility.

I do have around two strips of green LED lights, which run on 12V.
I was originally thinking about installing them in the back of the car, but since I have both a controller case AND a case for the contactor, fuse, etc, that means I could have one very cool green LED strip inside each case!

[Christ]

YES!

I just like modding things more than replacing parts, I guess. That site has walkthroughs for alot of mods, ranging from easy to ninja.