Controller mods or build for E-assist altermotor

[HaroldinCR]

Down here, in the jungle, there is very little precision work shops, so, in order to get close to precision, I am building a metal turning lathe. I had it to where I could make smaller things out of bigger things. Now, I am redoing it to get where I have a limited amount of precision, for turning bushings, etc. and making parts. An angle grinder is my go to tool. Then, try to mill with a drill press and touch up with files. No matter what I do, I can get reasonably close to what I need.

With electronics, I always manage to locate that little hidden area that contains the smoke. Then, I'm done. No way to know where to find the original cause of the problem.

Yesterday, I was making good progress, and ultimately broke off the 1/4-20 tap as I was threading a metal block. I am careful enough to not force things, but, this was from a chinese unobtainium tap and die set. Everything sold down here is make of unobtainium and has the CE chinese excrement symbol of approval. So now, I am about to try crushing the tap to remove it from the hole, and, MAYBE make a tap to do the final 2 holes. No way to buy just a tap down here. This is part of why I am slowing down, frustration. I do have a 1/4-28 tap, but, I would bet there is not a place within 100 miles that sells machine screws in that thread. Most stuff here is of the metric persuasion.
I have imperial tools and etc.

[ChazFisher]

I hear you about having projects piled up! I have two in the garage and a third in the house now, ahead of the e-moto. Just trying to think it thru while I'm still in the 'planning' phase.

I did watch the Weber State video. His explanation of how the motor/alternator works was pretty muddled, mixing some induction, PM, and SR principles all together. I'd say he doesn't understand how a pulse-width-modulation (PWM) scheme works to create a current waveform. I'm pretty well convinced the eAssist unit is a plain induction machine.

As to coming up with an affordable controller, I think it's going to be hard to beat Paul's board. Then another sizable chunk of $ has to go to the power devices (IGBTs or MOSFETs) that it's controlling. To get power out of the motor, you need the right mix of current AND voltage, and the devices to switch that aren't cheap.

[HaroldinCR]

I've been sick for a week and have no energy to put into any projects.

There is a thread about using a Lebowski chip to build a bldc controller. Maybe look on diyelectriccar.com and you will find it, titled Honda IMA something or other. I know the Lebowski controller as is won't run an induction motor, however, the IMA controller is rated at 150V/200v and 400 Amps, so, using the power section of the IMA and coupling it with Paul's circuit board will be an inexpensive controller build, compared with the $1000.00 Curtis, that only takes 96V max from the battery.

I bought the complete Honda IMA controller, to include the charger and DC-DC converter for $120.00 shipped to Florida where I picked it up. TomDB is the op of the IMA thread and built a converter board for the joining of the Lebowski and Honda IMA power section. I believe if someone could get a copy of that board, and using paul's circuit, this project would come together.

This is where I am stuck, no electronics/ coding experience. Paul stated his board will work for the 130V that I want to use in a 30S Chevy Volt pack. I hope someone will look further into this.

[ChazFisher]

I'll go look for that Honda IMA thread. If you can find a usable power stage from a salvage source, that goes a long way towards making the whole project more affordable.

The thing about Paul's board that is most impressive to me is the depth of software development he put into it. Supporting different types of motors, and including the tuning code needed to actually work, was a monumental effort. I'm very grateful to him for sharing it.

[HaroldinCR]

I agree about Paul's board. You seem to know coding, etc., where I have no clue. If you eventually get to make one of these conversion IMA power boards work with Pauls board, I sure hope you post it or at least try to help those like myself that just don't get it.

If you would like photos of that IMA sections, let me know. I have them here and can post photos.

Actually, here it is. I believe it has igbt's under the 3 black boxes.

[freebeard]

HaroldinCR — Our situations sound similar, except instead of being in the jungle, I'm right next to a railroad where the "rich folks eating in a fancy dining car" goes high-balling by day and night. I used to ride it to Seattle occasionally.

I know [barely] enough about electronics and software to be dangerous. What I wonder about is things like this; from Power Electronics in 2012:

Solid state transformers could be the next big thing in power electronics | Power Electronics

This is dealing with kilovolt high-line power. Is there any thing comparable for vehicular power electronics?

[HaroldinCR]

Freebeard, thingstodo might be the guy to ask about the VFD's. I was a power company lineman in New Jersey for 12 years and, believe me, no one wants to mess around with 1000V let alone power line voltages. As the voltage rises, it wants to go other places where it's not supposed to be. DC is even worse, because it is very difficult to extinguish.

There are a few drag racers that are about to go 1200V or more, but, how does one measure and build for this ??

Solid state transformers/ back in the day, we used to hear pole mounted transformers blow their lids off during hot spells. Many times we never found the lids. If you don't know how they are clamped to the tank, you have no idea of what pressure it takes to blow them things off. Can solid state handle the heat ?? If not, I can't see this as a viable solution.

We used to hook the poles and direct handle the 4800 delta lines using rubber gloves with protectors and wearing rubber sleeves. When the company switched to 7200/12500 Y system, we were half dead as soon as we stuck a hook into the pole. This is when I decided I needed to do something else to support my family.

[ChazFisher]

Harold, that is a really, really, nice, clean, power stage package. I suppose I should expect no less from Honda. I looked it up on an online parts fiche, and it looks to me like they have all 6 igbts in a single module - a "6-pack." I'd want to see if there's a manufacturer part number on it, but I'll bet its a Mitsubishi part. It looks like the gate drive connections are on the left side of the module (the way your picture is oriented). The black boxes on the right side, that the bus bars go thru, are the phase current sensors.

I'm going to have to prowl eBay and find one of these. I think I've seen some that also include the control logic board. While I think simply replacing that with Paul's controller is the smart move, having it in hand would go a long way towards puzzling it out.

This isn't going to be quick, but getting igbt, bus bars, and dc link capacitors for less than the price of one igbt module from Mouser.com is well worth the effort!

<Edit>
OK, found an eBay picture where I could read the part number: PM300CJA060. That's a 300 A, 600 V, 3-phase inverter module. Remember how e-vektor on Endless-Sphere took the eAssist motor and converted from Y to delta, then finally used the Curtis 600A controller to get pretty good performance? He was pushing the full 600A thru that motor that his controller would do. This module will only do about half that much current. On the other hand, it will handle way more than the 96 V he used. So I need to think about whether leaving it Y-connected, and pushing the voltage way up, would be a viable option.........

[HaroldinCR]

I have the other parts here, also. Will get a couple of photos tomorrow and post them up.

My build will be a 3 wheel leaning tadpole, constructed from a 150cc Frame and extended swing arm to mount the motor as near the swivel as possible. I already have the 30S Volt pack mounted inside the frame.

I'm also building a 2 speed dog clutch tranny. I need some hill climbing along with 55 MPH. This will be enclosed with really light aero fairings with storage space for groceries, etc.

I believe e-vector stated around 50Hp with a 30S battery.

Might just throw a partly converted photo up, also. I really do hope you can get this to work, so I can follow along. I really need this thing for town trips of 25 miles in hilly terrain.

PM sent, Chaz

[freebeard]

What I'm asking is whether there is anything in the OEM part supply chain that uses the DAB converter instead of IGBTs.

There have been several topologies suggested for SSTs but most being evaluated today are based around the idea of a dual active bridge (DAB) converter. A DAB uses a power bridge to modulate the incoming ac waveform into a high-frequency square wave. The square wave gets passed through a small high-frequency transformer to another power stage. This converter demodulates the square wave and sends it to another inverter which produces low-voltage ac.