Daox's 1997 Paseo Build Thread

[Daox]

Over the weekend I had a batch of battery chargers arrive. I had ordered most of them for my electric riding mower, but I had also ordered one for the Paseo. I wanted an onboard charger just to make my life a little easier. With the old charger I had to pop the hood, get the charger out, clamp it on the battery, plug the charger in and set it to deep cycle and normal battery size. I also had to make sure it wasn't going to rain so I could leave the hood open (and theres literally no clearance between my hood and battery posts), otherwise I had to prop the hood open just a little bit, run the charger leads down under the garage door and shut it for the night. It was kind of a pain to do.





So, with the new onboard charger I plan on installing a marinco plug so I can just plug in when I get home. For now, its just sitting in the passenger foot well. The charger is a Soneil 1214S 7A smart charger. I just have to decide where I want the marinco plug to go. It needs to be somewhere out of the rain, and an area that isn't going to get caked with snow/ice. Then, its just come home and plug in and thats it.

[jedi_sol]

Nice, so you've essentially turned your car into an electric vehicle

[Daox]

Haha, well, kind of a veeeeeery mild phev.

[Daox]

Ah yes, I also hope/plan to get a block heater for my car (and possibly a battery heater if it'll allow alternatorless operation in winter). Integrating these two will be interesting as the charger needs to run as soon as it is plugged in, but the block heater only needs to run a couple hours before I leave... So, I'm thinking an arduino might come in handy for this.

[Christ]

Doesn't the marinco plug have a cap that goes over it?

If it does, you could just mount it somewhere in the grille, right?

[Daox]

The marinco plug does have a cap. It also has a hard plastic case and flange. So, you can only mount it on relatively flat surfaces. That alone limits the possible locations. Now, I want to keep it out of the rain, so it can't angle upwards. However, I can't mount it low as it may get snow/slush in it. I'd also prefer to have it on the front of the car somewhere. The grill isn't a bad idea, but I'd have to make something to mount it to since my whole grill is currently blocked off with coroplast and thats obviously not rigid enough to hold the plug.

[Weather Spotter]

how about using the colorpast with a small metal backer in the area of the plug?

[PaleMelanesian]

I have an onboard charger as well. You'll love it! Do you have a block heater?

My cable comes out behind the front license plate, but you obviously can't do that.

[RobertSmalls]

It seems like new commercial plug in cars have the charging port by the driver's door, so you can't help but notice it as you get in, and to save you a few paces every morning.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

I have an onboard charger as well. You'll love it! Do you have a block heater?

My cable comes out behind the front license plate, but you obviously can't do that.

I didn't know you ran an alternator delete? Why the onboard charger?

I do not have a block heater, yet. I'm hoping to get one in before winter though! Last winter I froze my butt of. The driving efficient thing is great, but really increases warm up time! I'm still searching for which one(s) to get. I want to go with as powerful of a heater as I can find for quick and efficient warm up times.

It seems like new commercial plug in cars have the charging port by the driver's door, so you can't help but notice it as you get in, and to save you a few paces every morning.

Thats a good idea, but I'd have to cut into metal body panels...


Now looking at it, it would be pretty cool if the Toyota emblem flipped up and out or something, and the plug was behind it.