Mazda MX-6 build thread (EV conversion)

[thingstodo]

Discuss tying battery box to supports inside car

Open the box on my new throttle assembly

Connect throttle to netgain industrial .. but don't get the calibration done today

Mazda MX6 Day 107 Video 031 Oct 14 2014 - YouTube

[freebeard]

Contour the bottom of the box so it fits the contour of the sheetmetal. Then instead of restraining the box laterally, the bolts just have to apply clamping pressure.

Can you use the inner seatbelt mounts?

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Contour the bottom of the box so it fits the contour of the sheetmetal. Then instead of restraining the box laterally, the bolts just have to apply clamping pressure.

The edges of the sheet metal are not very smooth. That can be fixed with a bit of time and effort.

But I'm not sure there is much structure there. The sheet metal is thin. You can flex it by pushing laterally.

Can you use the inner seatbelt mounts?

The inner mounts are almost covered by the base. I may be able to bolt the rear of the battery box to the inner mounts with a bracket of some sort.

[thingstodo]

Work through setting up the Netgain Industrial controller with the throttle assembly

But it does not work for me

Mazda MX6 Day 111 Video 032 Oct 18 2014 - YouTube

Continue trying to get the Netgain Industrial controller to work with the throttle, the contactors, and the pre-charge

There are error codes to troubleshoot

Mazda MX6 Day 111 Video 032 2 Oct 18 2014 - YouTube

[freebeard]

Absent a picture of the bare sheet metal: The brackets could be contoured to a shape that would spread the contact with the thin sheetmetal over as wide an area as possible and then the battery box would bolt to them.

My plan is to weld the battery box to a 4-point roll bar.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Absent a picture of the bare sheet metal:

The videos show the sheet metal hole. I know that watching the videos is boring and a struggle, so here are a couple of pictures.

The brackets could be contoured to a shape that would spread the contact with the thin sheetmetal over as wide an area as possible and then the battery box would bolt to them.

No offense, I guess I'm not convinced that it would be strong enough. I'll bolt the box to my aluminum frame (rev 2, after I finish messing around with the 2 x 4s). It's me that will be in front of that battery box in an accident and I'm doing everything I can to make sure it does not crush me.

I'm not welding anything to the frame of the car.

My plan is to weld the battery box to a 4-point roll bar.

The roll cage sounds like a great idea. I have not investigated whether a roll cage will fit in my car.

[thingstodo]

It WORKS!!!

Let's walk through what you should see if you have a Netgain Industrial controller. Signals, voltages, some unplanned troubleshooting

This is what it looks like when it's working

Mazda MX6 Day 112 Video 033 Oct 19 2014 - YouTube

Shut down the system and start back up

A bit of a repeat

go through the lithium pack

Go through the switches

Mazda MX6 Day 112 Video 033 2 Oct 19 2014 - YouTube

[freebeard]

Forget everything I said. I'll admit I've been skimming the videos.

I'll go with 'roll or flange the edges of that opening and gusset the corners.'

That's not a body-on-frame car, is it? I think roll cages are generally welded in.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Forget everything I said. I'll admit I've been skimming the videos.

I would be surprised if anyone actually watches even one of my videos end-to-end. They are detailed, repetitive, and I obviously I don't script what I do. They are more for me, video notes, cleaned up a bit so that someone else can get something out of it. I now have *5* subscribers ... 5 more than I ever expected.

I'll go with 'roll or flange the edges of that opening and gusset the corners.'

Rolling the edges sounds easier than filing them. Maybe that's just because I don't know what's involved in rolling the edges? Gussets are like rounding out the inside corners, right? That sounds like it will still require filing.

That's not a body-on-frame car, is it?

I don't think so. The frame appears to be shaped steel that is spot-welded to lighter gauge steel on the floor and around the pillars. But it's covered with rust inhibitor ... and I'm not really a mechanical person ... so that's just what I think.

I think roll cages are generally welded in.

Oh. In that case, I guess any research I do will be for education only!

The 2 x 4 support system extends from above the floor in the back seat to the rear supports between the rear wheels. So the batteries sit above that.

The 2 x 4s are screwed down to the floor, the rear support has a box built around it to tie the 2 x 4s into.

Rev 2, with 4 inch square aluminum tube, should look a bit more like I designed something.

The 2 x 4's look like I made things up as I went. And I did. I started with a design that didn't work out in the first step ... so I improvised my way through it. You can likely tell that since the 'plan' I talk about at the start of the video never seems to describe what I end up with at the end. I run into issues, and I adapt.

[Astro]

I have never used these controllers before so the following is just a guess.
I would say the controller giving an error when the throttle is below a few percent could be correct behaviour.
This could be the low pedal lockout to prevent start up if the accelerator cable has broken or become disconnected.
When you put the throttle control in the car the pedal would hold the throttle at something above zero with foot off.
I would imagine there would be a high pedal lockout as well which would bring up an error at 100% throttle control travel. Full throttle from the pedal (foot flat to the floor) would likely only give 95% of throttle control travel. Anything higher would be recognised as a possible return spring break and present an error.
I imagine that is why there is a calibration sequence so the controller can find where the zero pedal travel and full pedal travel appear in the available throttle control travel.
Once again this is just a guess but it makes sense to me.