Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[bigh]

thats awesome work! - can't wait to see it populated!

So much impressive work being done in this thread! Finally got to reading all of it!

[Tweety]

Ooh... shiney...

Eh... wait a minute... they will be populated... Ie your gonna wait for a machine?! Whadda ya gonna do that for?!!!

Get yer lazy behind in gear and solder them up this minute... it looks to be 0805/1206 sized components... I could do that in my sleep... 0603 is a bit more tricky... then you need a magnifying glass and lots of time....

[bigh]

Ok, I'm trying to get a good feel for where we are with this motor controller,
So what are the things that are missing from this motor controller(or improvements that people would suggest)?

pre-charge resistor/control (already suggested)
contactor control (already suggested)
BMS input into controller (not sure if this was suggested or not)
higher amperages using igbts

The bms could send a signal to the motor controller, to reduce throttle, when cells are being drawn too low - this is more important for lithiums, but it could also serve as a good low voltage cutoff in order to avoid damage to 12v batteries.

I'm super excited on Paul and the gang's developments on this (and also the 3phase ac project). I'm trying to decide which direction to go, I def want an electric car in the near future. I currently ride an electric bike as my main form of transport, but sometimes its just not practical.

Do we have any full acceleration times or videos? most of the vids i've seen so far are driving fairly sedately, it woudl be good to give us all a feel for the maximum performance out of the controller - esp if its good, it could really help the popularity / amount of technically mided people participating in these two projects.

Keep up the great work everyone!

[adamj12b]

Originally Posted by Tweety

Ooh... shiney...

Eh... wait a minute... they will be populated... Ie your gonna wait for a machine?! Whadda ya gonna do that for?!!!

Get yer lazy behind in gear and solder them up this minute... it looks to be 0805/1206 sized components... I could do that in my sleep... 0603 is a bit more tricky... then you need a magnifying glass and lots of time....

LOL!

You are correct, they are all 805 parts. The problem is not soldering them, Its that I dont have the parts yet!!

Im waiting for the opto's, DC-DC, inductors, the micro, some IC's, and the connectors to come in.

My friend said he can supply all the passive's for the boards for free!! How can I pass that up?

I will be recording the assembly of the boards so you all can see how awesome it is to watch.

-Adam

[mrbigh]

I'm eager to see the outcome of this new boards but remember NOT to hijack Paul's thread.........
I would like to be a beta tester of your control board, SMD it's a not a problem for me, it only requires more detail work but I do not have a motor yet to do the proper load testing
I'm at page 220 reading of the full thread, have to get it going....

[mrbigh]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

I've actually never ordered from them before. There was a source that was super cheap that has since dried up. I guess it's not that much waste. One of the bars is 12 inches anyway, and the other 2 are about 10". I was hoping to find something cheaper, but maybe I should just try them.

Hi Paul,
I'm a newbie in your very interesting controller thread and I would to insert a comment, have you ever considered to use a bronze bar for power connections instead of pricey copper bars? There is the same or better selection of stock dimensions and available at all times and it is a more rigid component.
I have commercial shunts in my hand and all the electrical blocks are made of solid bronze mounted on a heavy insulation surface.
I have to finish reading the full thread of the controller to get the foremost inside of it and I will consider purchasing the controller kit but I will take the IGBT route of power distribution, I have several dual 300Amps/1200Volts modules left over from a Prius PHEV conversion project that never took of as is and been sitting in storage waiting for a new application since 3 years. Now it is their turn to serve a purpose.
I think, I would have to get in contact with "JackBauer" for some details about his IGBT accomplishment.
Great work from all of you guys , I must to keep reading, left on page 250 ish..
Horacio

[MPaulHolmes]

Jack is definitely the man with the plan from Uzbekistan! I hope you post pictures of your process. It sounds like it's going to be awesome!

I've never tried bronze. Would that work OK? Is there a problem with the reduced electrical conductivity?

What voltage level? Current level? Good luck!!! ya! I would be interested in hearing how the IGBT paralleling goes for you.

[mrbigh]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

Jack is definitely the man with the plan from Uzbekistan! I hope you post pictures of your process. It sounds like it's going to be awesome!

I've never tried bronze. Would that work OK? Is there a problem with the reduced electrical conductivity?

What voltage level? Current level? Good luck!!! ya! I would be interested in hearing how the IGBT paralleling goes for you.

I will not be able to go beyond 160VDC but I'm planing on 1KW or 1.2KW for all the "necessary" headroom.
This dual IGBT modules are HUGE and are 1LB each.
Horacio

[steiner]

I would not recommend substituting bronze for the copper bars. Some of the best bronze has 4 times more resistance than electrical grade copper. There are other grades of bronze that have as much as 10 times more resistance than electrical grade copper. This would not be good.

[mrbigh]

Originally Posted by steiner

I would not recommend substituting bronze for the copper bars. Some of the best bronze has 4 times more resistance than electrical grade copper. There are other grades of bronze that have as much as 10 times more resistance than electrical grade copper. This would not be good.

Was only a though................