Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[Dwffy]

Thanks mrbigh - the new one is 5k linear wirewound. I think that will be better
than the old carbon track type. I finished the remake this evening and will instal it tomorrow for another test run. Building EV's is sure a taxing task but a lot of fun too.
Thanks again.

[princeton]

I just finished the world's biggest light dimmer (except for hooking up the water cooling tubes and external radiator). It's got 14 mosfets, 160A 300V each. I'm hoping for 1200 amps peak. No frills. Total cost about $450. It doesn't look pretty though.

[flores]

Heh.. this was my idea also.. just clamping the mosfets on a coolingrig and solder the legs together... does it work?

Looks a itty bitty nasty ;-)

[princeton]

I only tested it at 12 volts, 3 amps so far. I'm working on setting up my 3000W resistor for a little better testing. I don't have a motor or car to try it out on right now.

[Dwffy]

I'm back again, this time good news. New potentiometer and checked all the wiring throughout for loose connections and all is well. Took a ride of about ten km this afternoon at various speeds and it did'nt falter. I think it is ok now.
Paul could you please explain to me what the yellow led is supposed to tell me. The only thing I know is that when its flashing nothing works.

[MPaulHolmes]

If current is out of range for even a single read, then the yellow led flashes, and the microcontroller locks everything up, forcing a cycle of power. That's to prevent a failure in the event of the current sensor disconnecting or whatever. Also, if the throttle is out of range for more than 0.2 seconds I think (or 0.1 sec. I forgot now) then everything locks up. That is what most likely happened with the other potentiometer. There are a couple other faults, but only come up if you change some settings through the serial port.

[jackbauer]

is...........is that pc case?

[princeton]

Originally Posted by jackbauer

is...........is that pc case?

Yes. It was cheap. And it's got a built-in fan. I'm not sure what to do with all the leftover wires, though.

[dave koller]

Originally Posted by jackbauer

is...........is that pc case?

Read my mind again Jack!!! I was going to ask - but you beat me to it .....

[jyanof]

Originally Posted by princeton

I just finished the world's biggest light dimmer (except for hooking up the water cooling tubes and external radiator). It's got 14 mosfets, 160A 300V each. I'm hoping for 1200 amps peak. No frills. Total cost about $450. It doesn't look pretty though.

I have some questions, if you don't mind me asking...

- Are those the 'flyback' diodes on the right side along the bend of the copper wire?
- Are there any input capacitors?
- Are the mosfet legs structural? (as in, supporting the heavy gauge copper wire)