Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[electricstorm]

zsnemeth,

I thought that was for moserial (pc-time 87), but I will try it and see what happens. It is probably something simple knowing my luck!

Alvin,

I will try that next after zsnemth's suggestion. That was from Adam's site I believe. Can't hurt to re-load it, right!

Thanks guys for your suggestions!

Jim

[electricstorm]

Originally Posted by zsnemeth

Have You tried without "="?

OK, I guess this was one of my "senior" moments! I tried it without the "=", nothing happened. Then I noticed the caps lock was on, turned it off and tried it again without the "=". Presto! It worked!! So lesson learned: Don't use the "=" and make sure caps lock is off. Guess it makes a difference if it's uppercase or lowercase. Values change now when I send the config command after making parameter changes and saving it.

I have been taking a programming class and we have to use the "=" when setting variables. It didn't occur to me to not use it.

Originally Posted by apowers

Last year I had trouble like that. I had firmware from 09 that was too old.

Maybe you could reload the controller and retry.

This is what I loaded.

coug-unified-16k.hex


Alvin

Fortunately, it is now working. I didn't have to re-load the program, although maybe I should just to gain a little experience with the procedure.

I will take it to class Thursday and put it on the o'scope and check out the signals. Then on to the power board!

Thanks so much for your help guys!! I really appreciate it a lot.

Jim

[apowers]

I'm glad you got it working. Sometimes it is the small things that get you.

Good eye there zsnemeth.

Alvin

[type2teach]

Got my '79 VW bus back on the road today. I'm using Paul's controller. I *was* using a Ke**Y controller and had two of those die on me. I learned my lesson.
Forgive me if the answer is an easy one, but I can't figure out what RTD explorer is used for. I know it can give me real time *info* on the controller, but can it change any parameters? The controller must come programmed with a *stock* setup, but can I change that?
I feel like I was getting better performance from my Ke**y controllers before they died, and I'm wondering if I just need to make some adjustments to the controller.
I've watched some Youtube videos on the software, but none of them answered my questions and sorta went over my head. I'm not a programmer, but I can follow directions really well. I've also read a couple dozen posts in this thread, but they are hard to follow because I can't find the beginnings of the conversations.
Here's my setup:
'79 VW bus
120v pack (20 6v golf cart batteries)
direct drive coupler to the tranny

Can anyone help me out here? or at least point me in the right direction?
Thanks so much!
Joel in Philly
*edit*
I just installed the software, hooked the laptop up to my controller and nothing. Well, I got a red line at "0". I tried blipping the throttle and nothing showed up on the display. Then I turned the van on, put her in neutral and blipped the throttle again. The motor went "vroom" for a second, but nothing showed on the display on my laptop.
What am I doing wrong? Is there a "how to set up your controller with RTD" thread?
*edit #2*
Never mind, there IS a thread about setting up your controller.

[adamj12b]

Originally Posted by type2teach

Got my '79 VW bus back on the road today. I'm using Paul's controller. I *was* using a Ke**Y controller and had two of those die on me. I learned my lesson.
Forgive me if the answer is an easy one, but I can't figure out what RTD explorer is used for. I know it can give me real time *info* on the controller, but can it change any parameters? The controller must come programmed with a *stock* setup, but can I change that?
I feel like I was getting better performance from my Ke**y controllers before they died, and I'm wondering if I just need to make some adjustments to the controller.
I've watched some Youtube videos on the software, but none of them answered my questions and sorta went over my head. I'm not a programmer, but I can follow directions really well. I've also read a couple dozen posts in this thread, but they are hard to follow because I can't find the beginnings of the conversations.
Here's my setup:
'79 VW bus
120v pack (20 6v golf cart batteries)
direct drive coupler to the tranny

Can anyone help me out here? or at least point me in the right direction?
Thanks so much!
Joel in Philly
*edit*
I just installed the software, hooked the laptop up to my controller and nothing. Well, I got a red line at "0". I tried blipping the throttle and nothing showed up on the display. Then I turned the van on, put her in neutral and blipped the throttle again. The motor went "vroom" for a second, but nothing showed on the display on my laptop.
What am I doing wrong? Is there a "how to set up your controller with RTD" thread?
*edit #2*
Never mind, there IS a thread about setting up your controller.

Yes, RTD Explorer is just a graphical interface to the console of the controller. If your not getting any data into RTD after you connect, send the rtd-period 100 command to the controler.

-Adam

[type2teach]

Originally Posted by adamj12b

Yes, RTD Explorer is just a graphical interface to the console of the controller. If your not getting any data into RTD after you connect, send the rtd-period 100 command to the controler.
-Adam

Thanks, Adam.
Now what do you mean?
Type
rtd-.100
into the black box on the bottom right?
Weird thing is that I can't type ANYTHING into the box! I can click on it and the cursor blinks in it, and my up and down arrow keys work, but no letters work at all! Any thoughts?
Thanks!

[adamj12b]

Originally Posted by type2teach

Thanks, Adam.
Now what do you mean?
Type
rtd-.100
into the black box on the bottom right?
Weird thing is that I can't type ANYTHING into the box! I can click on it and the cursor blinks in it, and my up and down arrow keys work, but no letters work at all! Any thoughts?
Thanks!

You need to type the whole thing out "rtd-period 100". There is a text box right under the black console box. When you start typing, it will suggest commands. You can hit tab and just enter the value you want and hit enter when completed and it will send to the controller. Don't forget to send the save command when your done and before you turn the controller off.

-Adam

[type2teach]

Originally Posted by adamj12b

You need to type the whole thing out "rtd-period 100". There is a text box right under the black console box. When you start typing, it will suggest commands. You can hit tab and just enter the value you want and hit enter when completed and it will send to the controller. Don't forget to send the save command when your done and before you turn the controller off.
-Adam

DOH!
Now I see the text box. I was trying to type right into the black box.

Thanks! I'm off to try it right now.
Joel

[type2teach]

Woohoo! First real test drive over 10mph and hit some hills to boot. Everything fine except....
I understand the text box and setting parameters and stuff, but I can't get the info to SAVE.
That box above the black box, with the values, is that supposed to change once I type in a change? I'm having trouble with my potbox.
The parameters on the controller are set at 517 max throttle, but my pot will only go up to 499. I tried to change this, (and save it) but I don't think anything really changed, at least not in that top right hand corner box. Also, my pot doesn't go all the way back to "0". I have a sticky accelerator cable or something, so when I take my foot off the accelerator, it goes down to 20 (or so says RTD), AND the motor continues to spin, albeit slowly.
I set the parameters for the min to 22, but it's obviously not working.
And yes, I saved that, too. The black data box says the info has been saved to the ee, but I'm not experiencing this when I drive.
Any thoughts?
And THANKS SO MUCH!
Joel in Philly

[electricstorm]

Originally Posted by type2teach

Woohoo! First real test drive over 10mph and hit some hills to boot. Everything fine except....
I understand the text box and setting parameters and stuff, but I can't get the info to SAVE.
That box above the black box, with the values, is that supposed to change once I type in a change? I'm having trouble with my potbox.
The parameters on the controller are set at 517 max throttle, but my pot will only go up to 499. I tried to change this, (and save it) but I don't think anything really changed, at least not in that top right hand corner box. Also, my pot doesn't go all the way back to "0". I have a sticky accelerator cable or something, so when I take my foot off the accelerator, it goes down to 20 (or so says RTD), AND the motor continues to spin, albeit slowly.
I set the parameters for the min to 22, but it's obviously not working.
And yes, I saved that, too. The black data box says the info has been saved to the ee, but I'm not experiencing this when I drive.
Any thoughts?
And THANKS SO MUCH!
Joel in Philly

I was having trouble with this at first also untill zsnemeth suggested I not use the = sign (I.E.: ki 120 and not ki=120. leave out the = sign). Also, make sure you are typing the commands as they are listed in the command list under the help tab on RTD Explorer. If you are typing uppercase characters instead of lowercase characters (if the command uses all lowercase), it will not save even though RTD Explorer says it saved it to EE.

Jim