Paul & Sabrina's cheap DIY 144v motor controller

[Vtecsauce]

Hey everyone

I am having a issue with my 144v 500amp controller. I some how managed to what i believe program it with the wrong hex file and it stopped working. I realized after that the current adjustment is done by the pot inside te controler. I had set the controller aside for quite some time and forgot about the pot adjust

Can anyone help on how i can reprogram the chip?

I have my usb to serial adapter setup on my win xp pc

I just would like to know where i can download the default software & which software i should be using to flash it

I hope i didnt damage anything, when i flashed it i used the 12v batt to power it up for programming

Thanks

[Vtecsauce]

Originally Posted by adamj12b

I would hope I would know....

Here's a video that I made a few months ago explaining everything.

-Adam

I think i found a helpful video

Ill let you know if i am succesful

[Vtecsauce]

I figures out the programming and setting it up... Not the pot i know

[type2teach]

Originally Posted by z_power

Could you post screenshot of 'controller settings' area of rtdexplorer?

Couldn't get a screenshot, but "copy and paste" works well.
Here you go:
config
Kp=002 Ki=160
throttle_min_raw_counts=0419 throttle_max_raw_counts=0683
throttle_fault_raw_counts=0100
throttle_pos_gain=008 throttle_pwm_gain=000
current_ramp_rate=006
rtd_period=00100
pwm_filter=0
motor_os_threshold=0000 motor_os_ftime=1000
motor_os_dtime=10 pwm_deadzone=05
motor_speed_calc_amps=000
battery_amps_limit=000
precharge_time=000

Again, everything was running PERFECT the night before. I plugged her in and charged the batteries overnight (which I do after every time I drive her) and the next day these episodes started happening as soon as I pulled her out of the garage. And I shouldn't really call them "episodes" because they don't happen once in a while, they happen every time I press on the accelerator.
Thanks for your help!
Joel in Philly

[MPaulHolmes]

There's also a variable called FB, which stands for fault bits, that shows up somewhere on the screen. Normally it should be 0. Do you know what FB equals when it cuts out? That would tell us if the throttle, current sensor, or a few other errors were happening, causing this.

[jyanof]

Originally Posted by type2teach

I'm attaching a file of a screenshot of RTD Explorer when I slowly accelerate and then loose all power. I take my foot off the accelerator when the van stops moving forward, that's why you see everything just DROP.
@227-228 is where the power drops, but my foot is still on the accelerator and a second later between 228-229 is where I take my foot off the accelerator.
Any ideas?

In both graphs you posted, and all 3 events shown in the graphs, the same thing happens:

1 - motor current tracks the command current at first: notice the blue and red lines are on top of each other at first.
2 - then, motor current falls and matches the battery current (light blue line). also, the pwm line (pink) jumps to 512 which is wide open. these all agree with each other - when the mosfets are full on, the motor current and battery current will be the same

this is very odd behavior, especially considering that the vehicle slows down. in normal driving, you will likely never reach wide open pwm, and if you do, it's at a high speed and high current.

i'd say your controller is working correctly, but something is wrong on the motor end. the controller is outputting power, but it's not going to the motor.

I think you mentioned your battery voltage is something like 120v and the charts show that they're pushing about 100 amps when the event happens, so that's 12 kW that's just going into heat somewhere!

it really sounds like a motor problem, maybe something is shorting the field or rotor winding so you're only energizing one set of windings? or, a loose connection? maybe it's fine at first, but as the motor heats up, things expand and cause something to short out? or, maybe it's speed related?

[type2teach]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

There's also a variable called FB, which stands for fault bits, that shows up somewhere on the screen. Normally it should be 0. Do you know what FB equals when it cuts out? That would tell us if the throttle, current sensor, or a few other errors were happening, causing this.

Paul,
I'm not seeing any "FB" or "Fault Bit" option or setting or command or anything.
I tried updating to the most recent software configuration and I was told I already have it.
Where should I look for this "FB"?

[type2teach]

Originally Posted by jyanof

In both graphs you posted, and all 3 events shown in the graphs, the same thing happens:
1 - motor current tracks the command current at first: notice the blue and red lines are on top of each other at first.
2 - then, motor current falls and matches the battery current (light blue line). also, the pwm line (pink) jumps to 512 which is wide open. these all agree with each other - when the mosfets are full on, the motor current and battery current will be the same
this is very odd behavior, especially considering that the vehicle slows down. in normal driving, you will likely never reach wide open pwm, and if you do, it's at a high speed and high current.
i'd say your controller is working correctly, but something is wrong on the motor end. the controller is outputting power, but it's not going to the motor.
I think you mentioned your battery voltage is something like 120v and the charts show that they're pushing about 100 amps when the event happens, so that's 12 kW that's just going into heat somewhere!
it really sounds like a motor problem, maybe something is shorting the field or rotor winding so you're only energizing one set of windings? or, a loose connection? maybe it's fine at first, but as the motor heats up, things expand and cause something to short out? or, maybe it's speed related?

J-
thanks for the reply. I see what you are saying, and understand that the KW must be going somewhere and turning into heat or something. I watched my ammeter continue to rise after the bus stopped accelerating, so that made me think that the juice was still flowing into something.
Loose connections are easy to check, but "shorting the field" and "rotor windings" are not things I'm familiar with. Can someone point me in the direction of how to check these things? And again, this all happened overnight. Everything was running FINE the night before and the next day this just happened. Is the field or windings things that can go bad with no warning?
Thanks for all your help.

[type2teach]

Originally Posted by type2teach

Paul,
I'm not seeing any "FB" or "Fault Bit" option or setting or command or anything.
I tried updating to the most recent software configuration and I was told I already have it.
Where should I look for this "FB"?

NEVER MIND. I found it. It's been at 000 every time.
... so are we looking more at the motor now, or still at the controller?
Thanks for your help.

[jyanof]

Originally Posted by type2teach

Loose connections are easy to check, but "shorting the field" and "rotor windings" are not things I'm familiar with. Can someone point me in the direction of how to check these things?

assuming you have a series wound motor like a warp 9 or something, you'll have 4 connections on it, 2 for the armature (rotor) winding and 2 for the field (stator) winding. don't quote me on the terms, i'm going from memory here. anyway, the two sets of windings are connected in series with a short cable, and the two connections leftover go to the motor controller. you might have an S1,S2 and A1,A2 labeled somewhere (i think that's what mine has).

this would be challenging to do, but it'd be interesting to know the voltage across the stator and armature when the 'event' happens. it'd take two multimeters with long cables so you could actually read it while driving. the sum of the two voltages should equal the controller output voltage.

I'm suspecting some connection is opening up instead of something shorting out. if something shorted out, I'd expect the output current to rise and the voltage to drop in order to limit the current. instead, the voltage rises (controller goes full on) and the current drops. it's as if a magic resistor appears in the motor loop - it could even be inside the motor, or in the controller for that matter.

And again, this all happened overnight. Everything was running FINE the night before and the next day this just happened. Is the field or windings things that can go bad with no warning?
Thanks for all your help.

i wouldn't think so, but things happen. i drove into work one morning and everything was fine. then, i got in my car 4 hours later to go to lunch and the controller let out smoke.

my buddy was driving around, went over a bump, and 3 of his 4 (ice) engine mounting bolts sheared and the thing hit the ground. sometimes when things fail, there isn't much of a warning.