Paul & Sabrina's Cheap EV Conversion

[bennelson]

That cable you broke might be the parking brake. (I have no VW experience, just a guess!)

Sure you can run everything off just a battery. That's a very simple way of doing it. Just think about what happens to your headlights in a gas car when you turn the engine off - your lights stay on (not as bright though) and if you leave them on long enough, the battery dies. But you could leave them on for quite some time.

Just make sure to always recharge your battery right away!!! And use a 12V boat battery, not a car battery. (Looks like yours is a 12V deep cycle, so good.)


If you want to get fancy, you need a DC to DC converter. That will take your full main battery pack voltage and electronically drop it down to somewhere in the neighborhood of 12.8-13.8 volts to run all your electrics.

Ideally, a DC/DC converter that constantly tops off an accessory battery would be the best.

Look for them on Ebay or EV supplier's web pages.

[MPaulHolmes]

It isn't the Ebrake cable I don't think, since I just finished the back brakes, and the brake has 2 cables that go from the weird thing in the car that you pull on to each of the back wheels. The 'cable' that broke should more properly be called a wire. A piece of crap wire that is sort of wimpy. I tested the brakes and the accelerator pedal and the clutch pedal, and it is not any of those things. What else can it be?! What suspense! I hope it lasts!

Is an emergency disconnect switch really important? My contactor (oops I should take a picture of it.... BAM, I took a picture) can break a LOT of current.

When controllers fail full on, do they fail at their current limit (400 amps)? Or do they fail as a short circuit (like 1500-2000 amps with these batteries). The fuse would kick in quickly, but if the controller failed at 400 amps, and the fuse didn't blow, and the contactor stuck at 400 amps (which it shouldn't), then and only then would I need an emergency disconnect. Could that happen with a probability greater than 10e-500? It would be an extra $24 to plug that nugget of badness.

That scary man is Bob, the Tomato from Veggie Tales. He's scared because he's a pinata, and he is going to get whacked on my baby's 1st birthday party this weekend.

[capn_r]

That cable went to the heater box on the air cooled engine from a control lever on the tunnel. No crisis.

[bennelson]

When I was running my forklift motor the other day, I was noticing how much air was moved by the built-in fan on it. Could this be used as a waste-heat heater?

If the VW already has a duct built in for heat from the original engine, could heat from the motor be pumped into the cabin in the winter?

[MPaulHolmes]

Originally Posted by capn_r

That cable went to the heater box on the air cooled engine from a control lever on the tunnel. No crisis.

I'm just soo happy right now, I just can't even stand it! I thought I messed up something really bad.

That's a pretty dang good idea about pumping in the heat from the motor. The 2 little ducts are right there very accessible. I guess I should weight (Oprah) before clogging them up (Oprah's arteries) with something.

[metromizer]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

What is that little cable in the picture? I broke it. Is that really bad?
Can everything just be run off of the battery? Lights and everything?

Yea, it's just the factory heater cable. The actuating lever is to the left of the parking brake handle in that year I think.

You should be able to run everything off the factory battery... but you'll need to do something with the turn signals and stop lights. Like many cars, they don't work without the engine running in VW's. Other EV builder must have a general solution for the minor problem.

[metromizer]

Before I forget, one thing you need to know about the transaxle input shaft and your motor adapter plate situation;

The factory intended the output shaft to be supported by a pilot bearing on the engine assy, located inside the gland nut <the gland nut attached the flywheel to the crankshaft, and runs concentric with crankshaft centerline>. With the ICE removed, vw trans input shafts always have lots of play (they sometimes wobble 1/2" or more, so don't be alarmed). however, that doesn't mean you can 'float' you electric motor into some 'close enough' location and expect it to work long term. If you could somehow design your lovejoy coupler such that the input shaft fit with .002" or so clearence into a recepticle (so it was contained radially) that would be good.

Essentially, your e-motor shaft and transaxle shaft need to be co-aligned withing a few thousanths of an inch. If not, the vw input shaft bearing will take a beating and the seal will leak. Not the end of the world, but a little careful planning and execution now, will limit problems and leaks down the road.

Another vw trans tid-bit; VW transaxles are pretty bullet-proof for low hp applications, most broken vw's I've bought all had bad engines and good transaxles... my drag car used to eat them up at an alarming rate, but that's another story. They do have their quirks. If reverse or any other selection pops out of gear, just replace it with a used unit from a wrecking yard, any '69 and later unit from a beetle will work. now would be a good time to remove the CV joints and replace any cracked boots, inspect for wear and maybe re-grease as needed. Most trans shifting issues are traced not to the gearbox itself, but to a bad bushing that is located under the shifter. You should definately plan on replacing that bushing as a precautionary measure, as most original ones go away with use and age. I recommend the hard white plastic replacement, not the urethane ones that some suppliers sell.

[capn_r]

Regarding the question of motor heat, I had asked a similar question of Jim Hustad and here was his reply. "I wouldn't advise using the motor air to heat the
cabin with. There would be / could be particals of
brush dust which you don't want to breathe, plus you'd
get that insulation / motor based smell as well,
specially in times you're pushing hard. In general
better to just use hair dryers or build a good ceramic
box as either really makes a much better choice."

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by capn_r

There would be / could be particals of
brush dust which you don't want to breathe, plus you'd
get that insulation / motor based smell as well,
[/I]

Too true! Wasn't thinking about that, just kicking around a few ideas. Wonder if a poor-man's heat exchanger would do any good? Keep the heat in, but bad smells and brush particles away. Might work a little bit. Just thinking about grabbing whatever heat is available.

[MPaulHolmes]

Originally Posted by capn_r

There would be / could be particals of
brush dust which you don't want to breathe, plus you'd
get that insulation / motor based smell as well,
specially in times you're pushing hard.

I got the EV black lung, Pop.

-EV Zoolander