Paul's how NOT to convert a Metro - Page 29 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

vpoppv · 11-19-2009, 06:25 PM

Well the performance certainly increased! When I got to work, the voltage was over 73v-never been that high. Voltage never sagged below 60v which was also a first. On the way home, about 1/2 block from my house, I heard a pfffft sound and voltage dropped to about 34v. I pushed the car the rest of the way home. All batteries showed their highest ever, none below 12.22v, even though performance was noticeably improved. So I put my blower to each battery and sure enough, one of the Orbitals would barely make it turn

I was so excited too. Man, could you imagine what 6 brand new Orbitals would be like in my car??

Anyway, at least the other one is doing ok.
Pack voltage 75.3v
Dead Orbital 12.62v

vpoppv · 11-19-2009, 06:34 PM

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if those Orbitals were doing their best, at 13.01v, to compensate for the other batteries in the pack until one of them finally busted a gut and said "why do I have to do all the work?" and gave up.....I wonder if the other Orbital is thinking the same thing and might been given a task it can't handle tomorrow, since now it's all by itself? Well, I guess they WERE free, but still.....

TheSGC · 11-19-2009, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vpoppv

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if those Orbitals were doing their best, at 13.01v, to compensate for the other batteries in the pack until one of them finally busted a gut and said "why do I have to do all the work?" and gave up.....I wonder if the other Orbital is thinking the same thing and might been given a task it can't handle tomorrow, since now it's all by itself? Well, I guess they WERE free, but still.....

Do you have any specs on the Obitals, like AH ratings, RC, model number. I am wondering if they are less than your others, that would explain why they went kaput before the others.

vpoppv · 11-19-2009, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSGC

Do you have any specs on the Obitals, like AH ratings, RC, model number. I am wondering if they are less than your others, that would explain why they went kaput before the others.

I can't find much at all about them from several different searches. The label only gives this:
cc 770
ca 1,000
load test amps 380

They ARE after all cores, so it could very well be they were dead to begin with, but that I got as far as I did makes me wonder. Also, I never even charged them since they showed 13.01v and the label says not to charge until it gets to 12.5v. But the simple fact that the pack voltage stayed as high as it did, and further that each battery is still showing some high numbers leads me to believe that for some reason they were the ones giving their hearts out....

vpoppv · 11-19-2009, 09:10 PM

I found this tidbit:

This design allows us to give you some of the lowest internal resistance batteries available.

I am thinking this might be why they are the hardest hit batteries? Also, I should probably NOT use the other Orbital and save it for car starting (like it was intended for

). It's too bad they are so expensive because it really looks like these would be perfect batteries for me (assuming they were the only ones in the pack)....

vpoppv · 11-22-2009, 12:16 AM

I finally got around to welding the front battery rack. It looks horrible, but it works. I also had to cut part of an offending piece of the adapter plate that was sticking out where a battery would be. I used the sawzall, and surprisingly it went very smoothly; I never thought it could go through 1/4" plate steel, but I guess as long as it's a straight cut, and you have a lot of patience, it'll work. Then I went to figure out exactly where to put the rack in and, horror of horrors, I realized that no matter how I put it in, there was no way it was going to work! The batteries would hit against the bumper, the transmission, the motor mount, and the horn. In desperation, I cut out a section of the bumper, and it looks like it will fit with room to spare. Meanwhile, another Geo popped its timing belt. The electric car has again saved me money as I used its former timing belt to replace the broken one. How's THAT for cheap?

vpoppv · 11-22-2009, 08:28 PM

I finished putting the front rack in. This was the hardest part of the conversion so far. I dropped the bumper on my foot too

. Here's the rack:

Here's how the car sat before:

And now:

MPaulHolmes · 11-23-2009, 01:04 AM

That car looks really really good! The welding doesn't look bad either! You are awesome!

MetroMPG · 11-24-2009, 03:02 PM

Paul, just out of curiosity, how much does that steel bumper brace weigh?

vpoppv · 11-24-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Paul, just out of curiosity, how much does that steel bumper brace weigh?

Sorry, I had it back together Saturday. I went out and weighed the chunk I took out of it though (you can see the missing part in the photo) and it only weighed 3 pounds; If I were to guess, I'd say that the piece is about 15-20 lbs. (although it felt like a hundred when it crashed down on my big toe!). I was quite shocked at how flimsy it is because I was very hesitant to cut into a bumper. I actually feel MORE secure now that I have 100lbs of lead as a front bumper in addition to it!