SalvageS10 Build Thread

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

The things that are left:
- get datalogging to work to an SD card

Let's have a go at this one.

The last time I tried this, the only SD card that I had was not well supported by the datalogging shield. I have a different SD card now, and the SD Info sketch works fine with it.

Modify the example datalog sketch to log a line each time a character is received from the serial monitor - three tries to get the program right, but it works.

Now add the ethernet shield back to the arduino stack. Copy the datalogging program into my webdatalog program (version 3) and log serial data from the serial monitor.

... nothing works ...

It appears that the ethernet shield uses pin 10 as a chip select - that is the pin that is turned ON when the ethernet shield is the target that the arduino wants to `talk`to. And the ethernet shield then responds back to the Arduino.

It just so happens that the datalogging shield ALSO uses pin 10 as chip select, and that the datalogger to the compactflash is enabled by pin 10.

One of these has to change. We have a conflict. The libraries for the ethernet shield are a bit scarier to me. The Datalogger is a much less complex circuit and so should be a bit easier to modify. So that`s the board that I will hack and the code that I will hack into.

What pin should I use ... that will take a bit of research. There is no point using something that is already used for a shield that I will want to use so I have to go through this again ...

I see no comprehensive guide that lists which vendor boards use which chip select pins, but I have not seen pin 8 used in the dozen or so that I checked. It's not a PWM output or an analog input ... just a plain old digital output. That's good enough for me.

[thingstodo]

To change the Chip_Select or CS, I think I need to cut a trace between pin 10, the present chip select, and the rest of the circuit. Then install a jumper from pin 8, my new chip select, to the orphaned `rest of the circuit`.

Looking at the board, Lady Ada at Adafruit seems to have the traces laid out to encourage this change. There is a through-the-circuitboard hole pad beside each pin to allow jumpers to be added, and there is a CS through-the-circuitboard hole pad that is presently connected to pin 10 with a narrow trace.

Cut the trace between the pin 10 through-hole pad and the chip select pad.
Solder a jumper between the pin 8 through-hole pad and the chip select pad.

It seemed so simple - why won`t it work... I can`t get the code to run for the real-time clock that used to run OK - library problems. I`m too dumb to figure out right now. Switch channels to another issue

[thingstodo]

Loading labview should not be TOO taxing ... you`d think

I still can`t locate the serial number that was paid for (it was a gift) from Sparkfun - NI says it is shipped with every system but the doc does not even tell you how many digits the `serial number`should have so that you can recognize it when you see it. I know that there was no `certificate`with the serial number on it. ... sigh ...

I can see why National Instruments is not happy that people are using their software and not paying for it. But making it this hard for people to try out Labview when they actually HAVE paid for it is not the way to accomplish this, in my opinion.

Since this computer was restored from a ghost image (2010 vintage) I can re-install the Labview 2010 demo for 30 days while I figure it out.

The Labview software wants to install a package manager. My firewall is complaining about the package manager setting itelf up as a server, accepting incoming connections ... kinda looks like a virus.

I stopped the package manager installation and removed it. I`ll try to install the parts myself.

I turned off the wireless network card and am using a separate computer to download Labview parts so that I have some idea what is actually needed versus what was installed just because.

After 2 hours, the decision to not install the package manager appears to be a bad decision. The descriptions of the packages are not very precise and I managed to install Labview 2010 sp1 with the LIFA for 2011.

Should I install package manager and let it decide what is needed, and how many holes it wants to poke in my firewall?

So I started going through some reading at NI.com. It seems to me that Labview is not a way for you to see what is going on in your Arduino ... it`s more like you turn the Arduino into a dumb slave processor that reads digital inputs and analog inputs, passes those values to Labview, takes commands from Labview and turns on PWM or normal digital outputs. Perhaps that is only what the `base` labview sketch does.

I was looking for a way to see the data coming from the PLC via serial. I`m not interested in having a PC do anything approaching control. That`s OK if you are in a lab, I guess.

I`ll do some more reading. I`m not impressed with the Labview interface from what I`ve read and seen so far.

If I install it, likley on an old laptop of some sort, I will need good backups beforehand in case it does not uninstall nicely.

Expecting the worst from large companies and their software is NOT paranoia. IMHO it is prudent and necessary.

[thingstodo]

This morning, after the issues and multiple reboots with Labview last night, the real-time clock sketch works just fine - no library issues

Perhaps the laptop needed a reboot and I was too dim to realize that.

So I ran Lady Ada`s lighttemplogger program. It worked fine with CS on pin 8.

Put the applicable chunks of the lighttemplogger program into my PLC interface program and ... it`s too large to fit into the Arduino Uno.

So I saved the program as loggerweb3 and made a new version of loggerweb4 where all of the ethernet stuff is removed. I don`t really need it right now, and I need to work on the datalogging.

The code is back down to about 19K (it was over 31K with ethernet). Adding a few debug statement squashed the first few bugs. Adjusting some timing took care of the rest.

I still have a problem with Scanf. It reads the integers just fine, but the floating point always returns 0.00 ... and there are no warnings on the compile. I`ll have to look at that later.

I can see the LOGGERNN files on the SD card getting larger, but I have no reader with me so I will check that the files are OK tomorrow.

And that`s about it for now. I need to figure out how to get SalvageS10 over to the neighbor`s yard for tomorrow morning, and back to my yard afterward. The motor and transmission are part of the frame ... can I move the truck after they are gone without adding some braces to replace the motor and transmission?

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

My neighbor has some time available on Monday during the day so I'll try to take the time off work so that I can document the removal (and perhaps I can learn something while we're at it)

It is done. The motor, transmission, transfer case, drive shafts are in my utility trailer, along with a bunch of bolts, wiring, connectors, and tubing

The exhaust, radiator, gas tank, alternator, fan ... all gone as well

9:00 am through 3:30 pm with an hour for lunch. Things went well. Kelly moved right along from one issue to the next. I asked a lot of questions, learned, and was available the two or three times Kelly needed a hand for a few minutes.

I`ll post pictures tomorrow when I get them downloaded and compressed

[thingstodo]

Without the hood
Radiator gone
Air conditioning on the side
Drive shaft gone, looking underneath at the transmission
Another shot of the transmission
Engine without transmission beneath, fan, alternator, wiring harness
Chain is on and ready to hoist
Some goof (me) connecting the engine lift
Engine hoisting out

[thingstodo]

After removal, front of truck, box, side view, rear view
Engine, transmission, transfer case, and the whole pile of parts in my trailer

[thingstodo]

Somewhere in the web I found a site that showed a 1991 chevy S10 transfer case 'bolted on' to the side of the automatic transmission. I did my best to look under the truck when it was parked, in tall grass and it seemed like the transfer case was sort of part of the transmission. Good thing that I didn't buy anything based on that! It turned out to be WRONG.

Now that the truck is apart, I know that the transfer case is separate.

If I can use the transfer case again, it gives me the complicated sliding spline connection to the rear drive shaft, and a bearing for holding the drive shaft up. That alone would be enough to have me use it since I am not a mechanical guy. BUT I can use the transfer case as a 'low gear' as well. The transfer case seems to be between 2.6 and 2.7 to 1 in '4wheel low'. I don't plan to re-install the drive shaft to the front wheels (at least for now).

So, if I use the transfer case, what would the maximum speed be?

I was using 2200 rpm for 70 mph from an online ev calculator. I think it was for a 94 s10, but it is likely close enough for me. Using a 2.6 transfer case would drop the 2200 rpm speed to 27 mph. To go 70 mph the electric motor would have to be turning at 5720 rpm. That's pretty fast. It would not have a lot of torque at that speed, maybe 1/3 of rated.

So if I use the transfer case, the electric motor would have to be in the front of the truck, where the engine and transmission were. I had thought to install it just rear of the cab and have it directly coupled to the rear end. That would mean doing the sliding spline thing on my own ...

The electric motor is shorter than I remember, at about 26 inches. It's still big around. The space looks like at least 28 inches, maybe as much as 34 inches.

The electric motor is even heavier than I remember. I don't have anything to measure the weight. Lifting one end with a bit of a lever gives me a guess of over 600 lbs.

This is interesting. I guess it's time to make a cardboard 'mock-up' of the electric motor and see where it will fit. It would be great if I could lift it into the truck from below. Then I would not have to bother my neighbor again.

[thingstodo]

I set about doing something that I should have done when I got the big old VFD home - power up the DC bus and cycle the capacitors (slowly) a few times, from 0V up to maybe 100V, the 0V to 200V, 0V to 400V (that's about as high as I can get)

So I dragged out the VFD frame with the capacitors, made sure that the DC bus and it's capacitors were isolated from any loose metal parts, and connected the DC bus to the correct polarity on my smallest VFD. I used a 120Vac variac (sort of like a big volume control that can change its output voltage from 0V to 120V by turning a dial) to feed AC into the little VFD. Internally, the little VFD has a diode bridge to turn AC into DC with some ripple voltage. And there is a fairly large capacitor to smooth out the ripple to a reasonable value. This DC bus on the little VFD rose slowly in voltage. It gradually raised the voltage on the old and larger VFD bus and capacitors. I put a current-limiting resistor of about 680 ohms to limit the current from the the little VFD to the large VFD just to protect the small VFD from any short circuit conditions (if I blew up a capacitor).

The 100V charge went well. I kept it there for about 5 minutes. No special reason, just wanted to work it up slowly.

The 200V charge caused a small 'snap' like you'd get when an old-fashioned camera flash discharges. That sounded bad. Perhaps some corrosion on the contacts of a capacitor had it charge up quickly? Or maybe discharge the ones without corrosion into the one with corrosion?

The 400V charge did not go so well. At about 360V, there was a loud bang, then a few more snaps like the first one at 200V. I left things sit for a few minutes and there were 3 more snaps.

If each snap was a capacitor failing, then maybe half of them have failed. But no white powder was released ... at least not yet. I'm used to the smaller electrolytic capacitors failing with a ruptured side and a snowfall of white powdery stuff.

I guess I have to take the frame apart and see if the capacitors have shorted, opened, or are still OK. I'll need individual connections to each capacitor to check that, though. I'll likely have to clean the contacts on each capacitor to make sure that I can tell the difference between an open circuit and corroded terminals.

The capacitors are about 15 years old so they would not have been a reliable addition to SalvageS10, but I was hoping to do some testing with a few of them.

As usual, I guess we'll see.

[thingstodo]

I describe myself as lazy. I don't do a lot of work that I think I can get by without doing (excluding safety).

I started out thinking that I'd need to make a model of the electric motor and use that model to determine if the motor will fit into the engine and transmission bay of SalvageS10.

In preparation to make the model, I measured up the electric motor. The motor cylinder is 15.5 inches in diameter and 19.5 inches long. Add the 5.5 inch motor shaft, 2.375 inches in diameter. This does not match the NEMA measurements for my T frame motor exactly, but it's close.

I then took rough measurements of the space in the truck. It is 32 inches front to back, from the firewall to the inside of the air conditioning radiator. That gives 7 inches of clearance. The coupler to the drive shaft will take some of that room, but it should be at a bit of an angle and end up in the tunnel formerly occupied by the transmission. The width is 16 inches from center to center on the motor mounts. The electric motor is 15.5 inches wide so there is a bunch of room there as well. The motor Junction box sticks out 5.5 inches on one side, but the space is wider as it goes higher.

If things get tight, I can get another inch or two by removing the air conditioning radiator. I don't think that the air will ever run again in SalvageS10 ... but i won't remove it unless I need to.

I don't think that an accurate model of the motor is required. I may still make a cardboard model that is a bit larger than the actual electric motor to see if I can install the electric motor from below and avoid lifting the motor in from the top ... but that would be in a while