WIKISPEED build for Electric Motor Module

[MPaulHolmes]

I just welded the spline female thing to a lovejoy, and that mated to the shaft of the transmission. It was only 72v, and I was gentle. But for higher power I'd have to have gotten rid of that rubber spider.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

I just welded the spline female thing to a lovejoy, and that mated to the shaft of the transmission. It was only 72v, and I was gentle. But for higher power I'd have to have gotten rid of that rubber spider.

Forgive my ignorance - why do you need to get rid of the rubber spider for higher power?

[thingstodo]

I called Randy at CanEV. The intent of his design is to use the clutch. So far, I'm the only one that is using the transmission in one gear. Everyone else has wanted to use a lower gear (normally 2nd on a 5 speed) to run around town and have lots of power, then a higher gear (normally 3rd or 4rth) for the highway/interstate. And they need the clutch to shift easily from 2nd to 3rd (or whatever).

I guess I wasn't thinking of performance. I was just trying to get it to roll to begin with ...

A Netgain Warp 9 on a 1600 lb car ... SHOULD ... be peppy even if you leave it in 3rd gear all of the time ... ?

I guess we'll see ... June 11.

[thingstodo]

Top view, motor on the left, transmission on the right, front of the car is top on the picture. 246a

Measurements - 11.5 inches from the end of the left wheel axle to the outside edge of the motor module. Subtracting 4 inches for the car frame, the axle ends 7.5 inches Left of the car. Is that good enough for the wheel module? The same distance on the right. I centered the transmission and motor to put 11.5 inches from the outside of the frame to the end of the axle.

The way things are arranged right now, the motor and transmission fit within the motor module.

Back or bottom of the picture is 2 pairs of used flooded lead acid batteries connected by a fuse or by a maintenance switch. This is the 'lower' layer of the motor module. The batteries have room around them and beneath them for insulation and strong battery boxes.

Back view looking forward. You can see the batteries with the motor and transmission ahead of them. The batteries are about 10 inches high plus frame, insulation, etc about 14 inches. 251a

The transmission reaches about 16 inches high. It can stick out beneath the frame ... depending on where the axles are to exit the motor module. No insulation or top required but a transmission mount would be nice.

Top view with electronics added. The LVJB is below the HVJB, in the middle of the picture. To the left at the back is a box about the size of the P&S 500A DC open source controller. You can see the Kelly controller beside the box. They Kelly is quite small. To the right is a toolbox that is about the size of the RUSSCO charger but not as tall. This is slightly larger than the charger from the Carryall 1. 260a

Back view with electronics added. You can see the LVJB below the HVJB in the middle. These are sitting on a 2x4 spacer above the batteries. The right has the box for the controller above the 2x4 spacer on the batteries. The left has the toolbox for the charger above the batteries. the charger will be taller. The Kelly controller is not visible since it is behind the box. 268a

Cabling. Many cables will be entering the HVJB. How do I get the cables into the tub? With a real junction box, holes are drilled through the walls, and the walls are thick enough to support the cable connectors. The cable connectors have strain reliefs on them to prevent damage to the HVJB terminals. The clear plastic container is quite thin, and will not support connectors. Drilling several holes will remove any strength that the container has. So I'm going to try routing all of the cables entering and exiting on one side of the HVJB so that I can use external strain relief on a piece of plywood, beside the plastic case. This will make the cables entry a bit more complicated ...

[thingstodo]

Another topic ... that is a BIT of a tangent, but not REALLY

I am planning to use the Electric Motor Module in my side by side WIKISPEED Quad.

But the motor should still run in the range 2000 - 3500 rpm, so that it cools properly ... so second or third gear is not really appropriate.

First gear! 14.75:1 gear reduction. 3500 rpm input to the transaxle will generate 237 rpm output.

From EV calc, these tires (which are likely larger than quad tires) give 902 rev/mile = 5.8 feet or 70 inches or 178.4 cm per rev. 237 rpm gives a distance of 42285 cm per minute. 422.8 meters. * 60 minutes is 25.37 km per hour or just under 16 mph. That's good enough. And I can recycle the tires that I was going to use on my SalvageS10 project (that's on the shelf)

Using the redline of 5500 rpm, you get 40 km per hour or 25 mph. That's good enough for a side by side quad!

And dropping down to 2000 rpm, not as a minimum but as a minimum for cruising ... gives 14 kph or just under 10 mph. Faster than walking, but not running.

It will have PLENTY of torque on the low end with a DC motor and 14.75 to 1 gearing. The plan is to use a second motor and transmission at the front of the vehicle, to give part time 4 wd. The controller on the front unit will have a second output contactor, to connect to 'power take-off' or PTO. Come to think of it, the same is true for the rear unit as well. The DC or AC motor will be part of the appliance to be driven - roto-tiller, snowblower, hydraulic pump (which has many uses) ... perhaps even a three-point hitch! I've ALWAYS wanted to have a 3 point hitch!

[thingstodo]

Today is the day to get the clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, and friction plate to go together and transfer rotation from the electric motor to the transmission ... a GRAND GOAL!

First picture is the transmission on the left, with the axles. Top right is the flywheel, below that is the clutch plate, and finally the pressure plate. The flywheel has all of the required bolts, as does the pressure plate. 298

Second picture is a side view of the same assortment of parts. 301

Third picture is the Netgain motor, the coupler, the transmission adapter, the flywheel, the clutch plate, and the pressure plate arranged kinda like they go together. The transmission is on the right

Put the flywheel, clutch plate and pressure plate together, then put that on the transmission. Things seem to turn OK. Use a level to measure how far the front of the flywheels is from the edge of the transmission, where the transmission adapter will fit. There is not very much room here.

Try to assemble the flywheel and clutch onto the motor adapter. ?how do I get to the allen screws to tighten the motor adapter onto the motor shaft? Shelve that for later, I guess.

With the motor adapter not tightened onto the motor shaft, try to get the clutch plate lined up with the splined shaft on the transmission, while supporting the motor, and not letting the transmission move around ... OH YEAH - and also find another hand to start out the bolts to keep everything together!

This is VERY painful and takes MANY attempts. I did get it ... sort of ... together ... eventually! There were noises when the motor shaft rotated, but it DID rotate, and the transmission output shafts DID turn.

We'll declare SUCCESS for tonight.

There is video. I'm behind on getting the video edited. I'll get it posted when I can.

[thingstodo]

With that success of yesterday - try to find out WHAT'S MAKING THAT NOISE!

Taking apart the motor from the transmission. This is HARD! Look through my garage and come up with ideas to support the motor ans transmission, but still allow them to slide together:
- put the transmission on my creeper. Use blocks to set up the motor. Failed - motor fell off the blocks when the alignment was not good enough on the spline
- block both up and use very long bolts to pull the parts together. Failed - bolts can't be tightened by hand and using a wrench takes a long time ... and still doesn't do the alignment

The alignment seems to be the big problem. The splines just won't fit!

Thanks to my stepson Andrew for the idea - put the motor VERTICAL, on blocks. Then do a manual alignment of the clutch plate over the center of the motor coupler ... so it's in the RIGHT SPOT ... GREAT IDEA!

First picture, motor standing on end 320

Transmission mounted on top of motor, alignment is OK. There is a noise and the motor will not turn by hand. I think the mounting bolts on the flywheel or on the pressure plate are hitting something. 323

So take it all apart again. HEH! The motor adpater comes off BEFORE the motor coupler .. so THAT's how you get to those Allen head screws!

Put JUST the flywheel back on. The noise is the same. Raise the flywheel a bit (maybe an eighth of an inch). The noise goes away. Measure how far the flywheel, clutch plate and pressure plate add up to above the transmission adapter. About 1.25 inches. That's more than the room I have in the transmission housing!

There are flat washers and lock washers on the transmission adapter plate. 329. Take out the flats and leave the lock washers. I took another picture, but you can't tell the difference.

Put it back together ... still a noise, but it turns. These are the bolts that hit the transmission adapter plate mounting bolts. 331. Raise the motor coupler the minimum required and screw it down with the allen head screws. 341 for the motor. 343 for the motor coupler. Put the flywheel (no noise when turning), then the clutch plate (make sure to center), then the pressure plate. All the screws in tightly. 345. Put the transmission back on top. And give it a turn ... it turns!

Now for something different. I saw a talk about centering the clutch on a motor. It recommended to set the whole thing up vertical and then run the electric motor with the mounting bolts a bit loose. The motor would center as it spun ... then tighten the bolts. This is a bit different. I want to center the clutch plate, so I will run the motor (in neutral) and press the clutch a few times to have it center, then release ... or that's the plan ..

Well, it was a bit of work to set up the batteries, controller, HVJB, LVJB, motor and transmission but it got done. And the centering worked well! I LIKE this method! There is video but it's going to take a bit to edit.

So NOW I get to put the transmission & motor horizontal, put the oil back into the transmission .. and RUN IT.

Much grunting and much cursing later (filling the transmission with oil was painful without a funnel) it was done. And I have video of the transmission running up in each gear including reverse.

Well, it's been 12 hours on and off today ... and I'm TIRED!

But there was MUCH progress today.

Too bad I had to try pressing in the clutch when everything was lying down. There's a NOISE again .. and I think it will stay until I put the motor back vertical and center the clutch! Oh well.

videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohACQ...QV7jV4YjKKSlww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNIf7...QV7jV4YjKKSlww

[thingstodo]

Time to make an aluminum frame to mount the motor, transmission, and all of the rest of the stuff into.

Started up my old cutoff saw (outside) and ... I heard the breaker trip in the garage immediately (bad) ... and ... it was snowing capacitor fluff!

So I unplugged the saw to investigate. A mouse had eaten away some of the starting capacitor on the 1.5 HP motor ... so the remainder of the insulation sort of EXPLODED out of the capacitor when I turned it on.

I think I need another saw!

I had been thinking about how much work it would be to set up the old saw plumb and square. It's a garage sale unit from years ago .. so I had been looking around for a saw for a while. There is a sale at Princess Auto this week so I went and splurged on a NEW saw. $70 plus tax for a 14 inch cutoff saw with a 1 inch arbor. YAY!

Now ... what was I supposed to cut?

My free trial of Alibre CAD software has expired. And I did not print out the list of parts (a simple list, but still a list) before it expired. SIGH!! uninstall, then reinstall, sign up for the trial again .... nope!

Do it again. Cycle power a lot (since it's windows). No dice.

OK - I could .. maybe .. buy the software if I had to. So I call the software company ... no answer from their SALES department ... perhaps I should just go back to bed!

I went out and set up a bench .. of sorts .. to do the cutting ... when I figure out what I'm cutting. 12 feet long, just behind my garage (I don't want metal filings in the garage, or the bits of metal from drilling, either). A lot of leveling was required on the bench. And I had to learn how to adjust guides on the new saw, and I had to gather some scrap wood to level the metal on either side of the saw before I cut it, so that the cuts would be vertical (plumb). Finally, I tested the cut on a few pieces of scrap thin tube I have. Several adjustments later and it's cutting pretty much plumb and square (at least, to the accuracy I can measure).

Try the software again. And this time the same procedure works ... go figure ... but it's too dark to do any cutting tonight. Perhaps tomorrow.

[thingstodo]

Get the aluminum pieces cut.

Verify that the cutoff saw still cuts plumb and square. A shim was adjusted, and it's good to less than 1/16 of an inch across a but of 2 inches. That's the smallest I can measure. HOWEVER, going by the amount of light that shows between the square and the cut edge, it's a lot better than 1/16. Perhaps less than 1/32.

So the saw is good. Now to cut the piece. Yesterday's 'optimizing' gave the following cut pattern:
40, 0.25 for the blade, 39.5, 0.25, 22.5, 0.25 and I have a piece of scrap - 17.25
40, 0.25, 39.5, 0.25, 22.5, 0.25 and I have a piece of scrap - 17.25
40, 0.25, 42.5, 0.25, 22.5, 0.25 and I have a piece of scrap - 14.25
40, 0.25, 42.5, 0.25, 22.5, 0.25 and I have a piece of scrap - 14.25

Cutting of the aluminum went well:
- measure and mark 10 foot long tube
- align on saw
- fine adjustment for piece on saw base to get length correct
- clamp in place
- pour water on piece
- cut through top and sides
- pour more water - it steams and cools the piece
- cut through the bottom
- support cut end when the cut goes through

Actual sizes varied by a small amount. I cut the 39.5 long, more like 39.625

Attached pictures - bench with chop saw (sorry about the fuzzy, out-of-focus picture), cut aluminum pile

Aluminum needs edges filed, rounded to get rid of sharp, dangerous edges.

[thingstodo]

Get the aluminum pieces filed.

Remove the wire edge of the cut pieces of aluminum with a small flat file

Work the flat file around the curved edges of the cut tube

Bevel the 90 degree edges by working the file in and out at different angles from 30 to 70 degrees (approximate)

Ready for drilling and bolting.

No pictures - it's tough to tell they are different without extreme close-ups