Day 4

Today I brought our 1991 Dodge Colt EV over and after the a.m. lecture on chapter 8 of Convert It everybody got to examine and drive it and ask questions, only some of which I could answer!

The big missed photo opportunity of the day was the EV being rolled into the shop to get its batteries watered instead of driven in. Why? Because after having been driven by everyone and neatly parked, it suddenly would not start up again. Hmmmmm. Now we learned how to trouble-shoot a non-starting EV.

First, check the throttle linkage to the potbox. This, I learned, means press the accelerator and check to see if that switch on top moves when you do it. The potbox opens the connection to the controller according to how much the throttle is depressed, which allows you to speed up and slow down. If it moves, it works.

Since the potbox communicates with the controller, as both our auto techs and Mike immediately pointed out, now we had to check the controller. First step: is it powered? When I turn the key in the ignition, the controller turns on via the auxiliary 12-volt battery (which operates all the electrical systems in the car: windshield wipers, turn signal indicators, lights, heat, and so forth -- and also sends power to the controller). So, check the auxiliary battery. It turned out both contacts were loose, and one fell off when Paul touched it. After he cleaned and tightened them, the problem was solved.

All our battery posts and contacts need cleaning on the EV, I was informed, and there is one "temporary fix" where someone bolted down a connection instead of crimping the lug and another lug that's broken. Everywhere that this is the case (and also where the auxiliary battery is touching metal), resistance is being created and voltage is leaking out of our system. This probably explains why the Colt's performance has been lackluster. I was unable to convince anybody that cleaning cruddy contacts on our other car was a legitimate part of the conversion workshop curriculum, so I guess we will have to do our own maintenance ... though the batteries did get watered!

After lunch we had a planning meeting and got a master schedule up for the next four days. It felt great to have jobs identified and a sense of the time frame.

The big hurdle of the week has been the adaptor plate that connects the transaxle to the electric motor. It needed to be modified to work on a Vanagon, and Bill and Larry and Barry have been laboring for a couple of days on it and coming up with possible workarounds in case we couldn't get it re-machined. Today the school machinist kindly performed the modification for us and now we can move on mounting the motor and transmission -- whew.

Similarly, we were stumped for a bit on battery box fabrication because when we were planning to use aluminum, we lacked both materials and a TIG-certified welder. (One thing I have learned from this course is that welding aluminum is much more difficult than welding steel, and lots of extraordinarily competent metalworkers turn pale and shudder when you ask them if they happen to be TIG-certified.) Once we switched over to steel, all we lacked was materials (though we will be able to use all the help we can get with fabrication), and of course now we needed them immediately, but fortunately there is a supplier not far away and after a little more sweating and squirming we also figured out a way to pick our 4 8x10 sheets up first thing tomorrow morning -- thanks to Larry and Larry's wife's F-250.

Here are some websites I wish I had looked at for ideas about battery box construction before the end of the first week!

http://www.cameronsoftware.com/ev/EV_BatteryBoxDesign.html
(very nice set of tables and considerations)


http://www.evadc.org/build_battery_box.html


http://www.driveev.com/jeepev/convpgs/battboxes.php

We had a field trip in the afternoon, which I think I will document in a separate post.

Day Three

Yesterday was energizing, today was tiring! We had an a.m. review of chapters 5 & 6 in Convert It, and then broke into shop for the latter portion of the morning. Here's a list of the tasks that were accomplished between 10:00 and 12:00:

• clutch arm removed from transaxle
• instrument cluster pulled and gauge mockup begun
• seats and interior panels removed from van
• supports cut off back seat to get it to fit onto the battery boxes
• concentricity and clearances checked on clutch adaptor, and measurements taken for size of jig
• more wires tied
• began cutting battery box spacers (Lynn and Peter brought in a salvaged sheet of plastic -- the old bottom of an above-ground pool -- for this purpose)
  
• determined battery placement for 12 volt system
• solved battery box placement by eliminating second seat from van
  

After lunch we regrouped and reported on the morning's activities. Afshin had the insight that if we were no longer constrained by the second seat's size, we could make 2 equal-size battery arrays with 10 apiece, instead of the 3 (10, 8 and 2) that we had been tentatively working on. There were many advantages to this proposal, so it was approved. Another recommendation that came up in the afternoon was to swap a deep cycle 12 volt battery in for the existing 12 volt battery, which will still be called upon to power the electric heater, defroster, and lights of the van -- demands which place more drain on the typical auto battery than it is really designed for. We found a local source for the deep cycle 12v battery. An electric heater is en route from EVAmerica, but meanwhile Dan (with an enthusiastic crowd behind him) was proposing that we heat and defrost the van with 12-volt hair dryers instead, or at least use them as defrosters. I thought they were pulling my leg, but apparently they do exist! If the electric heater doesn't fit where we want to put it, perhaps we'll try this original solution.

In addition to the evaluation of the heater/defroster system on the VW, work proceeded in the shop and the classroom:

• back seat spacing was measured for battery placement
• fuse locations were determined
• the hydraulic line for the slave cylinder was cut and the line welded up
• work continued on the instrument cluster array
  
• investigations continued on the battery boxes: what type of metal, how much of it, price, and availability
• inquiries made about acid-neutralizing battery mat price and availability (locally not available in large sheets, only in 8 x 12 pieces)
  
• Paul gave welding lessons to Peter and Kevin

It was lucky we'd debriefed in the morning, because by 3:30 it was hard to remember back that far!

Photos:



Mike is creating battery spacers; Lynn is brazing the hydraulic line.

Afshin and Larry are determining the fuse layout.


Lynn explains how they removed the transaxle to Kevin; Dan shows progress on the instrument panel.


Paul is giving Peter and Kevin welding lessons, and politely suggesting that I might not want to attempt to photograph the arc.


Here is a trick from Dan: cap the axles with rubber gloves to keep them from dripping grease on the floor (or in your ear).

Bill spent a lot of the afternoon trying to resolve the battery box fabrication challenge. After getting a price quote on aluminum ... we decided to go with steel. That is within our budget, but it would be good if we had it in hand sooner, rather than later. Actually, it would be good if we had had it yesterday, and had fabricated the boxes today, but hey, then where would the challenge and thrills be?

Thanks for following along!