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01/22/01
Wow, it looks like I let this get way out of date again. With three websites, home remodeling, and an electric car project, it is a wonder this ever gets updated. I have made a few modifications in the past few months. After
having some battery problems (with used batteries what did I expect), I
decided the batteries needed more assistance than the Rudman Regs could
supply, so I switched to PowerCheq Equalizers. These are a kind of
rob Peter to pay Paul devices, that inter link batteries to shuffle power
until they are evenly charged. With older batteries such as mine
this can be a serious problem. The PowerCheq units the small black
boxes mounted on the aluminum angle running across behind the battery pack.
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Another project I have been working on is an on-board 120 VAC charger. I started with a $50 surplus "Fair radio" charger from Fair Radio Sales at http://www.fairradio.com/ (They have now sold out of these.) These aren't really chargers at all, but a multiple tap power supply that can switch between 0 and 135 volts at up to 20 amps. Since my car is 156 volts nominal, I added a 24 volt booster transformer I found on Ebay to push it higher. To make it all fit in the car I tore the charger apart and mounted the booster transformer on the left side and the primary transformer on the right. The small black box near the bottom of the picture contains the three relays that control the home built charger. The 12 VDC one is controlled by the low voltage alarm circuit of the E-meter and switched the charger on and off, the 120 VDC enables the E-meter alarm circuit when 120 VAC is connected to the car, and the 220 VAC one disables the circuit if 220 VAC is connected to the car. |
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On the right side I mounted the multi-tap transformer from the Fair Radio charger. The original voltage select switches can be seen under the black bar beside the battery pack. So far on my car I have found a setting of 10 on the course switch and 7 on the fine will bring the car to 100% charge without tripping a 15 amp breaker. Since this is about all one can expect from an opportunity charger, I am satisfied. I suspect that with a little more testing I should be able to identify three settings for 10 amp, 15 amp, and 20 amp service, and move switch from the two large rotary switches to a single three positions switch. |
| 07/25/01
Oh, my! I have let this go way way too long! Okay, what is the status of the Civic? Complete, operational, but crippled by poor batteries. The fancy EV-1 Delphi AGMs seem to have been in far worse condition than I was led to believe. While I have managed 46 miles on a charge I usually find one of the battery pairs failing shortly afterwards. I secured some additional Delphis as replacements, but after extensively testing them out of the car, I was only able to find two with even 80% of their rated capacity left. These things are supposed to deliver 53 amp hours, but most of mine can't manage 30. The result is my range has dropped to such a low level I can't use the car for my commute to and from work. When they say "Don't skimp on the batteries" they aren't kidding. Buy new, don't mess around. I have located some promising new replacement batteries, Johnson Controls Dynasty AGMs. These are 70 pounds each and are rated 12 volts 100 AH. With these 13 will have about the same capacity my doubled-up Delphis should have had. My local battery shop has offered a good deal on the Dynastys, only $106 each. The bad news is they are shaped nothing like the Delphis so I will have to build new battery racks to hold them. They will warranty them though. I probably would have put in the new set long ago, but in January I found myself in possession of a '94 Dodge TEVan. This OEM electric van, (not a conversion), while a comfortable and capable vehicle has all the personality of a refrigerator, so I named it "Kelvin" (short for Kelvinator). It has good range, but as soon as the Civic gets her new batteries the van will be going away. One EV is enough, two is silly. |
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