|
Oct. 8th, been crunching
some numbers after Friday's 72 Volt runs. I wanted to know the RPM that my motor was turning. I went to this link
http://www.speedworldmotorplex.com/calc.htm and first calculated my tire size (235/75/15) and then calculated my mph for RPM range (my rear end is a 3.36 presently)
and came up with around 1875 rpm for my 48mph runs Friday night. This is verified by using the last calculation of rear end
gearing.
Just for kicks, go back to the mph for rpm
range formula and insert the 2.56 rear gear ratio into the formula and look at the results.
I bench tested my motor at 4000 rpm steady
with 24 Volts applied and it sit there and ran all day at 4000 rpm. It is rated at 5500 rpm.
With my 2.56 posi I have laying in the garage
installed, I might have to take off in 24V and then shift to 48V, 72V, and 96V.
That's my new goal, 134 mph in the 1/4 mile. If I am at 2000 rpm at 72V then 144V should get me to 4000 rpm and
134 mph in the 1/4 mile.
It will be interesting
to look back on this day's update in the future.
Video of 13.57 Seconds 1/8 mile 72 Volt Chevelle Run(7meg)
Video of 13.52 Seconds 1/8 mile 72 Volt Chevelle Run (7meg)
Video of 13.39 Seconds 1/8 mile 72 Volt Chevelle Run (5meg)
| My old Ford and Old Chevelle going to the Races |
|
| This was first race at 72 Volts for the Chevelle and the Horizon 12D2000 batteries |
Oct. 7th, The Chevelle kicked butt
last night. Everything worked perfect, the Horizon 12D2000's, the Poormans's Controller, the Racing Powerglide, the big GE
Motor (After four runs and two back to back without charging, the motor was not even warm, to this day, I have never
felt it warm) and even the Rookie at the control's. The existing World Record for the 1/8 mile at 72 Volts in the Street
Conversion Class is 14.993. (I put my headliner back in so I could attempt the Street Conversion Class.) I made four runs
before my generator ran out of gas and I had to quit. The Chevelle's times were 13.39, 13.52, 13.52 & 13.57, all around
48mph. These times also are faster than the existing 96 Volt Street Conversion times. The Modified Conversion 96 Volt class
is a little different story. Dave Cloud's 9.22 seconds is going to be hard to beat, but that is my goal. I havn't even installed
my secret weapon yet, my 2.56 posi rear end. Should be much faster geared higher and I have the motor and batteries that can
handle it. The last two runs were back to back without recharging the batteries. The 13.57 run was with the 12D2000's at a
starting voltage of 12.6 Volts. So all you wannabe Electric Drag Racers get out there and hit the track. You can do anything
you dream. Just don't give up. You don't need a $5000 controller to compete. My words to live by are, Dream It, Plan It, Do
It. These words became a reality for me a few years ago when my dog (Huckleberry) and I left Houston in a beat up old Trojan
32' Cabin Cruiser and went down the ship channel to the intercoastal over to the Mississippi River and up the River to Vicksburg.
No marina's along the Ole Miss, you have to tie up to a tree every night. Anyway, anything is possible if you believe and
don't give up. The runs went like this, (there will be more in the Racing link), from my parking area, I used the low voltage
battery system(6V & 12V batteries up front) to get to the staging lines and around the water to the lights. A couple of
times I floored it to the High Voltage Battery System with Voltage Selector in 24V mode. This briefly gave me a little
more speed to coast to the staging lines. Once I was at the staging lights the 6V battery let me creep foward till my
stage lights lit. When I hold the brake with the 6V battery engaged the motor pulls about 300 amps. This is a lot better than
last time where I had to creep foward using the 12V with the brake held at 800 amps. So I am at the staging lights holding
the brake with the 6V battery engaged, then the noisy ICE racer pulls beside me and stages, (This was the first time I raced
with another racer, three of the runs were like this and I beat all three off the line) when the
first yellow light lit, I pressed the pedal to engage the 12V Orbital and pulled 800 amps until the last yellow light
lit before the green light. When I saw the last yellow light, I floored it (before this point, I had to make sure that
the rachet shifter was racheted into low and the High Speed Voltage System Voltage Selector was in the 48V mode.) and
took off with 48 Volts applied to the motor. About 1 or 2 seconds later, I shifted the High Speed Voltage System Voltage Selector
(HSVSVS) into 72V mode. After another couple of seconds, I pressed the field weakening button on the dash. Then I slammed
it into Drive. (With the rachet shifter you don't have to worry about going into neutral or reverse........if you have it
racheted!) So after a few seconds in Drive, I hit the field weakening button again and hold till the end of the race. I was
not sure where the 1/8 mile ended, so I kept the field weakening button held till I saw my time on the board. Sure was nice
to see that first 13.5 run. And it was still picking up speed. Yesterday, I changed my field weakening cables from 4/0 to
2 ga. wire. When I was testing the field weakening button on runs around the neighborhood, I could hear the brushes arcing
from too much Field Weakening so I went with the smaller cable. And still through the 1' of 3/8 threaded rod. For my 1/4 mile
runs coming soon, I will have multiple Field Weakening buttons on the dash. When doing a conversion, I think it is really
nice to be able to hear and smell what is hapening to your conversion. I could smell the Orbital's gassing when I put 2000
amps on a single Orbital. That is why I went to the 12D2000's. I can hear the brushes arcing when I weaken the fields too
much. Learn to use and trust your own senses while doing a conversion. Learn all you can from listening to others, but learn
also from real world experience, trial and error and yourself. So that is how my Friday night at the races went.
Video of Dash Gauges while Engaging High Speed Voltage Selector(6meg)
Video of High Speed Voltage Selector with Motor Online(4meg)
Video of High Speed Voltage Selector with contactors(2meg)
Video of High Speed Voltage Selector(2meg)
| Chevelle's High Speed Battery System Selector #1 |
|
| Just copper bolts making contact imbeded in Oak wood with bearing in handle |
| Chevelle's High Speed Battery System Contactors |
|
| These Contactor pull and release as you move the High Speed Voltage Selector |
Oct. 1st, Starting to get some miles
around town and discharges on the 12D2000's. Took the Chevelle and had it inspected so now I am completely legal and don't
have to worry about being pulled over. Controller still working good. Starting to get the hang of how to control my controller.
I turn the key on, the 6V golf cart battery turns the motor slowly to build up pressure. I can go slowly in reverse with just
the 6V applied. Foward needs just a little more help so I press the gas pedal slightly and the 12V Orbital kicks in and moves
the Chevelle slowly foward. I can load the Chevelle on the trailer with just the 12V applied. Once I start moving foward
with the 12V Orbital, I floor the gas pedal and the 12V kicks out and the first two 12D2000's kick in. (Assuming I have my
Voltage hand shifter in the 24V position) I usually shift to drive when in 24V mode. This is good for slow crusing. If I need
to accelerate more quickly, I move the Voltage hand shifter to the 48 Volt position while keeping the pedal floored. Once
up to speed, at 48V, I just go off and on with the pedal to keep it at a certain speed. Then on a large hill or for quicker
acceleration, I move the Voltage hand shifter to the 72V position. I have not checked top end at 72V, but its well over 50mph.
When leaving the inspection station (Everyone just loved it) I had to get across a double highway in an hurry and from the
rolling 12V mode, I shifted the Voltage hand shifter to the 48V position and floored it and left with a little tire squeal
to get across the highway. The Powerglide is getting a workout while I am learning how to control my controller and work my
rachet shifter. I forgot to put it it rachet mode and when I shifted it went from low to neutral and I jerked it back into
drive while the motor was reving and it took a bit hit but is still working fine. I now carry two Vector 30 Smart chargers
with me. I charge two batteries at a time and can leave them without monitoring the voltage levels on my batteries. They will
not go over 14.5 volts and have a voltmeter built in via a push button. Every so often I take the 12D2000's to a higher voltage
at a couple of amps for a couple of hours. I also have a charger for the 6V and 12V batteries on board that stays with the
Chevelle. So my controller is not perfect, but it gets a full size vehicle around with really good accelleration.
| Six Horizon 12D2000 Batteries in 64 Chevelle |
|
| I have had two of these open up under load, but these 6 are handling the Chevelle's 2000 Amp Launch |
| Chevelle's Low Speed Battery System |
|
| Turn the key on and the 6 Volt supplies Idle, Press the original gas pedal & the Orbital takes over |
September 30th, Finally, I have six
Horizon 12D2000 batteries mounted in the trunk without any of them opening up under load. (This is too long of story to go
into, but I am staying with the 12D2000's for now) I put 72 volts on the Chevelle's motor for the first time and it handled
it well. My controller worked well also. (I also took off the supressors that were across the coils on
my 48V contactors and they have not held shut anymore) I have a hand shift beside the tranny shifter that shifts from
24 Volts to 48 Volts to 72 Volts. I shifted to from 24 Volts to 72 Volts while in park and motor reved up nicely.(When
using a controller like this {using 24V more than 48V or 72V}, I have found that charging each battery separately is
a must! When I hooked my 48V charger up to batteries 1-4, batteries 3 & 4 went to 15V before 1& 2 were up
to 13.5V. If you don't want to ruin your AGM's, you need to monitor them while charging. I now put a Vector 30 amp
Smart charger on each battery and forget it. They will go to 14.5V and taper down to 0 amps. I get these chargers at
Lowe's.) Then the big test came and I took the Chevelle for a spin and everything worked fine and at 72 Volts
and 1600 amps, the motor was just purring along. I have not tried a 72V launch yet, just the shift from 48V to 72V.
Don't really want to break anything yet. Might go for the 72V Modified conversion record this weekend. My headliner is out
so that disqualifies me for the street conversion attempt. But my time should be better than the existing times for 72V and
96V street conversion records. Also got a new motor for my next electric motorcycle. Its a 2HP, as stated on surpluscenter.com
, but it is bigger than the 11 HP motor I had on my last Electric motorcycle. Got another titled KZ frame as well. Still no
rev limiter R & D. Need to work on that before I mess up my motor.
| Middle contact had a little problem |
|
| Before all runs now, I will check for debris under contacts and make sure I have 48V feed |
| The 2 contactors to the left are the 72V feed |
|
| Top right contactor is 24V feed and bottom right is 48V feed. |
| Maybe one day I wil have 6 good Horizon 12D2000's |
|
| When I made the 60V runs, I had the open one still in there |
August 8th, I took the open 12D2000
out last night so I could get the serial number and send it to JB at Thundersports Racing so he could get me another battery.
I will try and get some pictures of the welded contactor asap. I am pondering why the other contactor remained closed also.
On the 72V(or 60V because of the open 12D2000 and my strap around procedure) circuit, I had two contactors in series. My 2000
amp contactors are only rated at 60V, so I put two in series to handle the higher voltage. They would be the ones to handle
the 96V when I got to that point. So the one welded and the other one stayed energized and shut even though the ground from
my pedal was removed. After I pulled the emergency disconnect, I went to the trunk to check out the damage and found the middle
contact of one of the contactors almost welded off and the other contactor of the two in series still holding shut. I pried
the welded one open and the non-welded one stayed shut until I pryed that one open. They both had battery (36V) from a 30A
circuit breaker applied to them at all times. I know the ground from my pedal was gone because when I pried them loose, they
stayed open. The coil grounds of the two contactors in series are tied together. I have no diodes on the coils because I want
them to open and close faster and I am not protecting any circuit. They seem to have some kind of surge supressor on them.
Might have to take that off. I just read in an archive that using two contactors in series is also good for saftey because
if one welded shut the other would open. Not the case. JB at ThunderSports Racing said he would replace the 2nd open
12D2000 this week. He is testing them at 30 amps and is saying they are good. The spec says they should handle 1776 amps for
one minute. I am asking of them to handle 1600 amps for a couple of seconds and am finding the bad ones. When I change from
my 3.36 rear to my 2.56 posi, the amperage should be well over 2000 amps. But the 12D2000's are supposed to supply 2400 amps
of desiel cranking power. I guess it is eaiser to write specs on batteries than to make them stand up to it. We shall see.
Now more than ever, I want to have some kind of rev limiter
and the only solution I can see for now is the winding across the armature thing. I am going to start with 72V and have a
winding of 14 Ga wire that will only pull a few amps on 72V and see if that will limit my rpm when the motor has no load.
Testing this will be risky to my motor but I want to be Clear on this and if it will work. I have a bunch of 1000 foot rolls
of 14 ga wire that I can adjust for a few amps at 72V and hook across the armature and see what happens. Also rearrange my
contactors and redesign my controller. (Again) And wait on my other 12D2000.
| Has the 12D2000 changed names? |
|
| I asked JB at Thundersports Racing but have not heard back yet |
| The Chevelle's Trunk Area minus a 12D2000 |
|
| The Air bags do a good job of holding everything up |
| I'll get her back to the track one of these days |
|
| Just could not believe the difference between 48V and 60V |
August 5th, had fun today! My Horizon
battery rep delivered my other 12D2000 battery today to make up for the one that opened up. Now I could have my 72 Volt string
and test the Chevelle on 72 Volts for the first time. Got it all hooked up and put the 72V string on the motor while in park
and another 12D2000 opened up. Not the one he just brought but the mate to the one that opened up that was testing good on
200 amps. Anyway, I said screw it and bypassed that 12D2000 and wired the Chevelle for 60 Volts. Reved it up in park again
and they held. Probably a quick 800 amps from the 12V turning the motor and then dropped back real quick. But I did not let
it on long because it would have over reved and that would be bad. Now for the fun part. I take the Chevelle out to my test
field. I always test it in the dirt before I take it to the pavement. I turn on the key and the 6V battery builds up
pressure. I lightly press the pedal and the 12V kicks in and I drive it to the field starting point and from a rolling start,
I floor it and the 60 Volts is applied to the motor. I rewired my controller to go from 12V to 60V instead of the steps that
I usually take. When the 60V hit the motor, off I went, tires throwing dirt everywhere. Mostly the one wheel burn. Need to
put in my posi. I tried about 8 launches, each one pulling 1600 amps on launch. Quite impressive acceleration on 60V.
What a difference from 48V. Can't wait for 72V. I think the 12D2000's have potential but they have problems at the present.
A new model is coming out in the fall. So the five I have can handle the 1600 amp launchs with ease. On the eighth launch,
my contactors welded shut and I had to pull the emergency disconnect. It was a good test for that. I was running out of field
and heading for my motorhome and a brick wall. It worked like a charm and killed the motor quickly without sparks. The
battery that opened up was the 3rd battery and I left it in there and strapped around it. My 48V supply to the contactors
was now 36V and could of been why the contactors welded shut. On that last run I was winding it out and heard the sparking
start about mid run. It probably did not pull hard enough on the 36V. So I drove it back to the garage on the 12V battery
up front. I REALLY like my 12V redundant system to get around if the main pack fails. So I get back to the garage and check
the voltage on the 5 12D2000's and they were all about 12.5 volts. Not bad for 8 1600 amp launches. After 8 1600 amp launches
and runs, my big GE motor was still not even warm. I still have never felt it warm. I am commited with the 12D2000's
and will abuse them, and then abuse them some more and see what they have. I have waited a long time to put more than 48 Volts
on the Chevelle and did I have an EV grin today! Got a few problems to figure out, but that's the norm.
| The Chevelle's Controller as of 7/20/06 |
|
| It will probably change tomorrow, got some new diodes in and might use them to simplify the wiring |
| These look to be around 400 amp diodes |
|
| I got 10 of them on ebay for a few bucks. They did not look that big in the auction |
July 20th, tried drawing the schematic
for my controller before I forgot how I had it. It seems to change daily. I just got some big diodes in from ebay and I might
eliminate the auxillary contacts for switching from one contactor to another and just use diodes. It would be a little faster
and better on the drivetrain.
| Old Telco 150 Amp, 48 Volt Charger |
|
| Removed two 150 amp, 200 volt diodes with heat sink |
| Nice little heat sink and termination points |
|
| Had to parallel the diodes |
| 6V battery installed with diodes for idling |
|
| Keeps pressure on the Powerglide really nice |
July 16th, Redesigned my controller
on the Chevelle. I took out one of the 12V Orbitals up front and installed a 220AH 6V battery. The negative of this
battery is connected to the negative of the 12V battery. The positive of the 6V battery goes through a 225 amp circuit breaker,
then two 150 amp diodes and on to the motor. When I turn the original key on the main contactor closes and the 6V (This is
really about 5V after going through the diodes and cabling) turns the motor and supplies pressure to the Powerglide. This
is about 80-100 amps depending on how hot the fluid is. In other words, a nice idle. I can shift through the gears, R,N,D,L
while holding the brake, just like normal. In low, holding the brake the amps go to 200 amps, not bad. In reverse, it is a
little higher. When I release the brake, with just the 6V battery, the Chevelle creeps foward, if I need a little more foward
momentum, I just press the gas pedal and the 12V contactor closes and bypasses the 6V battery and diodes and engages
the 12V Orbital. (On 12V, I can load the Chevelle up the ramps and on the the trailer and move around pretty good. But I was
always missing the creeping foward real slow, like moving up to the staging lights at the track.) I only have tested
it on the trailer so far but can not wait for a real ground test. I have had this on my mind for a while, installing a 6V
battery, but have always put it off because I did not have any more contactors laying around and did not want the complexity
of the circuit for the change from 6V to 12V using a couple more contactors. THEN, !!!!!!!, I started talking to Darin from
BadFish Racing about automatic transmissions and the problems with keeping the pressure up and he suggested using diodes for
the change from 6V to 12V. Sometimes when you work all by yourself, you just miss the simple solution to problems. Here in
North Texas, there just isn't anyone in town that is into this sort of thing. So anyway, I had some diodes in some old
150A 48V chargers laying around and they had their own little heat sink and everything and this fit the bill just fine. Thanks
Darin, it works great. Also installing a separate on board charger for the 12V Orbital and the 6V battery.
July 14th, Already found another Drag
Bike Frame. Item number 270007056467 on ebay. If it does not go too
high and if I win the bid, and if I can find a way to get up there, I will start with this one. Maybe someone near Fairborn,
Ohio could pick it up for me and help with coridinating the shipping. Did I ever tell you that dreaming is one of the Poorman's
favorite things. I already have a bid on a 72V 9 inch Kostov. Also working on the controller for the Chevelle today. Installing
a 6V battery through some diodes for just enough voltage to keep the pump pumping before I press the pedal and supply the
12V to the motor. Lots to do. Let me know if anyone is near Fairborn, Ohio.
July 13th, Sold my Electric Motorcycle.
Time to start on another one.
July 8th, Yesterday,
I made the Kawasaki a ridged frame by taking the springs off the shocks. This lowered it quite a bit in the rear. My feet
now touch the ground. I practiced holding the front brake and turning full throttle (24V) to the motor and did several burnouts.
I can control it much better now. Lowering the front is next for the bike along with adding a 3rd battery for highway cruising.
Today, I put a front motor mount on the Chevelle. I have been wanting to do this for a while. I am going to be getting into
higher voltages and doing burn outs and I need the motor really secure. I used 5/16 steel to do this, with no welding or
machine shop work. The angle iron cost about $5 and the flat steel was given to me when I went asking a fabrication shop for
a piece of steel.
Video of "Actual" Motorcycle Controller (4M)
| 12 Volt Blower for motor cooling |
|
| I wired it to the 2nd battery. The first battery is always lower because it is used for slow speeds |
July 2nd, Installed a blower on the
motor of the Motorcycle. The motor does not have a fan inside. Trying to get it ready for an 8 mile round trip commute to
work and back. Looking for a couple of small on board chargers also. Their is a new line of chargers popping up everywhere.
I have tried the Vector's 30 Amp. But they only go to about 14.3 Volts on the AGM setting. I had one blow up when I hooked
it to a dead 12V battery (One of the Orbitals on the bike. Someone rode the bike without asking and ran the Orbital down to
6V and let it sit for a few days when I was gone to Joliet) that read 6V off line. Might try one of the other brand of
new AGM chargers.
Video of 2000 Amp 2 Group (12/24, 24/48, ect) Motorcycle Controller (2M)
July 1st, We took the Electric Motorcycle
to a bike show and won Top Non-American Award. I put a new controller just like the Chevelle's on the bike and it works great.
Turn the throttle a little and you take off on 12 Volts, turn the throttle full and kick in 24 Volts. Turn the throttle real
fast to max and you take off in 24 Volt mode. (Good for Racing) On 24V it will go 43 mph in the 1/8 mile, not sure of the
time, and a top speed with field weakening of 50mph. When you turn the throttle to full, it pulls a 12V relay which transfers
from the 12V contactor to the 24V contactor. And they are wired through each other's aux contacts so they can't be on at the
same time. I'll get a video of it soon and post. The good looking guy with the E bike is Alex Trevino.
June 27th, been thinking more about
the rpm limiter by adding a winding to the armature. Sooner or later something is going to break and its a gamble weather
or not I can get to the Emergency Disconnect in time. Here is what I read:
A series motor gets its field power from the armature current. At no
load, armature current approaches zero, so field
current approaches
zero, and it can overspeed. A no-load series motor running at well under
its rated voltage (like
1/4th or less) will generally run very fast, but
not overspeed. Nuch above this, though, and you are in danger of it
rapidly
disassembling itself!
Or, you can add a small shunt winding to the series motor. The shunt
winding is connected across
the armature, to provide at least a weak
field so the motor won't overspeed. This is common in industrial EVs.
This is what I am going to play with. If it works (it still does not make sense
to me across the armature. The compound wound motors have the shunt winding inside the motor as a field) and I can limit the
rpm around 3500 rpm, I will have it where it is activated all the time except for when the Field Weakening button is pushed.
By the time I press the Field Weakening button, most chances of something breaking is over and I just need a little bit more
of gentle speed. So with the same contactor and its aux contacts, I can unlimit the rpm and decrease the field strength
and have a good 1/4 mile time. Sounds like a plan!
I had a garage sale the other day and had the Electric motorcycle for
sale and showed someone how it worked and when I got back from a test ride, they said "Its a two speed", and I said "No, its
just got a Field Weakening Button" . It is just like a "whole nother gear" .
Video, 24V Motor Test with Powerglide in Neutral (17Mb)
| 24 Volt Motor test |
|
| Good Test for both Motor and Powerglide |
June 25th, While I am waiting on my
Horizon 12D2000 batteries, I thought I would do some tests. I only have 5 good (Not open) 12D2000's so I rigged the motor
up for 24 volts. This way, I could check for vibrations in motor and Powerglide and seat my brushes a little better.
They still have not fully recovered from a 2000 amp launch in Field Weakening Mode. I now have a push button instead of a
toggle. The motor sounds really good at high rpm's with no vibrations in motor or Powerglide. I am estimating the rpm around
3000. I bench tested the motor at 24 Volts with no load of any kind and watched it go around 4000 rpm. So with the Powerglide
mounted on back it is a little slower. Got to figure out some kind of rpm monitor. Also want to limit the rpm somehow. I heard
on the EVDL that you can limit the rpm by installing a field across the armature. I messed around with compound wound motors
a little and they were really nice. Just throw the voltage at them and they go to a certain rpm and just hold. But it
doesn't make sense to me to put it across the armature. I will have to play with that one.
Video of 42' Yacht's Electric Motor
| 1959 Berkeley |
|
| 12 HP 72 Volt Compound Wound Motor |
| This was my home for a couple of years |
|
| I got it pretty cheap because I had to keep 3 bilge pumps running at all times |
June 22nd, I have not really said much
about my conversion thoughts, but here it is:
"When in Doubt, Convert"
In the last couple of years I have learned so much about EV's and EV conversion.
I have converted a 42 foot Yacht (Actually, this was more of a Hybrid), a 2000 Kia, a 1972 Sears
Garden Tractor, a 1959 Berkeley, a 72 Volkswagen, an 81 Kawasaki and the 64 Chevelle.
Each one gets better and better. I just don't believe you should try and make
your first one perfect. Find something to learn on!
| 2000 Kia Engine compartment |
|
| 12 HP 72V Compound Wound Motor |
| 1964 Chevelle Malibu 4 door |
|
| Two World Records and counting |
| 1972 Sears Garden Tractor with 12HP Motor |
|
| The compound wound motor on this EV was really nice, it would just take whatever amps it needed |
| 12 HP 72V Motor rigged to Port Chrysler 440 |
|
| What a trip it was to go in and out of dock and cruise with this Electric 42 foot Yacht |
| Now at 36 Volts, 55mph in the 1/8 mile |
|
| 800 Amp Launches plus Field Weakening |
| The shift is now between 12V & 36V |
|
| Working on foot shift control |
June 18, My battery situation on the
Chevelle is in limbo until my supplier buys back the 12D2000's and I can get some more. So the 72 Volt test is going to have
to wait. In the meantime, I changed the motorcycle from 24V to 36V. What a difference!!! With me on it (240 lbs), it does
55mph in the 1/8 mile at 36 Volts. Not sure of the time but I have to be really careful to keep the front end down during
launch. The Orbitals are supplying 800 plus amps on launch, it then tapers to 300, hit the Field Weakening button and back
to 500 amps and then down again. I am just about ready to tear the whole bike down and put everything on a lighter, lower
frame. (So my feet can reach the ground) If I can figure out how to put in a two speed tranny, the NEDRA records should be
in easy reach. Also want to change the hand shift controller to a foot shift controller. I heard somewhere that a rider must
keep both hands on the bars at all times in a NRHA run down the strip. I have not seen it in the NHRA rule book, but it is
probably in there. Darin at Badfish Racing (www.badfishracing.net) is using a sprag clutch and I am looking into that. Check out his bike sometime at the above site. Pretty awesome looking.
He holds the 48V Nedra record for motorcycles. (For now) The motor on my bike is a 60V motor so I have a lot more voltage
I can throw at it. But right now at 36V, it is fun to ride.
| My 72 Volt 30 amp Charger |
|
| One Lorain 48V and Two Vector 12V |
| Six 12D2000's Installed |
|
| One Marine Battery to replace the Open 12D2000 |
June 11th, Got my six 12D2000's
installed and recabled and started a 200 amp load test @ 72V and heard a little sound from one of the batteries. Its always
something. One of the new 12D2000's had went open. And they were looking so good, all in there side by side with new buss
bar down to the terminals. So I put one of my Marine batts in place of the bad 12D2000 and the test worked fine. The Marine
battery will last four minutes at the 200 amps before I terminate the test when the Marine battery reaches 10.2 Volts. The
other 5 12D2000's are still around 11 volts. When I was testing just four 12D2000's they all lasted 13 minutes at 200 amps.
And I think two of those are very used batteries. They drop out drastically and go from 10.5V to 9V to 8V in a matter of 10
seconds. And always at 13 minutes into the 200 amp load test while the other two remain around 11 volts.
When I bought my 12D2000's from my supplier, it seems he
had been giving me "Demos" and "Display" batteries instead of new ones. We had sort of a verbal warrenty, hope he stands by
his word. The 12D2000's(The three that are good) seem to like the load tests and the work because their off line voltage is
now around 12.75 instead of the 12.4 or 12.5 that most had been. My 72V charger consists of a 48V telco 50 amp charger which
I set the current limit at 30 amps and two new Vector 30 amp chargers that will go to 14.2 volts and hold. And I set the 48V
charger to 14.2 so all 6 of my batteries(5 12D2000's and 1 Marine) get a 14.2 Volt charge at 30 amps. Did about 4 load tests
today and recharged while monitoring the voltage on all batteries. None are going any higher than the rest. My load box is
a salt water load box and I can vary the load from 10 amps to 1000 amps by just adding more salt. It also doubles as a 1000
amp controller but I quit using it because it was so messy in a mobile situation. Still have to work out the switch from 48V
to 72V with the contactors. I also designed it for an easy transition to 96 volts. Then I will switch from 48V to 96V on the
fly. My 12V batteries(Two Orbitals) are in the front and are my low speed and redundant battery system. A little bit of gas
pedal turns on 12V to the motor and more gas pedal pulls a 12V relay which turns off the 12V contactor and turns on the 48V
contactor, then a hand shift lever switches from 48V to 72V or 96V. The low speed contactor and high speed contactors are
wired through each others auxillary contacts so both can not be on at the same time. But is almost instant, and when I hold
the brake on the 12V system, I am pulling 600amps, so I have plenty of back emf built up before the 48V switch and the 2000
amp launch. So plenty to do and learn. Can't wait to test the speed at 72 Volts.
| The Race was cancelled |
|
| Maybe next year |
May 20th, Just got back from Joliet
where the High Voltage Nationals were cancelled. Did not take the Motorhome and Chevelle and was glad of that. I had two more
Horizon 12D2000's waiting on me to install when I got back. This will make the Chevelle 72 Volts with another record attempt
coming soon.
|
