Testing out an LED battery pack gauge that reveals a couple of weak batteries.
Schemati
Testing out an LED battery pack gauge that reveals a couple of weak batteries.
Schematic available here: http://www.evconvert.com/article/led-bargraph-battery-monito r#c002474
Here's the full text from the video:
- May 7, 2008
- Testing out an LED battery pack monitor.
- Background: the ForkenSwift runs on used batteries
- Graciously donated by other EV owners.
- (Thanks, Fred!)
- (Thanks, Allan!)
- But there's a problem with older, mismatched batteries.
- They have different capacities, so they run down at different rates.
- So, just watching the pack voltage with a multimeter isn't good enough...
- ...because it won't tell you when an INDIVIDUAL battery is out of juice.
- And if you keep running the weakest batteries down too low...
- You'll soon have a growing pile of dead & damaged batteries.
- Ask me how I know this :-)
- The solution?
- A display that shows the voltage of each battery in the pack at a glance.
- (Eight 6 volt batteries in the ForkenSwift)
[Next subtitles shown while driving, showing the LED gauge in action.]
- Stopped. Accelerating... Changing gears. Accelerating... Changing gears. Accelerating...
- Batteries #1 and #6 (left to right) are weakest. #2 and #4 are strongest.
- Coasting...
- The lowest LED in each column lights up at 5.25 volts.
- Going below 5.25v risks damaging the battery.
- The display shows why the weakest battery in the pack is the limiting factor for range (and power).
- It was made by a clever EV owner in the UK. (Thanks, James!)
- Cool eh?
- The display will make it easier to finally sort through the batteries...
- ... identify the duds, and put together an "A pack" and
a "B pack".
- Nothing like a rolling load tester!
http://forkenswift.com
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Added: 2 months ago
Views: 5,595
Since the car has no clutch, people often ask how I change gears. The purpose of this vid
Since the car has no clutch, people often ask how I change gears. The purpose of this video is to show just that.
EV's with more power than the ForkenSwift don't need to shift much - some just leave the transmission in one gear for city driving, and only upshift for highway speeds.
The ForkenSwift needs to be shifted because it's a low voltage car with a low power controller.
So how is it done? With a firm hand and a little patience for upshifts, and by rev-matching the motor speed to the transmission speed when downshifting.
There's no need to use a clutch in an EV when stopping or starting out. An electric motor doesn't idle like a gas engine - it stops when the accelerator is released and the car stops.
At about 3:40 you see one potential "problem" of driving an quiet vehicle - a pedestrian steps off a curb - backwards! - into my path as I am slowly approaching. I don't think he would have backed up right into the car, but I tapped the horn to let him know I was there anyway. Disaster averted! (This has only happened to me once in 6 months.)
http://forkenswift.com
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Added: 4 months ago
Views: 10,291
Overdue (but waaaay under budget) the car is now registered as an EV and is legally on the
Overdue (but waaaay under budget) the car is now registered as an EV and is legally on the road.
Project ForkenSwift is an electric car conversion made using parts from a Suzuki Swift, Geo Metro, Baker electric forklift and a golf cart.
http://www.forkenswift.com
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Added: 9 months ago
Views: 21,837
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Officially, we're only at the battery rack building stage of the project. But while waiti
Officially, we're only at the battery rack building stage of the project. But while waiting to get a welder to finish the job, Spring Fever struck and against better judgment we piled 6 batteries into the car, hooked everything together and went up & down the street a bunch of times.
(Oh - and by the way, if you enjoy spotting continuity errors in movies, you'll have a field day with this one!)
Again, apologies for the video quality - 20 year-old video camera, makeshift way of getting the pics into the computer for editing.
In case titles are hard to read, here they are:
1. a BIG ForkenSwift milestone
2. Officially... we're at the stage of the project where we're making battery racks.
3. The racks will hold four batteries up front, and four in the hatchback.
4. (Cardboard mockups - help figure out positioning and clearances.)
5. But while waiting for a welder to finish the trays... we got SPRING FEVER
6. and decided to "set up" (ahem) the car for a little test drive
7. Here's the forklift pot box, modified to talk nicely to the golf cart controller
8. Surplus forklift battery charger.
9. Umm... Don't try this at home. :-O
10. Darin's actual first drive ...
11. Shhhh... Listen...
12. Listen to this: unsolicited feedback from a guy fixing a car in his driveway...
13. "HEY - WHY'S YOUR CAR SO QUIET?"
14. " BULL$#!T ... REALLY ? "
15. " AWESOME! "
16. THAT WAS NOT MADE UP :-)
17. Ivan takes a spin.
18. Coming up: more comments from the peanut gallery, in ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
19. " Can you turn the muffler up a little bit, Ivan? "
20. An impromptu car show with the car repair guy and his friends ...
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Project ForkenSwift is an electric car conversion made using parts from a Suzuki Swift, Geo Metro, Baker electric forklift and a golf cart.
http://www.forkenswift.com
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 33,500
Here's the Forkenswift's motor being spun up (and down, and up, and down) with a used golf
Here's the Forkenswift's motor being spun up (and down, and up, and down) with a used golf cart controller. (Thanks to the EVDL folks for help with connecting the oddball Curtis.)
Apologies for the poor vid quality - this was shot with a 20 year-old camera.
Titles are hard to read in some places, so here they are:
1. Another Forkenswift milestone...
2. First CONTROLLED electric power-up
3. No more welded jumper cables, like last time...
4. This time we're hooked up to a DC motor controller
5. From a 48 volt golf cart :-)
6. We've got more juice this time, too
7. 36 volts -- three 12v batteries
8. And, last but not least,a potentiometer ...
9. (What is it about motors that makes people want to rev them?)
10. Here's the actual potentiometer we'll connect to the car's "gas" pedal.
11. Out of the old Baker forklift.
12. We also have the forklift's motor controller.
13. But we're going to try the golf cart controller first.
14. Tee-off time is approaching ...
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Project ForkenSwift is an electric car conversion made using parts from a Suzuki Swift, Geo Metro, Baker electric forklift and a golf cart.
http://www.forkenswift.com
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 28,681
First power-up of the freshly installed forklift hydraulic pump motor in our beer budget,
First power-up of the freshly installed forklift hydraulic pump motor in our beer budget, low speed, Geo Metro electric vehicle conversion.
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Project ForkenSwift is an electric car conversion made using parts from a Suzuki Swift, Geo Metro, Baker electric forklift and a golf cart.
http://www.forkenswift.com
(more)
(less)
Added: 1 year ago
Views: 51,796
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