Malcolm Faed's Blog

Victoria Faed. Drawdio & Hot Wires Kitset demonstration.

2012-01-04T07:45:00.003+11:00

Tori will be showing her Drawdio http://www.ladyada.net/make/drawdio/ and various projects from her Hot Wires kit set http://www.johnadams.co.uk/retail/action_science/Hot_Wires/index.html . Both projects are excelent starting projects for young experimenters.

Great BMW E30 lock rebuild article.

2012-01-02T09:46:00.001+11:00

The drivers door lock broke over Christmas. I will get the parts to fix it from another E30 nut at work, in the mean time, I found this excellent repair guide.

http://www.billswebspace.com/BMWE30DoorPanelRemoval-LockCylinderRebuild.htm

Battlebots at Serial Space

2011-08-14T13:44:00.001+10:00

Come watch real life combat robots duke it out at Serial Space, Sydney

2011-07-09T19:59:00.002+10:00

Replacing Halogen down lights with LED. Costs and photos

2011-07-08T16:46:00.005+10:00

We just have 2 halogen down lights in our house, but I would like to use them more often that we do.

Oatley electronics has some 4W units available for $9 each.

I bought a few and replaced them. They work well for lighting up the stairs. The light is more blue than the halogens but OK for here.

I tried some at a friends place with electronic transformers and they don't work. The transformers probably detect no load and shut down.

So, How much can I save?

The test voltage was 13.65v

LED Current 0.31A

Halogen Current 4.2A

At 240v with say 90% efficient transformer this equates to:

LED: 4.65W ~ 20mA @ 240V

Halogen: 63W ~ .263A @ 240V

At 30c/kWh this amounts to:

LED ~0.014 cents per hour

Halogen ~ 0.19 cents per hour

Difference is .176 cents per hour. At a cost of 9$, payback is in 5113 hours or 213 days.

This might not seem much, but the lighting energy is now 7% of what is was. I call this significant.

Before:

One of each:

After with LEDs.

Photos from Sydneys Traffic Management Center. Exclent Screens!

2011-07-08T11:36:00.001+10:00

Tori made a nice woolly coat and hat for her toy dog

2011-07-08T11:29:00.004+10:00

Coat and hat by Tori my little maker

Documentary and Interviews eFXC / #TTXGP Australian Electric Motorcycle Race Series 2011

2011-07-06T13:36:00.001+10:00

More #TTXGP Video.

2011-07-05T20:51:00.000+10:00

3 short eFXC #TTXGP videos.

2011-07-04T11:40:00.003+10:00

On board cam on #TTXGP eFXC

2011-07-04T11:37:00.002+10:00

eFXC TTXGP at Easter Creek Photos and Video

2011-07-03T21:07:00.003+10:00

Linked below are the photos and videos of this weekends TTXGP / EFXC Electric super-bike round.

Flickr Set

Youtube

eFXC / TTXGP Australia entrants #TTXGP

2011-07-03T15:04:00.001+10:00

From left
Daniel Sailer - Ripperton Racing
Jon Eggenhuizen - Catavolt. Ridden by Jason Morris
Chris Jones

Robot Wars come to Sydney

2011-06-24T11:21:00.003+10:00

Support and entry details here.

http://www.pozible.com.au/index.php/archive/index/1121

Sunday 14/8/11

The location of Serial Space is

33 Wellington Street, Chippendale, Sydney, NSW 2008

Toy Soldiers

2011-06-23T12:22:00.000+10:00

Toy Soldiers

Diplomats meet
And enter discourse
But can’t agree
On a Trojan Horse
While greedy capitalists
Flock like birds
And war with bombs
Instead of words
But do we know
The worlds for lease
And the contract expires
In hand with peace.

By Graham Boyles.

The Mitsubishi iMiev will be $50,000 AUD in August

2011-06-23T11:38:00.000+10:00

See goaoto.com.au http://tiny.cc/jvslh

EV Efficiency and pollution

2011-06-22T09:41:00.002+10:00

I wrote this piece in response to a post on the EEV Blog to clear up some points.

------------------------

I wrote a blog post a while ago http://a4x4kiwi.blogspot.com/2008/12/co2-output-and-charging-using-coal.html detailing CO2 output. In NSW inefficient EVs are on a par with petrol. Coal power stations are more efficient that you mention. (33%-53%)

I have not accounted in this equation for how much it costs $ or CO2 to extract oil, transport it, refine it, transport it again. Not have I accounted for extraction costs for coal, but I would bet coal is cheaper on both counts.

Nissan says it takes 7.5kWh just to refine a gallon of gasoline. see http://musingsofamadman.net/2010/03/07/the-truth-about-oil/. That doesn't count extraction and transport.

Or 2kWh per Litre. We can drive an additional 10km on that alone.

But enough on the CO2 and efficiency. There are other significant factors that come into play here, cost and environment aside.

We can produce our own electricity to power cars, and do not have to be dependant on foreign oil and the associated price vulnerabilities. The point of pollution is out of the cities. A Coal fired power station is more efficient than a petrol engine, and easier to scrub the output from one power station than 50,000 or whatever number of cars.

Mitsubishi iMiev review with Dave Jones from EEV Blog and myself.

2011-06-22T00:35:00.004+10:00

EEV Blog Episode #179

Vectrix Electric Motorcycle Battery Repair

2011-06-21T10:14:00.007+10:00

I was contacted to see if I could assist with a battery fault in a Vectrix motorcycle. http://vectrix.com.au/.

A Vectrix owner has a bike that turned out to have a faulty cell causing it to have poor performance and stopping after just a few kilometres.

I arranged a visit the bike and determine the fault.

After much thought trying to figure out how to remove the covers and expose the battery pack, we finally opened the enclosure with 102 cells arrange in two blocks. The rear block is 9 cells long, 2 wide and 3 cells deep. The front block is 8 long, 2 wide and 3 cells deep. Each set of 8 / 9 is bound by a steel compression band to prevent the cells from expanding when heated during charging and discharging. Each layer comprises of two rows of 8 / 9 in a plastic frame. Each of the 3 layers is held together by long threaded rods extending between the rows and also by duct tape around the outside of the plastic frames.

The top of the rear block was removed and some evidence of heating and corrosion was visible on one of the cells.

Leaky cell and voltage - temperature sensors

The cell had overheated, the plastic frame the cell sits in was melted, and the pressure relief valve on the top of the cell had released causing some corrosion and crystallisation of electrolyte around the top of the cell. We verified the cell had failed electrically also. It measured only 32mV.

The others were consistently about 1.31V across them, we surmised that there was only one dead cell in the pack as the other strings of cells had a near perfect multiple of 1.31V across them.

The cells in the Vectrix are 30Ah Nickel Metal Hydride cells. From GP Battery. Replacements are available from the distributor in Melbourne. Cell data sheet: http://www.gpina.com/pdf/GP30EVH_DS.pdf

Good Cell. Some corrosion evident on terminal. This seems quite common. Cell is not swollen nor hear damaged.

Bad Cell. Corroded where electrolyte and gas had escaped through relief valve, and also swollen and heat damaged.

I later returned to the bike to disassemble the entire pack and measure each cell voltage and check for evidence of more failing or faulty cells.

The first thing to do is to disconnect the large blue Anderson connector on top of the batteries. This breaks the battery pack up into a safer (still potentially lethal) lower voltage blocks.

The temperature and voltage sense boards were also disconnected at the connectors at the front and rear of the bike.

There are temperature and voltage sensing elements screwed to some of the battery terminals. These were numbered with a marker on each sense board and also on the cells they were removed from to ensure they were replaced in the correct locations. Each sense board was wrapped in insulation tape to prevent them accidently touching the battery terminals once removed.

All the other cells were of the correct voltage (~1.3V) and had no physical signs of failure. Disassembling the blocks was fiddley. The cells are assembled in plastic frames that are then joined with steel compression bands to prevent cell swelling.

One cell had over heated and the 2 adjacent cells had suffered heat damage. The plastic holders were also melted. The pack was left disassembled as 3 new cells, and plastic frame pieces were ordered from the Australian agent.

It is important that the new cells introduced to the pack are at the same charge state as the old cells. I used a digital Radio Controlled model charger to charge the 3 replacement cells. The charger also has a discharge function so I was able to discharge the cells down to the same voltage as the existing good cells. The charger can charge at 5A and discharge at 1A. The cell chemistry, charge current, end point sensitivity etc can all be programmed in the charger. NiMH cells self discharge quite quickly. A few 10s of milivolts each day. I found that after discharging the new cells to the required level, the new cells had to be discharged further to match. I got the final voltage of the new cells to within about 10mV of the existing cells. The first balance charge on the bike would balance them further. I proceed to replace the 3 cells in a string of 9. Each ½ layer of cells is bound in steel a binding strap to prevent the cells swelling during charging and discharging.
I have made a jig for compressing the packs in order to remove and replace the steel bands more easily. To make things more tricky, the brittle locating tabs

I proceed to replace the 3 cells in a string of 9. Each ½ layer of cells is bound in steel a binding strap to prevent the cells swelling during charging and discharging. I have made a jig for compressing the packs in order to remove and replace the steel bands more easily.

An interesting point is that each cell is electrically insulated from the next by plastic spacers.

Reassembling the pack consisted of reversing the disassembly process. Extra care was taken to double check visually and with a volt meter that each 9 / 8 cell bank was reassembled correctly and the temperature and battery voltage monitoring sensors were installed in the correct locations.

All interconnects and battery terminals that had been removed were tightened to a specified to torque of 10Nm.

After reassembly the owner took the bike for a ride and came back with a memorable grin. The bike performed better than it had for a long time.

The final task for the owner is to deep discharge the pack 5 times to condition the batteries and ensure longevity of the new batteries. This procedure is recommended by Vectrix to remove any ‘memory’ effect in the batteries in order that they can provide the maximum usable capacity.

Latest speedtest. 99.49Mb/s

2011-05-20T20:39:00.002+10:00

Te he he. Faster than 96% of Australia.

Grafiti

2011-05-02T09:38:00.001+10:00

Not that I condone grafiti at all however I quite liked this stylised face drawn on the bus seat thismorning.

The ute has gone to a new home,

2011-04-06T15:03:00.004+10:00

I finally sold the electrolux. It was picked up to be take to Perth a couple of weeks ago.

Here it is leaving my place for the last time.

It is destined to have new life breathed into it with a new VFD and some 30Ah Vectrix electric motorcycle batteries.

My 'new' BMW E30 318i may become my new project :)

YouTube - Björk talking about her TV

2011-02-26T11:26:00.000+11:00

YouTube - Björk talking about her TV and how it works

555 Contest Entry

2011-02-23T13:30:00.012+11:00

Background.
I was excited when the 555 contest was announced to recognize the most used Integrated Circuit ever.

After considering for a while what I could do for the competition, I started thinking about how best to celebrate the 40 years that the device has been around and the 10s of billions produced.

I have often admired home built computers that use discrete components so I though, I will make a 555!

This 555 project recreates an operational 555 timer using discrete transistors, resistors, diodes and capacitors.

It may not strictly conform to the competition rules, but I thought it would be fun and original anyway.

Initial Research.
I downloaded a few 555 datasheets from various manufactures only to find that the circuits often have subtle differences. Eventually after some Googling I located a scanned copy of the original Signetics datasheet from dapj Circuits, Including the Equivalent Circuit below.

After inspecting the circuit, I noticed Q19 is rather unusual and has 2 collectors. How can I implement this using discrete components? I decided to simulate the circuit using the brilliant and free Java app from falstad.com to make sure it worked and to quickly experiment with different arrangements for Q19.

This is the simulation. You can run the simulation yourself by clicking the link .

Arranging the resistor on the base of Q19 as in the simulation works perfectly. If I used 2 transistors to replicate the original Q19 design, the circuit did not oscillate.

Construction
In order to simply construct the circuit to show its operation and at the same time preserve the original authenticity, I photocopied and enlarged the Philips schematic, glued it to some card and inserted the components through the card and used point to point wiring on the rear of the card.

Component side of card.

Rear of card using soldered point to point wiring. Drawing pins are used to secure the input and output pins. Much ice cream was consumed during the construction of this project.

A pin was used to poke holes in the card to insert the components. This was a surprisingly quick method of building the circuit. For prototypes of simple circuits I may use this technique again.

the only thing I might do differently is to paste a reverse image of the circuit onto the wiring side of the card in order to avoid wiring errors.

Testing
In order to test it works, I attached an LED to the output and suitable timing components, Ra, Rb and C to give an approximate 1Hz flash rate.

the final testing can be seen in the this video.

Making it presentable
The final thing to do is to make the project presentable. I decided the inside of an old data book would be appropriate. I found a copy of a suitable book on the 'free' table of my local ham radio club, the Manly Warringah Radio Society.

This was the first time I have used a book as an enclosure. It works well if you are not in a hurry, which I wasn't. I followed the guide by Bre Pettis from Make Magazine. (Cool guy who I had the pleasure of meeting at a Maker Faire in Austin, Tx.)

One half of the book was cut to accommodate the circuit, while the other half was to house a battery, the 555 timer data sheet and memorabilia.

Right hand side of book contains the circuit

The left hand side of the book contains A5 printed copies of the Philips data sheet, The 555 Timer Wikipedia page and finally an interview with the 555 inventor Hans R. Camenzind.

The finished project closes nicely into the book for safe keeping.

Finished project in operation

Simulation for my 555 timer contest entry

2011-02-19T22:18:00.001+11:00

Here is the simulation in preparation for my 555 timer competition entry.

WWF - Living Planet Report 2010

2011-02-11T13:28:00.000+11:00

WWF - Living Planet Report 2010

The report, a leading statement of the planet's health, found that people are spending beyond the Earth's ecological means and dipping far into the Earth's natural capital. The ecological deficit caused by consumption of energy, water and materials at rates 50 per cent beyond supply will have serious repercussions for wildlife and ecosystems, as well as for future generations of people, all of whom depend on nature's ecological services.

Australia is #8 and New Zealand has the 32nd most heaviest footprint.

Mitsubishi iMiev the biggest selling small-car in Norway | Electric Vehicle News

2011-02-07T16:32:00.001+11:00

Mitsubishi iMiev the biggest selling small-car in Norway | Electric Vehicle News

ELECTRIC TRUCKS GAIN TRACTION--Carl Schwab - IEEE Consultants' Network of Long Island

2011-01-17T10:21:00.000+11:00

I have believed for a long time that there is more to gain by electrifying commercial vehicles rather than passenger vehicles

ELECTRIC TRUCKS GAIN TRACTION--Carl Schwab - IEEE Consultants' Network of Long Island

Great EE design tips from IEEE Consultants' Network of Long Island

2011-01-17T09:49:00.000+11:00

IEEE Consultants' Network of Long Island

Toyota Developing Induction Motors to Break Reliance on China | Electric Vehicle News

2011-01-17T08:54:00.000+11:00

Toyota Developing Induction Motors to Break Reliance on China | Electric Vehicle News

Electric Hilux Ute for sale by reverse auction.

2010-12-15T12:46:00.003+11:00

With much reluctance the time has come that I would like to move on to my next conversion. To do this I need to make space and sell the Electrolux, my electric Toyota Hilux.

I am holding a reverse auction on the AEVA site if you are interested.

See this site for the auction. Starting price is $5000, reducing by $200 per week.

It is the first road legal industrial AC conversion in Australia.

50 x 20Ah batteries
ASEA 15kw 4 pole aluminium frame motor
Danfoss 5042 VFD
Peak power is 48kw, Peak torque is 360Nm
Seats 4
rego till March (need to check)
located in Sydney Northern Beaches

It has been on the road for 18 months.
The batteries are good for only about 9 km on a warm day. The inverter sometimes takes a while to start in damp weather, but it always starts after about 5 mins to warm up.

This would be an excellent EV for someone to build on and develop as it is already registered as an EV. Or use as a technology test platform for a company.

There is plenty of room under the bonnet and in the tray to easily experiment with different configurations without having to shoehorn in components.

With a 100v motor rewind, a tritium controller and a 320v pack of 40-60Ah Lithium this would be a great vehicle.

Check the old posts in my blog http://a4x4kiwi.blogspot.com for the build details or check the June 2009 edition of Silicon Chip magazine.

0409 601 747.

Navy's electromagnetic railgun hits targets from 100 miles away | Electric Vehicle News

2010-12-13T09:33:00.000+11:00

Navy's electromagnetic railgun hits targets from 100 miles away | Electric Vehicle News

Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks | Video on TED.com

2010-12-08T02:34:00.001+11:00

Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks | Video on TED.com:

Harnessing the Power of the Sun | Hack N Mod

2010-12-04T21:14:00.000+11:00

Harnessing the Power of the Sun Melting Rocks

YouTube - Nissan LEAF production (Video News Release)

2010-12-02T20:16:00.001+11:00

YouTube - Nissan LEAF production by robots.

Energy storage in capacitors

2010-11-29T12:35:00.000+11:00

Energy storage in capacitors

A nice mathematical and practical comparison of Battery and Capacitor stored energy.

Super and ultra capacitors have a way to go.

A 3000F 2.7v from Electronic Goldmine can hold 10.94k Joules of energy: (1/2)*C*V^2

This is only equivalent to the energy stored in a .95Ah 3.2v Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFeo4) Battery: V*Ah*3600.

Lets hope that Eestor are not vapor -ware.

Australian EV to sell for under $10,000 | Electric Vehicle News

2010-11-28T17:30:00.000+11:00

Australian EV to sell for under $10,000 | Electric Vehicle News:

Optus Cable upgrade to DOCSIS 3. Wahoo.

2010-11-17T18:05:00.007+11:00

Before:

Using Free Download Manager that downloads files in multiple parts, I can get about 960kB/s or 7.68Mb/s

After the upgrade, I get the following. 7 x as fast!

Using parallel downloads I now get about 5MB/s Thats about 5 times what I had before. All for the same price I was paying. Thank you Optus.

Think I will just back up the internet.

This is what I get from the Optus site.

i-MiEV Mitsubishi electric vehicle Frequently Asked Questions

2010-10-14T13:12:00.002+11:00

We had a show-and-tell of the i-MiEV this morning to the staff. These are the most frequently asked questions.

Q: How far can it go.
A: About 100 km

Q: How fast can it go
A: 130km/hr

Q: How long does it take to charge?
A: About 1 hour per 15km driven. 8 hours from flat.

Q: Where can I charge it?
A: from a 15A power point. These can be identified as they have a larger earth pin than the other 2 pins (normal household power points are 10A)
Q: Where are the batteries?
A: Under the floor.

Q: Where is the motor?
A: In the back under the luggage compartment.

Q: How do I know how far I can drive?
A: The is a 16 pint ‘fuel’ gauge and a trip computer that estimates range left in km.

Q: How much does it weigh?
A: 1080kg

Q: How is B different to D?
A: B provides more aggressive regenerative braking when you lift you foot of the accelerator?

Q: Does it put power back in the batteries when you let your foot of the accelerator or you press the brake?
A: Yes. AC motors in electric vehicles provide regenerative braking.

Q: What if the battery goes flat?
A: Call a tow truck or plug it in.

Q: How much does it cost?
A: We don’t know, they are not for sale yet in Australia. Roche is privileged to be on a special lease program from Mitsubishi for 3 years. As an indication they should be less than USD 30,000 before rebates in the USA.

Q: How much pollution does it cause charging?
A: 1/4 of CO2 compared to ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) equivalent

Q: how much does it cost to run?
A: 1/3 of the cost of an equivalent ICE. 1/9th if charged off peak.

Q: Is it quite?
A: Yes, 5dB lower than ICE. About 1/3.

Q: Is it safe?
A: Yes, it has a 4 star NCAP rating with dual airbags. If fitted with Side and curtain bags, will be 5 star.

Q: Where can I find more information?
A: From Mitsubishi. http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/microsites/i-miev and for more technical details from this presentation http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/microsites/i-miev

Photo essay of the Mitsubishi iMiEV elecrtric vehicle.

2010-10-14T10:34:00.011+11:00

Below are photos of our newly delivered Mitsubishi iMiev.

Starting from the front, The headlights are HID.

The small exposed condenser is for the air conditioning.
The heater uses an electric water heater rather than reverse cycle air conditioning.

Due to the the windscreen geometry, there is a single wiper to clear the entire windscreen.

What little electric vehicle maintenance there is consists of checking 3 fluids.
Left: Windscreen washer fluid
Center: Brake fluid
Right: Interior heater fluid

On to the interior. There is plenty of room for these lads. Obviouisly no center console but this is made up for a lot of headroom for a small car.

The dash cluster is quite sparse.
Left: Energy gauge (16 bars, currently full) and drive mode (P for Park)
Center: Digital speedometer surrounded by economy gauge. Blue means regeneration. Green to white indicates more energy usage.
Right: Odometer/ Range left / A & B trip meter/Service / and dash illumination. This is controlled by a button extending from the dash cluster

There is a bunch of warning lights to the left and right on th elower edge of the dash cluster. On the left there is Battery (presumable dc-dc converter), limp home, traction control, 'engine' fail. These appear momentarily when turning the key on.

On the right the warning lights are door open, seat belt, air bag, brake / park brake, ABS and EPS (Electric power steering)

The stereo system has a nice touch screen, but unlike the Prius, does not proved any vehicle integration. It would be good to have nerd mode to show battery volts, current, power, torque, trip computer. It does have bluetooth hands free for your phone and also a navigation system.

In the glove box there are RCA connections for an ipod of DVD / game console (Left Right and Composite video). There is also a USB socket for a memory stick or hard drive. I havnt tried it yet, but the stereo seems to have a Divx decoder built in.

the pedal box is compact and seems comfortable enough. I have to wonder why there is a block of polystyrene to the right of the accelerator.

To the right of the steering column are a TCL disable (Traction control). not traction control is required on all new cars from 1 Jan 2011.
Next there is the read demist, and the electric mirror control.

The gear selector has 6 positions.

P: Park
R: Reverse
N: Neural
D: Drive
E: Economy. Same as drive with lower power limit.
B: Same as Drive but provides more regenerative braking.

Next we have the charge socket cover release lever.
To the right of the drivers knees is a pull leaver that opens the 15A charge socket.

15A charge socket on Right rear of vehicle.

Under the drivers seat is the fast charge socket cover release.

the fast charge socket is located on the right rear guard of the vehicle

The rear seats fold down to increase luggage space.
the floor behind the rear seats is quite high in order to accommodate the inverter and charger.

To be continued: The next write up will be the test drive.

Our Mitsubishi iMiEV arrived today.

2010-10-13T16:50:00.003+11:00

The Mitsubishi iMiEV arrived today at work. I had a chance to take a couple of photos and will post updates as I get to borrow it.

My employer, Roche, has won one of the bids to lease the iMiEV. It will be used as a pool car and for staff to borrow to begin to understand the concepts of driving and electric vehicle. Glen and Simone from Mitsubishi gave us the demo of how it works and how to 'start' it.

For now, here are some photos. I will take more photos with a better camera over the next few days. For now, here is an excellent presentation from a technology perspective by Ashley Sanders, i-MiEV Project Manager.

240V 15A power socket

The Smoke Theory of Electric Circuits

2010-10-13T01:05:00.000+11:00

The Smoke Theory of Electric Circuits:

The Smoke Theory of Electric Circuits

Electrical Theory by Joseph Lucas

Positive ground depends upon proper circuit functioning, the transmission of negative ions by retention of the visible spectral manifestation known as "smoke". Smoke is the thing that makes electrical circuits work; we know this to be true because every time one lets the smoke out of the electrical system, it stops working. This can be verified repeatedly through empirical testing.

When, for example, the smoke escapes from an electrical component (i.e., say, a Lucas voltage regulator), it will be observed that the component stops working. The function of the wire harness is to carry the smoke from one device to another; when the wire harness "springs a leak", and lets all the smoke out of the system, nothing works afterwards. Starter motors were frowned upon in British Automobiles for some time, largely because they consume large quantities of smoke, requiring very large wires.

It has been noted that Lucas components are possibly more prone to electrical leakage than Bosch or generic Japanese electrics. Experts point out that this is because Lucas is British and all things British leak. British engines leak oil, shock absorbers, hydraulic forks and disk brakes leak fluid, British tyres leak air and the British defence establishment leaks secrets...so, naturally, British electrics leak smoke.

Subject: SMOKE

When wires smoke, how come the smoke is not the same colour as the wire?

This is not completely true. When the smoke is in the wire, it is under pressure (called voltage). The pressure difference causes the colour to change from the normal colour we are used to. Not unlike the blood in our veins and arteries changing colour due to the oxygen content. When the smoke escapes the wire and is exposed to air, the pressure is released, and the colour reverts back to what we commonly recognise as smoke. The wire then changes to the colour of the smoke that escaped.

I hope this helps you understand.

I would only question the last sentence of that description. It has been my experience that the wire turns a color directly opposite of the smoke.

Not always true, I think it must depend on the composition of the smoke in question.

I should have made it a little clearer; the colour the wire becomes, is directly proportional to the escape velocity of the smoke. Higher velocities generate higher heat. This heat tends to burn the wire and affect the colouring. The statement was meant to be a generalisation, indicating the fact that the colour of the wire does in fact change. Sorry for the miscommunication.

I was speaking of electrical smoke which is generally white. The spent smoke casing generally assumes a colour somewhat near black after the smoke leaves.

I can't stand it any more! If, as you say, light bulbs suck up darkness and convert it to smoke which is transmitted (via wire) to a power source for recycling...why do car batteries go dead when lights are left on? Do car batteries (and flashlight batteries for that matter) have a limited amount of storage capability? Is it like a hard drive that gets so full that you have to double-space and then lose all data?

Now you're getting it.......

I thought you guys were smarter than this. Of course the battery stores the smoke. In fact it can store so much smoke that if you open the top and light a match, the resulting explosion can do serious damage. I'm sure you are aware that usually where there's smoke there's fire. If you connect the battery to a charger, the smoke is then returned to the wire (Remember, a light bulb wont work unless it is connected to a wire system) for the utility companies to use. Your hard drive analogy is a very good example.

Our hardware guys might be onto something in their quest for superior wiring. I have noticed the unique method of of series/parallel wiring the power strips on our systems seems to prevent the smoke from getting out of the wires. A "Smoke Loop" of sorts. In the case of the "smoked" workstation recently, you should notice that this was a conventional single power strip installation.

Since colour is perceived by the cone shaped receptors in our eyes, and cones require more light that their rod shaped counterparts. Is the sky blue at night?

At night the process including contraction of the pupil is visual purple by which the eye adapts to conditions of increased illumination when facing 300 candle power redeflecting devices.

Since there is a spectrum of light that we as humans cannot see, I support the theory that everything is going up in smoke, we just can't see it. This may explain why the neighbours dog barks for no apparent reason.

I think your basic understanding of smoke systems is remarkable. However I find a flaw with your theory. The battery is a reusable storage device for smoke. therefore, one would assume that some sort of one way valve (we can call it a diode) should be needed to prevent pressure flooding back into the system while at rest. Unlike the A/C system, the smoke system is collecting darkness at the headlights and converting it to smoke. This causes the system to fill up. The battery can contain much higher pressures and volumes than the wires. If this pressure exceeds the capacity of the wire, it will cause a rupture as you described. The rupture can be controlled by a sacrificial device known as a fuse. But this still doesn't eliminate the problem. Perhaps a two way valve (zener diode) is used to allow a small amount of pressure to return to the system, and partially equalise. I find this theory unlikely though, due to the increase in the force required to start the pump (which is now under pressure) working again...

The smoke continues circulating through the system, due to the pressure differential in the battery (smoke pressure/vacuum reservoir). When the reservoir becomes depleted, the pressure simply equalises everywhere in the system (similar to an A/C system when it's turned off) and stuff just wont work. Notice the relations: Work (W) = Force (F) x Distance (D); Force (F) = total difference in pressure (Dp) x Area (A). Therefore, the work done in a pressure system is: Dp x A x D. If the pressure differential (Dp) is reduced to zero then W = 0 x A x D = 0.

The smoke only escapes the wires when a path is created between the pressure differential areas (@ either the reservoir or the pump) that has too little restriction. When this happens, the smoke travels through the wires so fast that the friction between the smoke and the outer walls of the wiring heats the wires until they rupture. The smoke continues to escape until its pressure is equalised with the atmosphere, or until the conduit that provides the path between pressure areas is severed. When this happens, the sudden drop in pressure allows the wires to "collapse" slightly and, being so hot, as the edges of the ruptures and severed ends touch, the material becomes fused, sealing the system and retaining the remaining smoke.

Don't forget, when the system is at rest, all the valves, (switches and relays) are closed, keeping the pressure areas separated. When restarting the pump, as long as everything is OK, the smoke pressure is equal on both sides of the pump and there is no net force on the pump when it begins operating again. Also, within the pump there are pressure/volume actuated one-way valves with restrictors built in, arranged in such a way that they keep excess smoke volume recirculating through an integral smoke loop, which maintains the pressure within manageable limits.

The excess smoke, created by the light/smoke converters (headlights and other darkness absorbing devices), is changed back to darkness and dissipated in small unit concentrations so its dark effect is not locally observed. The smoke pump impeller (stator), converts smoke into magnetic flux which does work on the engine. Some of the excess work energy is dissipated through the cooling system and exhaust in the form of heat, while the remaining work energy is converted back to smoke and distributed evenly in small concentrations as you drive. This maintains the total quantity of smoke in the system at an average that does not change over time.

Author Unknown

State of Electronics - Trailer on Vimeo

2010-10-10T20:27:00.000+11:00

State of Electronics - Trailer on Vimeo

State of Electronics - Trailer from karl von moller on Vimeo.

Electrolux for sale.

2010-09-29T23:35:00.001+10:00

With much reluctance the time has come that I would like to move on to my next conversion. To do this I need to make space and sell the Electrolux.

The first road legal industrial AC conversion in Australia.

50 x 20Ah batteries
ASEA 15kw 4 pole aluminium frame motor
Danfoss 5042 VFD
Peak power is 48kw, Peak torque is 360Nm
Seats 4
rego till about March (need to check)
located in Sydney Northern Beaches

It has been on the road for 18 months.
The batteries are good for 15-20km on a warm day. Less when cold.

The other reason for selling apart from space is that I don't want to invest any more into this vehicle, and move on to my next project.

I am looking for offers at this point because it is difficult to know what it is worth. The total project was about 14k including the vehicle, certification and on road costs

This would be an excellent EV for someone to build on and develop as it is already registered as an EV. Or use as a technology test platform for a company.

There is plenty of room under the bonnet and in the tray to easily experiment with different configurations without having to shoehorn in components.

With a 100v motor rewind, a tritium controller and a 320v pack of 40-60Ah Lithium this would be a great vehicle.

Check the old posts in my blog http://a4x4kiwi.blogspot.com for the build details or check the June 2009 edition of Silicon Chip magazine.

I can be contacted by PM or on 0409 601 747.

xkcd: Green Flash - Tesla

2010-08-19T23:57:00.000+10:00

xkcd: Green Flash

HumanCar® Fred Flintstone would be envious.

2010-08-18T18:32:00.000+10:00

HumanCar® Inc. 2011 Imagine PS

The Ghosts of World War II's Past (20 photos) - My Modern Metropolis

2010-08-07T11:32:00.001+10:00

The Ghosts of World War II's Past (20 photos) - My Modern Metropolis:

Brilliant super-imposing of war images over modern images of the same location taken from the same perspective.

These images bring closer the realities of war.

"Taking old World War II photos, Russian photographer Sergey Larenkov carefully photoshops them over more recent shots to make the past come alive. Not only do we get to experience places like Berlin, Prague, and Vienna in ways we could have never imagined, more importantly, we are able to appreciate our shared history in a whole new and unbelievably meaningful way."

EV WORLD: White Zombie Electric Drag Car - Cracking the 10s

2010-08-06T09:27:00.001+10:00

He lovingly calls his 1972 Datsun 1200 coupe ' White Zombie'. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" may have been a more appropriate moniker, for this little spam can from Japan transforms itself from a nondescript econo-box indistinguishable from the millions of other cheap imports daily shuttling commuters into a veritable monster… on the drag strip, one that grows more aggressive, more powerful with each passing year.

This year was no exception. For the first time since he began drag racing competitively, John "Plasma Boy" Wayland's little car not only 'cracked the 10's', it smashed straight through them. Here, in his words -- with some deft editing -- is how he and his team did it last Friday night (30 July 2010) at Portland International Raceway in Oregon.

0-100km/hr in 2 Seconds!

EV WORLD: Cracking the 10s

See URL for full details.

Central NSW - Recharging the Region expo

2010-08-05T16:24:00.004+10:00

Last weekend I dragged my family to the Centroc EV and sustainability expo

I had some good discussions and met some interesting people.

Kearon and co were there with the Formula V and Capri. http://evcapri.com/Kearons_EV_Capri_-_100_electric_car_conversion/Blog/Entries/2010/6/28_Odyssey_Batteries_sponsors_ourFormula_Green_prototype_racecar.html

The electric Triton 4 door ute that Les (from Sydney) converted was there also.

A uni solar car and a group of students were showing the vehicle. It is a shame it was raining all day.

I met Michael from Deep green with the EV Honda. It has the Tritium controller and a very special motor and gearbox from ultramotive. It was very elegant and right at the forefrount of EV development. Keep an eye out for an all wheel drive Evo Lancier in the future!

Image under the bonnet http://www.tritium.com.au/solutions/ev/index.html

I also had a good discussion with one of the BEV team and also a brief chat with Ross himself. They had Bernie Hobs' Getz there. It was also a very nice conversion.

There was the first road registered Tesla there and I had a talk with the local GM Rudi Tuisk who is setting up shop in Sydney. A very smart guy. He had driven from Sydney to Bathurst on about 80% of the charge. The highlight was a ride in the Tesla around the track. at the ahem... speed limit.

There were 2 sellers of bikes, mopeds, recumbants and electric assist bikes. The electric assist bikes, even at 200W were a lot of fun to ride. I also hadn't ridden a recumbant trike before which was an experiance. (even getting in/on it was an a learning experience)

The other area had more domestic products such as native trees to give away, insulation ideas, Wind generator ( 5KW from memory), eco building products etc. See http://centroc.com.au/expo for more details.

Nissan Leaf Now on sale in Europe | Electric Vehicle News

2010-08-04T11:16:00.000+10:00

Nissan Leaf Now on sale in Europe | Electric Vehicle News: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Work continues on Wheel Motor EV project | Electric Vehicle News

2010-07-02T10:13:00.000+10:00

I look forward to the September launch

Work continues on Wheel Motor EV project | Electric Vehicle News

Very nice motor and gearbox from Fuel Cell Honda

2010-06-27T08:55:00.004+10:00

Here is a cut away of an excellent motor and gearbox combo from Honda.

The image was grabbed from a weekly EV video from Robert Llewellyn called 'Fully Charged' on youtube.

Electric vehicles best for short runs | Motoring News | Honest John

2010-06-22T12:41:00.000+10:00

Electric vehicles best for short runs | Motoring News | Honest John

Bugatti has built an 800 bhp battery-powered supercar | Electric Vehicle News

2010-06-01T01:49:00.000+10:00

Bugatti has built an 800 bhp battery-powered supercar | Electric Vehicle News

Cedric Lynch and Agni Motors - The Legend (w/Video) | Electric Vehicle News

2010-05-17T21:46:00.000+10:00

Watch this video. Cedric is my new hero. He will be yours too after watching. :)

Cedric Lynch and Agni Motors - The Legend (w/Video) | Electric Vehicle News

Better pictures of the Twister / Water Spout

2010-05-17T21:31:00.000+10:00

on NineMSN

Just saw a water spout (twister over water) at Collaroy Beach

2010-05-16T15:46:00.003+10:00

My family were at the beach this afternoon and spotted a water spout out to sea.

Quite an awesome site.

Looks undramatic in the pictures though.

Dead charger in my electric hilux ute. aka Electro-Lux.

2010-05-08T15:39:00.003+10:00

Looks like the voltage sag was because one of my chargers died, and a set of 4 batteries wasn't charging.

Hopefully I can revive the 4 batteries that were not getting charged. They read 44 volts before charging so there might be hope.

I just ordered 2 more chargers from my favourite eBay seller e-crazyman.

The small cooling fan failed, causing one of the capacitors to die in a spectacular fashion blowing the top off and spreading it guts all over the inside of the charger.

Parts on the primary and secondary side of the switched mode charger were chard and one of the output fuses blew.

2.4G Wireless LAN antennas for sale.

2010-05-06T20:58:00.001+10:00

I am selling some wi-fi antennas on eBay at the moment. Fixed price, free postage.

Wireless Lan 2.4GHz 802.11b/g Patch Antenna - Linear.New

Wireless Lan 2.4GHz 802.11b/g Patch Antenna - Linear.Used

Wireless Lan 2.4GHz Patch Antenna - Circular Polarised.

Lead Acid batteries realy dont like the cold

2010-05-06T20:24:00.004+10:00

The weather hear in Sydney has really cooled down in the last week or so. The night temperature dropped to about 11 last night and the daytime high was 16.

I am only getting about 25km before the battery pack stars sagging to 500V under load. The battery pack is 600v nominal and fully charged is 665 volts.

On a warm day (25+) I can get nearer 35-40km.

Temps are in C.

Repeal Ontario's Ban on Licensing Electric Vehicles!

2010-05-05T19:46:00.000+10:00

Repeal Ontario's Ban on Licensing Electric Vehicles!

2010.05.02

Ontario's Ban on Electric Cars

The Issue

In early February 2010, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) began a secret campaign to refuse new registrations of electric cars in the province. As a result, Ontarians cannot qualify for the only incentive Ontario offers individuals for putting an electric car on the road today - a rebate of the Retail Sales Tax (but only up to $1,000.00). That incentive expires on June 30, 2010, with the introduction of the HST. We have looked for new rules, regulations or written policy to justify recent actions, and have found none.

YouTube - "Pipe Dream" - Animusic.com

2010-05-03T23:28:00.000+10:00

YouTube - "Pipe Dream" - Animusic.com

Selling some EV related stuff

2010-04-15T18:21:00.002+10:00

I have had a clean out and have an emergency disconnect switch and DC bus dynamic braking resistor for sale on ebay.

I am also selling some PA gear if you check my other listings.

More progress on the encoder

2010-02-21T20:40:00.003+11:00

the small wire and crimp lug (soldered) is to prevent the encoder spinning.
The wire is coat hanger wire so is quite firm.

Next thing to do is to draw the cable through the conduit and connect to the VFD. That will be on Tuesday all going well.

Rotor Machining

2010-02-21T08:57:00.002+11:00

Here is a photo of the rotor in the lathe.

The shaft end was turned down to just under 12mm. I had to keep the dead centre well oiled during the process. Also had to stop a couple of times to stop it getting too hot and affecting the bearing on the shaft.

As there was significant weight on the centre, it would be best to support the bearing.

Motor disassembly

2010-02-20T11:26:00.003+11:00

The Electrolux, (my electric Hilux / Tacoma pickup) has been on the road for almost a year. It has had a couple of problems but overall very successful in showing that industrial equipment is suitable for an electric conversion.

I removed and disassembled the motor this morning for 2 reasons.

1. I will fit a shaft encoder. This will give me better starting torque which has always been a problem. Hopefully it will also prevent exceeding pull-out torque as well. The encoder I used is the from PCA. It has 800 pulses per revolution . The part number is INHG-12HS-33AM / 0800

The reason I chose this one is because it is IP65, can be fitted on the fan end of the shaft after turning the shaft down to 12mm and will not be in the way of the electric fan.

2. To see if I can rewire the phases in parallel in order to convert the motor to 415v star configuration. Unfortunately the wiring is all gooped up with a hard substance making it imposable to locate and hack into the wires. Perhaps it will be rewound sometime.

Here are some pictures of the phase configuration.
There are 36 slots

Youtube Disco

2010-01-24T18:04:00.002+11:00

http://www.youtube.com/disco Create music video playlists within Youtube.

Disco Turns YouTube Into Your Own Personal Music Library

Electrolux Update

2009-12-26T13:50:00.002+11:00

Long time no post.

After traveling around the world in November for work, Christmas has now been and gone.

4 weeks ago I found the tops of the contactors (relays) that connect the 48 volt battery blocks together were loose. Since then the electrolux has run almost perfectly. I am not sure a bouncing contactor could cause the "Earth Fault" but this is the only thing I have found wrong.

the pre-charge contactor in the VFD is sometimes not closing properly, but that causes an under voltage alert.

So all in all things are going well. Fingers crossed.

I have now traveled over 1100 km and am wearing the EV grin as I see the petrol prices steadily increasing.

I'm go'in on a bear hunt... and Friday the 13th.

2009-11-16T11:13:00.005+11:00

I have been traveling for work this month and am currently in the US, in NJ. I took a Sunday drive today to the High Point State Park and the Delaware Water Gap. When I was driving through some beautiful autumnal bush I saw a guy stopped taking photos of a bear. Never having seen a bear in the wild, I had to stop and take a pic.

Also, I stopped for a snack at Blairstown Diner. Its claim to fame is that it was one of the locations for Friday the 13th. Here is a shot of the Diner and the 'Canyonero'

Blue Toung Lizard

2009-10-21T19:18:00.003+11:00

This Blue tongue wandered past my office door today. Its nice to see some wildlife around.

Ive got some good news and some bad news

2009-10-21T19:16:00.002+11:00

Bad news first. The ute is dieing with the 'Earth Fault' on the controller pretty much daily this week. After running faultlessly for over a week.

The good news is that I may be isolating the problem to a connector in the drive.

Time will tell.

A New Look At An Old Design The Prehistoric Alignment Of World Wonders

2009-10-18T21:31:00.002+11:00

This is fascinating reading! at least for those that enjoy geography, math & history.
Ancient civilizations were way smarter than we give them credit for!
I wonder how this fits with biblical timelines and history. Presumably post Noah (2400BC) / Tower of Babel (2300BC)
"Great circles are straight lines that go all the way around the center of the earth. The equator is a great circle. Meridians of longitude that cross over the north and south poles are also great circles. For every location on a great circle, it's antipodal location is also on the circle. Other than the equator itself, any great circle crosses the equator at two antipodal locations, 180° apart. Other than the equator and meridians of longitude that run due north and south, any great circle reaches it's maximum latitudes at two locations that are 90° of longitude east and west of the two locations where the great circle crosses the equator.

Easter Island, Nazca, Ollantaytambo, Paratoari, Tassili n'Ajjer and Giza are all aligned on a single great circle. Additional ancient sites that are located within one tenth of one degree of this great circle include Petra; Perseopolis; Khajuraho; Pyay, Sukothai and Anatom Island.

Near Ollantaytambo, Machupicchu and Cuzco are within one quarter of a degree. The Oracle at Siwa in the western Egyptian desert is within one quarter of a degree. In the Indus Valley, Mohenjo Daro and Ganweriwala are within one quarter of a degree. The ancient Sumerian city of Ur and Angkor temples in Cambodia and Thailand are within one degree of the great circle. The Angkor temple at Preah Vihear is within one quarter of a degree."

The Improbable Research Awards

2009-10-18T21:25:00.001+11:00

Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK

Ig Nobel Prize

Tesla ride

2009-10-18T20:45:00.002+11:00

Here is a pic of me in the Tesla Roadster a couple of weeks ago.

0-100km/hr in 3.8s :)

Orange cable bad / Clear cable good.

2009-10-18T19:52:00.004+11:00

I swapped the motor cable in my ute last weekend on the advice of a few people with a lot of experience dealing with variable frequency drives. The ute has been running for a week trouble free so I am hoping that the new cable has solved the intermittent "Earth Fault" error that was happening.

I originally wanted this kind of cable but was unable to locate any at the wholesalers. I found what I needed only after asking to look through their supplier catalogs.

The cable is distributed by Bambach Wires & Cables. From TLE the part number is BAM45903CRS in case anyone is looking for some. The construction is 3 x 10mm^2 3 phase, with 3 earths ~2mm^2 and a foil and braided shield.

Make sure the cable is terminated correctly at the motor using a metal gland that contacts the braid and as per the VFD manufacturer's instructions at the drive.

As the fault was very intermittent, I will be satisfied this has solved the problem if I don't experience this problem for another 2 weeks.

Here is a photo of the cable.

Back to square one

2009-09-23T07:10:00.003+10:00

After installing a spare current sense board in the ute's speed controller, it tripped with an earth fault again on Sunday.

Might have to get hold of another motor for testing.

Walking to work does me good, except when there is a massive dust storm over Sydney!

Hopefully the ute is fixed

2009-09-11T09:57:00.002+10:00

The speed controller has been stopping with an "earth fault" intermittently with increasing regularity.

After talking to the Danfoss service guy, thanks Gavin, I installed a similar current sense board as this is where the problem seemed to be. The ute ran fine for about a week.

Last week I took the original board and soldered in a resistor array that was in a socket and re soldered the current sensors then replaced the board into the ute.

I have been driving for about 5 days, so far without fault. Lets hope that is the end of the problems!

How to use a Blackberry without a Blackberry service

2009-09-09T19:05:00.001+10:00

http://bb.anworm.com/Home/english

This allows you to use the normal data service without subscribing to the often expensive blackberry services (BES/BIS) offered by telcos.

If you load google sync, gMail, gMaps etc it woulks perfectly for personal use.

This Servcei book entry creates a CMIME and BrowserConfig service book entry that uses the data channel instead of BES.

Birds on a Wire

2009-09-09T17:40:00.000+10:00

Very clever

Excelent new way of creating PCBs at home

2009-09-09T17:10:00.002+10:00

You can use this holder in certain Epson inkjet printers to print the etch resist onto PCBs.

I have ordered a kit and will post the results.

http://www.fullspectrumengineering.com/pcbinkjet.html

Now to find a suitable printer...

Via Makezine

Fail again

2009-08-28T11:22:00.002+10:00

The VFD tripped again yesterday when I went to drive it.

Today i swapped the current sense board from the spare VLT6042 to the VLT5042. The PCBs are similar enough but the current reads about 2x as high. The current sensors must be different in each board. Damn. I am awaiting a call from Danfoss to see if the drive has a different setting for different current sensors. Its a long shot I know.

There was a resistor array on the VLT5042 current sens board that was in a socket. I have soldered it in in case it was loose.

So far so good

2009-08-25T20:40:00.003+10:00

After resetting the Danfoss speed controller today, the ute hasn't missed a beat.

Time will tell weather the fix is permanent. I certainly hope so!

The Electrolux might just be fixed.

2009-08-25T11:01:00.002+10:00

I gave the Danfoss service guy a call this morning about my earth leakage trip problem. He suggested the following.

Copy the program to the LCP (Menu 7 - upload)
Reset the controller using a key sequence only a contortionist can perform
Copy the program back to the controller from the LCP
Give it a go.

Well I connected up the motor as I had previously done an earth leakage test on it (it passed)

I turned the ute on held the brake down and pressed the throttle. Sure enough it predictably tripped.

Then I performed the sequence above, and retested up to max current with my foot on the brake.

So far so good. Lets hope this sorts it out. Apparently the hall effect current sensors can build up an offset giving a false current trip. Resetting the controller forces the system to recalibrate using the offset.

The service tech mentioned for this fault to occur requires about a 20% current imbalance between phases which is more significant than I had thought.

Why didn't I call him 2 weeks ago???

Fingers and toes will be crossed on my drive to work today!

I will update in a few days the outcome.

Too many hobbies - Arcade Machine

2009-08-25T10:13:00.005+10:00

A friend of mine ('Striker') recently offered me cocktail arcade machine without a game board inside in exchange for fixing another cocktail cabinet machine. This is something I have wanted for years and never got around to building. The complete cabinet was a Godsend.

After a steep learning curve and a trip with the screen to the local tv repair guy, thanks Horst, I was able to get Striker's machine going and then bought the parts for mine.

The cabinet is a Taito of about 1982 vintage. It has 2 player positions and an original 20" monitor that can be rotated to horizontal or vertical depending on the game board.

I had to pick the 2 round locks (like laptop cable locks) to open the lid and the coin bin lock. This was actually quite fun. It was surprisingly easy after watching a few YouTube videos on the subject. I found the grand sum of $2 in twenty cent pieces.

After a lot of inspection, googling for schematics and some advice from the Aussiearcade forums I started the rejuvenation, including removing old chewing gum.

I cleaned up the mains power supply and removed the redundant wiring.

I removed the switch mode supply as it was faulty.

I installed a new power supply, new cable harness and the best part of all 60 in one game board.

The connector on the original cable harness was quite unusual and could not be reused.

I now have 60 classic games to play. I love it, the kids love it, even my wife likes to play it.

The favorite at the moment is Pinball.

Each player position only had one 'fire' button so I moved both buttons to one side, and added 2 new buttons to the other. The new buttons work fine but don't fit quite right. I would like to keep the exterior original so I am looking for some 2 original and quite rare Taito buttons the same as this one pictured.

Helicopter Flight and ILLW

2009-08-25T09:18:00.006+10:00

The weekend before last was International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend. This is where many lighthouses around the world are opened to the public in commemoration of the often lonely and dangerous work the lighthouse keepers used to do.

The Amateur radio club I belong to, the MWRS, set up a station at Barrenjoey lighthouse on the Saturday and Sunday.

I was fortunate enough to be invited by Yves and his partner Connie, fellow MWRS memebers, to go for a flight the in Bell 47 he flies. We went from Bankstown airport to Parramatta, followed the Hawkesbury to Barrenjoey lighthouse. We circled the lighthouse twice and returned to Bankstown via the northern beaches, The Opera House and the Harbour bridge. The weather could not have been better, and the views were nothing short of spectacular. The rough route can be followed by APRS

For those not in Australia, I recommend you take the time to look at the photos.

I have uploaded the photos to my flickr account.

Update

2009-08-25T08:34:00.003+10:00

Unfortunatly my electic ute (pickup) has had some problems. The VFD is tripping with an earth leakage fault. The problem has been intermitent and usually restarts, but this time it let me down and I needed a tow home. I have been testing a few thigns, and short if getting a new motor there is not much I can do. The good news is a new motor is only about $400. This will also give me the oportunity to rewind the old motor for higher top speed. Something along the lines of this post.

Frequently Asked Questions for EV upgrades. FAQ.

2009-07-24T17:57:00.004+10:00

I often get asked questions about EV conversions so I thought I would gather many of the answers. below.

Electric Vehicle Upgrades: FAQ.

What kind of car should I get upgraded?

Essentially any car can be upgraded however some lend themselves to a simpler, easier and cheaper conversion than others. Here are some rules of thumb to follow:

Look for a vehicle that is pre 2002 as the integration of the electronics tends to be simpler. Once the petrol motor is removed, the engine management computer will complain and this may affect other computers in the vehicle such as the Dashboard, Security and Air Conditioning ECUs in many modern vehicles.
Upgrade a vehicle that you would like driving. You should hope to get many years of good service from the vehicle.
Find a vehicle with no rust, panel damage and a good interior. You don’t want to have to spend thousands of dollars on panel and paintwork
The vehicle weight and load carrying capacity must be considered. A vehicle that weighs less than 1100kg and have a GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass/ maximum loaded weigh) of 1400kg or more. The difference between these weights will determine how many and how large the batteries can be and also the number of passengers. 85kg per passenger must be included when calculating GVM.
For a DC motor upgrade the vehicle must have a manual transmission.
For a slightly more expensive AC motor upgrade you should choose an automatic only if the motor comes with suitable reduction gearbox and differential.
A front wheel drive vehicle often has more possibilities for the battery location in that they may be installed under the rear set due to the lack of a driveshaft beneath the vehicle. In a rear wheel drive vehicle, the battery pack will invariably need to be split over 2 or more locations including luggage space.

How far can I go?

The answer is that it depends, but I will give a typical example.

A car typical small car weighing 1100kg with a 144V, 100Ah battery pack will have a range of about 80km to 80% discharged
The same small car using 160Ah batteries will have a range of about 120km. These would be the largest practical batteries you could use.
If the vehicle is heavier, terrain is very hilly, or you are travelling at high speed, the range will be less.
The effect on range of heating and air conditioning will be 5-15% depending on use.
The number of passengers or load will have a small effect on range. In stop start traffic this will be between 5-15%.
The larger the vehicle, the less range it will have. A 1600 kg vehicle with a 144v, 100Ah lead acid battery pack will have a usable range of 35km.
A 2000kg vehicle with 144V 200Ah Lithium battery pack will have a range of about 50km.

How Fast can I go?

· Upgraded vehicles are usually capable of freeway speeds of 110km/hr.

· Some upgraded commercial vehicles may be limited to 90 – 110 km/hr for city use, giving increased range.

Battery life cycle.

· Lithium batteries have a cycle life of 3000 cycles if not discharged below 80% capacity. This is about 11 years if the vehicle is driven 5 days a week. The capacity is viewed on a specially designed battery ‘fuel’ gauge. More advanced gauges may also show a distance to empty. If the battery is discharged below 80% capacity frequently the cycle life can be as low as 1500 cycles.

· Good Lead acid batteries that are designed for electric vehicles have a cycle life of about 400 cycles to 80% discharged or 800 cycles to 50% discharged. 800 cycles equates to about 3 years.

How long will it take to charge my batteries?

· A typical 144v, 100Ah battery pack will take 6 hours from fully discharged when charged from a typical 10A power point. Realistically the duration will be less as the batteries will never be fully discharged.

· We also have fast chargers available that can charge the 100Ah pack in 3 to 4 hours.

· Larger 160Ah batteries will take proportionally longer to charge 8-10 hours using a standard 10A power point.

How heavy are the batteries?

· A 144v 100Ah lithium battery pack will weigh 144kg

· A 144v 160Ah Lithium battery pack will weigh 252kg

· A 100Ah Lead Acid battery pack will weigh 340kg for a 120v system or 413kg for 144v.

· The additional weight of the batteries is largely overcome by the removal of the fuel tank, exhaust, radiator and the petrol engine.

· In some vehicles, especially older models, the suspension springs may need replacing to retain original ride height.

How safe is an upgraded vehicle?

There is significant effort put into the safety Eve Motor Group upgraded electric vehicles. Following are some of safety features.

· The vehicle fully complies with the Road Transport Authorities National Code Of practice # 14 for electric vehicle conversion.

· The vehicle complies will all Blue Slip (NSW) requirements

· A crash sensor in installed that will disconnect the motor in case of an accident

· Fuses between all battery banks and a circuit breaker is installed in case of a controller or high current cable fault.

· All battery compartments, battery restraints and component anchor points are designed to comply with the G force requirements in case of crash and roll over.

How much will it cost to charge?

The charging cost primarily depends on how far you have driven. Let’s work it out.

· Say our car averages 180Wh/km. We drive 50km so we use 9kWh of electricity.
Battery chargers are about 85% efficient so this means that we might use 11.25kWh to charge.

· In a residential, Using power at normal retail rates(say 20c/kWh) this might cost $2.25, or 4.5c/km

· Residential off peak rates during 10pm to 6am (.6c/kWh) might cost 1.35c per km

· Large business pay as little as 7c peak and 4c off peak

· You can buy plug in a power meter from Jacar Electronics Part number MS6115 for about $40 that will calculate your charging costs. Alternatively for about $100 a kWh meter can be installed in the vehicle.

How do I charge using cheaper off peak power?

· If you have an older meter box, ask your electrician to install an off peak power point in your parking space. This will only be powered between 10pm and 6am (longer on weekends) and charged through a separate meter at off peak rates.

· If you have a newer smart meter, you can add a timer available from electrical suppliers on the power point you use for charging and set it to only turn on when lower priced electricity is available.

Should I keep the clutch?

· In my opinion, Yes. Many mechanically minded people will boast they can drive a car with a manual gearbox without a clutch, and in fact driving an EV without a clutch is not difficult. However, everyone that drives your vehicle in the future will be used to it, so it is best to leave it in so that anyone familiar with driving a manual can drive the EV.
It is important to remember that it might be possible (depending on the speed controller) to over rev the motor and shorten its life, or worse, destroy it. This can be overcome by the use of a rev limiter most modern speed controllers. All Eve Motor Group controllers have a rev limiter built in.

· One concern of keeping the clutch is that the bearings in the motor are not designed for axial load, however according to the motor manufacture; the bearings are able to take the axial load created by the clutch plate and springs.

Can I tow a trailer?

· Towing a trailer with an electric vehicle is possible for short distances but is not recommended due to the additional load on the batteries.

Where is the nearest upgrade centre?

· Our conversion centre is located in north-west Sydney; however we are planning to open other upgrade centres around Australia.

How much does it cost?

· Please contact the Eve Motor Group via the online form to proceed with an estimate based on your requirements. http://www.evemotorgroup.com.au

AR Business card

2009-07-14T22:18:00.000+10:00

Augmented reality business card. Very cool.

Would you like a car converted to Electric (Sydney based)

2009-07-11T08:36:00.001+10:00

See the Eve Motor Group

Camera on a sushi conveyer

2009-06-27T23:04:00.000+10:00

Camera on sushi conveyer

Scary Wasing Machine

2009-06-23T10:18:00.001+10:00

No really, it's terrifying.

World Famous in NZ

Here is a twist on the Mac vs. PC ads.

2009-06-23T10:17:00.000+10:00

Youtube Video

Hardware Store Art

2009-06-18T19:08:00.000+10:00

http://www.encastrable.net/residence7/

I got given this very nice book on motor repair and rewinding.

2009-06-16T00:13:00.005+10:00

It includes an extensive chapter on 3 phase AC. The copyright is 1946, and not much has changed since then.

The AC nuts on the AEVA forums might kill for this.

How Much does it cost to charge?

2009-06-09T11:27:00.005+10:00

Not much compared to the same period last year (may).

Note the cost per day is total household usage.

Quote...

2009-06-05T08:51:00.001+10:00

"All mankind is divided into three classes: those who are immovable, those who are movable; and those who move."
-Benjamin Franklin

Goodbye, GM ...by Michael Moore

2009-06-04T03:11:00.001+10:00

Goodbye, GM ...by Michael Moore

EV Links

2009-05-25T18:55:00.009+10:00

Thanks for visiting my blog.

The best way to read it is go to the earliest post and read from there in chronological order.

For those that have come here as a result of the SC article, here are some more links for further reading.

AEVA - Find your closest branch

AEVA Forums - Loads of discussion, good info, and knowledgeable people.

Tuarn Browns Industrial AC conversion (The inspiration for mine)

And if you are still keen, I have a Danfoss inverter for sale.

Article about my ute in the June Silicon Chip magazine

2009-05-25T18:10:00.004+10:00

A month or so ago I dropped down to the SC office in Brookvale to show off, as I had previously been in touch with Leo the editor.

He decided to do a 6 page article to the Electro-Lux and I even got my picture on the cover.