I didn't post it at the time, but last Tuesday night I removed three of the last four inline charger fuseholders. I have one left and it's only there because I ran out of 4mm black heatshrink and it was the only one that looked to be in perfect condition. I'll do it as soon as the heatshrink (from eBay) arrives. With the fuseholders gone the Vogue was completely trouble free for the commutes last week.
Figures for week ending 26th July 2013
Monday: 8.84 AH for 39.2 km => 135 Wh/km
Tuesday: 6.68 AH for 31.9 km => 126 Wh/km
Wednesday: 7.20 AH for 33.6 km => 129 Wh/km
Thursday: 9.81 AH for 43.4 km => 136 Wh/km
Friday: 9.38 AH for 42.9 km => 131 Wh/km
(All battery to wheel)
As a curiosity, I usually make it to work at about 3 AH consumed - that's around 1800 Wh making the economy about 120 Wh/km (my record so far is 2.8 AH). The trip home is a lot worse and I have generally racked up over 6.6 AH by the time the round trip is completed. The difference in altitude is about 20 meters so doesn't explain it - but driving style does. Going to work I am generally not hassled by any other drivers so I can accelerate slowly and slow down at my leisure taking full advantage of regen braking. Driving home is a relentless wrestle with other road users to use as much regen as possible but not get in their way. The nett result is that driving home is less efficient. Accelerating up hills costs a heap of capacity.
My observation is that not many drivers are in a hurry to get to work, but most road users are in a hurry to get home.
I could improve this situation with more regen. At the moment it peaks around 25 Amps (battery) which is 1.25C. Headway (battery manufacturer) recommend a continuous charge current of of 1C (20A) and maximum continuous charge of 2C (40A). Perhaps I'm being too conservative. I really haven't had much time to mess around with configuration in the past few weeks.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Banana shaped fuseholders
I mentioned a post or so ago that some of the inline charger fuseholders have melted out of shape a fair bit.
This one is on Pack #5 in the boot. It hasn't failed yet - amazing! (The large flat heatshrink bit houses the two 3A heatsunk diodes that isolate the charger from the pack and the lower black wire and clump are the inline fuseholder.)
I only have three of these inline fuseholder left in the car - out of 12.
Pack #9 gave a low voltage alert about 800 Meters from home last night. I gently eased the car home and sure enough, the fuseholder had failed and Pack #9 hadn't charged much the night before.
It was 44.3 V unloaded and charged up fine with a clip-lead replacing the fuseholder.
This one is on Pack #5 in the boot. It hasn't failed yet - amazing! (The large flat heatshrink bit houses the two 3A heatsunk diodes that isolate the charger from the pack and the lower black wire and clump are the inline fuseholder.)
I only have three of these inline fuseholder left in the car - out of 12.
Pack #9 gave a low voltage alert about 800 Meters from home last night. I gently eased the car home and sure enough, the fuseholder had failed and Pack #9 hadn't charged much the night before.
It was 44.3 V unloaded and charged up fine with a clip-lead replacing the fuseholder.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Economy figures for last week
It's actually been interesting driving the car in these colder months without a heater. The economy is slightly worse than when it's warmer and we can't blame the heater!
Figures for week ending 19th July 2013
Monday: 5.89 AH for 24.8 km => 142.5 Wh/km
Tuesday: 6.78 Ah for 30.6 km => 133 Wh/km
Wednesday: 10.34 AH for 44 km => 141 Wh/km
Thursday: 7.62 AH for 34.25 km => 133.4 Wh/km
Friday: 7.61 AH for 31.7 km => 144 Wh/km
*Friday after at-work charge: 12.6 AH for 50.67 km => 149 Wh/km
As usual all figures are battery to wheel.
I didn't really have to charge at work on Fiday but I had a Chiropractor appointment in the morning then I chose to do the running around on Friday night in the Vogue. It's two trips to Doncaster and back and the big hill takes it's toll. So much for "the most I have driven in the last few years during weekday is 58 km".
Figures for week ending 19th July 2013
Monday: 5.89 AH for 24.8 km => 142.5 Wh/km
Tuesday: 6.78 Ah for 30.6 km => 133 Wh/km
Wednesday: 10.34 AH for 44 km => 141 Wh/km
Thursday: 7.62 AH for 34.25 km => 133.4 Wh/km
Friday: 7.61 AH for 31.7 km => 144 Wh/km
*Friday after at-work charge: 12.6 AH for 50.67 km => 149 Wh/km
As usual all figures are battery to wheel.
I didn't really have to charge at work on Fiday but I had a Chiropractor appointment in the morning then I chose to do the running around on Friday night in the Vogue. It's two trips to Doncaster and back and the big hill takes it's toll. So much for "the most I have driven in the last few years during weekday is 58 km".
Last "under the car" fuseholder bypassed
I didn't get to play around with the tailshaft this weekend but I did manage to crawl around under a slightly raised car and bypass the last of the hard-to-get-at fuseholders (in series with chargers). This was the one attached to pack #10 that I mentioned in the previous post. There are now only six of the unreliable fuseholders left and none of them are hard to get at.
One of the fuseholders in the boot still works but the heat has bent it like a banana.
One of the fuseholders in the boot still works but the heat has bent it like a banana.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Three more fuseholders bypassed
I spent about an hour and a half under the front of the car last night squeezing my hands up beside the inner front guard to cut out two of the offending fuseholders (packs #11 and #12), substitute a length of wire, and heatshrink the whole lot. The time was mainly spent trying to line up two pieces of wire (several times) with only one hand (tried many clips etc.) and solder with the other - while scrunched up in strange positions.
I also did the same treatment to pack #8 in the Engine Bay.
Pack #10 inline charger fuseholder is also about to fail. It's the hardest pack to get at without removing the top battery tray so I'm hoping it will hold on a week or so as I will be removing that tray to change the heater blower soon. It's marginal - if you rattle the charger wire while charging, the charger cuts back to balance mode - sigh.
So, fully charged again, Il drove the Vogue to work today.
Vibration wise. I have now driven the car for a couple of days and the vibration is only a little bit better than it was with the M8 bolts holding the front flange in (allowing the spigot to be centered). While 90 km/h is possible, it feels the the motor bearings won't survive long. It's going to be a wet, cold weekend so I hope that I both get the time, and the enthusiasm to brave the cold and check it out further. I have my hose-clamps ready.
I also did the same treatment to pack #8 in the Engine Bay.
Pack #10 inline charger fuseholder is also about to fail. It's the hardest pack to get at without removing the top battery tray so I'm hoping it will hold on a week or so as I will be removing that tray to change the heater blower soon. It's marginal - if you rattle the charger wire while charging, the charger cuts back to balance mode - sigh.
So, fully charged again, Il drove the Vogue to work today.
Vibration wise. I have now driven the car for a couple of days and the vibration is only a little bit better than it was with the M8 bolts holding the front flange in (allowing the spigot to be centered). While 90 km/h is possible, it feels the the motor bearings won't survive long. It's going to be a wet, cold weekend so I hope that I both get the time, and the enthusiasm to brave the cold and check it out further. I have my hose-clamps ready.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Timer waits for no-one - Neither do inline fuses!
I didn't drive the Vogue today - there were too many obstacles.
Firstly, last night I plugged into my wall timer and checked that is was set to auto - only to find that it had stopped entirely. The timer is a Chinese copy of the TP8A16, 16A 240 VAC timer.
It was designed to come apart, so come apart it did!
The 1.2V, 80mA/h NiMh button battery had EXPLODED.
I removed the cell and checked out the rest of the board - it appeared fine after a little cleanup.
A quick reverse engineer and I discovered that they use the battery as a 1.4 volt regulator. Without the battery there is about 6 volts at that point. The electronics doesn't like that so it didn't work. When I turned off the 240VAC, it worked for a few seconds as the voltage went down through the acceptable region. So the electonics was probably OK (amazing).
I removed the exploded cell and substituted two diodes in series where the battery used to be. It all worked fine. It only lasted about 5 seconds after mains disconnect but that would do for the night.
At least they used a 16 A relay.
I went out to the car at around 6:45AM this morning to check all was well (timer was set to start at 5AM and finish at 8AM) - but all was not well. I charge at 3 Amps and needed 6.6AH - so a bit over 2 hours required.
Battery pack #12 was indicating finished charging - all the rest were still charging as they should have been.
I checked pack #12 and it certainly wasn't fully charged - another inline fuseholder! I should have had them all changed out by now - oh well. previous fuseholder failure
Pack #12 is under the controller tray and hard to get at so I'll take my daughter's car as she is not due home until Thursday and I have to give it a full tank and wash it anyway.
That way the Vogue is also in the carport for some wiring surgery tonight. I'll try to bypass all three fuseholders under the engine bay without removing the controller tray. I'll see how I go...
Firstly, last night I plugged into my wall timer and checked that is was set to auto - only to find that it had stopped entirely. The timer is a Chinese copy of the TP8A16, 16A 240 VAC timer.
It was designed to come apart, so come apart it did!
I removed the cell and checked out the rest of the board - it appeared fine after a little cleanup.
A quick reverse engineer and I discovered that they use the battery as a 1.4 volt regulator. Without the battery there is about 6 volts at that point. The electronics doesn't like that so it didn't work. When I turned off the 240VAC, it worked for a few seconds as the voltage went down through the acceptable region. So the electonics was probably OK (amazing).
I removed the exploded cell and substituted two diodes in series where the battery used to be. It all worked fine. It only lasted about 5 seconds after mains disconnect but that would do for the night.
At least they used a 16 A relay.
Battery pack #12 was indicating finished charging - all the rest were still charging as they should have been.
I checked pack #12 and it certainly wasn't fully charged - another inline fuseholder! I should have had them all changed out by now - oh well. previous fuseholder failure
Pack #12 is under the controller tray and hard to get at so I'll take my daughter's car as she is not due home until Thursday and I have to give it a full tank and wash it anyway.
That way the Vogue is also in the carport for some wiring surgery tonight. I'll try to bypass all three fuseholders under the engine bay without removing the controller tray. I'll see how I go...
Monday, July 15, 2013
Tailshaft on again
Well the tailshaft is back in the car.
The balancing folk identified that the spigot on the front flange of the tailshaft and the "cup" in the coupler did not perfectly match. To quote Jeff, "any movement is too much". They changed the flange on the front of the tailshaft then balanced the whole lot together.
(I suspect that the flange was imperial and someone machined the coupler to a metric size believing that the flange was metric.)
The front flange holes now comfortably fit the M10 bolts (butchering gone).
It's alot bit better - but it's still not perfect. At 90 km/h on the tollway it wasn't scary - but it wasn't comfortable either - still a lot of tailshaft speed vibration.
I didn't put it on stands to test it as I had very little time, but I hope to do an axle stand test maybe be next weekend.
My plans is to:
1. Record the vibration audio again just because I am not sure that it's vibrating at tailshaft speed - it feels double that.
2. Try my SS hoseclamp at 45deg increments.
3. Try dampening out the front motor cradle (with my hands) and see how much that is contributing.
I drove to work with about 4.5km of my 15km drive on the tollway this morning at around 90 to 95km/h (traffic speed in left lane) and the Vogue used almost the identical amount of power as when I drive to work via slow backroads. I backed into my parking spot with a reading of 3.14 AH. That's about 125 Wh/km battery to wheel. Wind was practically non-existant - the BOM site also showed almost no doppler wind reading. Current consumption at speed was quite modest. So the Vogue CD isn't awful at all.
The balancing folk identified that the spigot on the front flange of the tailshaft and the "cup" in the coupler did not perfectly match. To quote Jeff, "any movement is too much". They changed the flange on the front of the tailshaft then balanced the whole lot together.
(I suspect that the flange was imperial and someone machined the coupler to a metric size believing that the flange was metric.)
The front flange holes now comfortably fit the M10 bolts (butchering gone).
It's a
I didn't put it on stands to test it as I had very little time, but I hope to do an axle stand test maybe be next weekend.
My plans is to:
1. Record the vibration audio again just because I am not sure that it's vibrating at tailshaft speed - it feels double that.
2. Try my SS hoseclamp at 45deg increments.
3. Try dampening out the front motor cradle (with my hands) and see how much that is contributing.
I drove to work with about 4.5km of my 15km drive on the tollway this morning at around 90 to 95km/h (traffic speed in left lane) and the Vogue used almost the identical amount of power as when I drive to work via slow backroads. I backed into my parking spot with a reading of 3.14 AH. That's about 125 Wh/km battery to wheel. Wind was practically non-existant - the BOM site also showed almost no doppler wind reading. Current consumption at speed was quite modest. So the Vogue CD isn't awful at all.
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