Rock Star EVParking

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry provides close up Rock Star parking and Charging for EV's


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Motor cooling fan

I now have a 12 volt blower fan on a manual on off toggle switch to blow air into my motor. It's pretty quiet and hopefully it will protect my motor, especially at a stop after a big hill when the motors own fan isn't turning. Next step is that heat sink for the controller board and maybe teeing off the blower fan for that too.


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New drivers seat

Just about the most difficult part of the entire project was re- upolstering the front seats. I I'd the passenger seat over a year ago so people would ride with me, now it's my turn to get the springs off my back. This time I had an assistant, which saved an hour of tugging and pulling. Don'ttry this alone, especially the drivers side. Wow, what a lot of effort that took, but I'm sure I'll aporeshiate it for a long time.


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Oh no! The bus ate Scott!

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Motor tranny pic

The motor was heavy enough to balance the tranny pretty well, we used a cam strap on the yellow motor to firm it up.



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Motor transmission instalation

This time I got a motor cycle Jack from Harbor Freight and installed the motor and transmission at the same time. Much easier this way. The bus is up and running again with a new coupler from Hi-Torque Electric and a new fan/blower to keep the motor cool on these hot days. Next, I really need to get a heat sink for my controller to help cool that off. Right now I don't have any cooling in place for it. I notice it limiting my power after longer trips, especially on these 100 plus days!

Motor in the shop.

Jim Husted from Hi-Torque electric came by last week and took my motor and transmission into the shop to make me a really well matched adaptor plate and coupler. When I got my couple off the tranny it was totally stripped. Ishould be on the road again in a week or two. Maybe now I can finally get my reverse lights workign again.

Work in Progress.

I am now ok with the fact that this is a work in progress and will never actually be "finished". My most recent set back is that my motor to transmission coupler stripped. Its time to look into another type of coupler, or put a clutch back in which may take some torque out of the connection. So I'm back to working on the bus rather than driving, but I don't think it will take too long. I also want to add a fan to cool the motor and a heat sink for my controller... but the coupler is going to have to happen first.

On The Road Again

It has been a while, but Last night I finished putting the bus back together and took the family for a ride to my son's concert and the gelato store (Mio Gelato).

The batteries are now all in the main compartment of the bus. This allows much greater access to them. Before they were so hard to get at, which turned out to be the major reason for my meltdown. The bus also doesn't sag in the back anymore and rides really even, front to back.

All my battery terminals are now the universal top post clamp style, which should give me much better connections with less heat generation. All the motor and controller connections are copper welding lugs.

Here are some pics of the rebuild.

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Too much snow to work on the bus, back to work when it thaws out.

Cheers!

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Be Glad You Cant Smell This Image

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Melted Batteries

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Damage In The Rear Battery Compartment

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Melt Down

I am sad and embarrassed to admit it but my Shoddy wiring job on the bus led to a fire in the rear battery box. I was playing with the cables connecting two batteries and left one cable too long and forgot I had done that, it must have gotten pressed against another battery terminal under my box lid and the vibrations of driving caused the cable insulation to break causing a short. This in itself wasn't too bad, but I had a lot of foam under the lid acting as a spacer/insulator and it caught fire when the wire sparked. Fortunately I was driving by this Bar pictured below when it shorted so I stopped in for a pint while the Fire Department did its job. Pictures of the damage coming soon.

Major Set Back! ;-(

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Cold Weather

It has turned chilly here in Portland, with nighttime temps in the 40's, and that turns out to mean that my batteries don't charge as well as they used to. My range is down to 30 miles now. I did go 30miles the other day with some 55 mph stretches and two adults and 150 pounds of equipment for work. When I got back I was pretty sluggish accelerating from stop lights and my battery back read 148V. (144V should be the lowest I could go)

To get back to normal battery behavior I am going to need to heat the batteries with some sort of electric blanket or wiring, or wait till spring. From asking questions on the EVDL.org forum, I need to keep the pack near 70 degrees, and my rear pack isn't well insulated.

Back on the road!

Jim Husted from Hi-Torque Electric delivered my new 9 inch motor in person! It weighs almost twice my old motor, so it was a bit difficult to put in. Last time all we did was to put the motor on a floor jack and put it in place. This time it required a transmission jack adapter, which held the motor securely. It too three attempts over two days to get it in place, but it worked and I am back on the road.

AS Jim told me, I am really getting a lot more power. 0-30 mph doesn't feel slow any more and I have noticed a distinct difference on small hills in the neighborhood that used to give me trouble. I haven't opened her up yet, I really am in the city, so I haven't gotten above 40 mph in 3rd yet. I'll keep updating when I see how 4th feels, I'm sure higheays are no longer out of the question.

A good 9 inch motor is what the bus needs, my old D&D 6.7 inch just couldn't handle it. I don't know about range, but in the limited driving I've done so far I don't think my range has suffered at all. A goof 40 mile trip should test that.

For now I'm just enjoying passing the gas stations again.

New Engine almost done!

Here are some pics that Jim snet me, showing my new Yellow motor! 9 inches this time. It should be doen this week, then i can pick it up and get back on the road. Jim sure makes a pretty motor.

Jim Husted From Hi-Torque Electric

I got a chance to Meet Jim Husted from Hi-Torque Electric. Jim rebuilds electric motors for EV use, and I'm happy to be able to give my old blown motor to him to recycle into someone's EV in the future. Jim is going to work with me to get a 9or 11 inch motor for the bus. I'm sure this photo I took of Jim will be a popular in the EV forum circles 8^) The photo is Jim with the "kill" for the day my 6.7 inch D&D motor.

Thanks Jim

Melt Down

Well, I haven't written as much lately, because things have been going pretty well. Saturday wasn't a good day for my EV. This is a bit hard to explain to those without an electric car, but the motors are really different. In an EV there is nothing to slow you down when you are in gear, and I was in 1st gear at the top of a hill and I started to coast down, and after 30 mph I heard a small explosion in the rear, and my engine had blown to bits. I had the radio on and wasn't paying attention to the engine noise, and at 7-8 k RPM's the engine just went BOOM! It was my own fault and I'm really bummed out, but I won't be using 1st gear again when I get a new motor. You can see from the pictures that the guts are pretty much a mass of chunks or random copper pieces.