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.