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.