Hi Greg, 

I considered 48V but stayed with 36.  Though the drive motor performance would be better with a solid state 48V controller, there's all the accessory motors that you'd be overspeeding, and I didn't want to do that to the deck motors without a full rebuild and improved insulation first.  It'd be worth some deck motor experiments to see if they run any cooler and if amerage drops at all, as it'll take more energy to spin them 1/3 faster, but the amps may still fall due to higher voltage.  

In my lithium rebuild, I'm using a DC-DC converter for the lights and lift motors rather than tapping the pack and risking imbalance.  

Good Luck!
Jay


On Monday, October 14, 2024 at 09:00:06 AM PDT, elec-trak-request@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu <elec-trak-request@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu> wrote:


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Today's Topics:

  1.  METI Inquiry (Greg Curran)
  2. Re:  METI Inquiry (Christopher Zach)
  3.  36v vs 48v and aluminum vs steel build (Greg Curran)


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

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2024 17:46:21 -0400
From: Greg Curran <gcurran323@gmail.com>
To: elec-trak@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu
Subject: (ET) METI Inquiry
Message-ID:
    <CAJ=p12JYeMLir-wgwhXJBDc=3Q0r8UhtQF=HB3P8BQ5=NaryDQ@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any background information on METI? From what I could
find, it looks like it started out as a collaboration of a number of
Elec-Trak enthusiasts/experts, was eventually purchased by one member of
the team, and that he sadly passed a number of years ago. That?s about as
much as I could find.

It seemed like such a great project, so I?m just curious as to why it
didn?t seem to take off back in 2008, and what has become of it. Any
background information anyone?s able to provide would be greatly
appreciated.

Best,
Greg
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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2024 18:38:01 -0400
From: Christopher Zach <cz@bunsen.crystel.com>
To: elec-trak@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu
Subject: Re: (ET) METI Inquiry
Message-ID: <a040105e-ee5f-4799-be87-c9b7de32c18c@bunsen.crystel.com>
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2024 08:06:33 -0400
From: Greg Curran <gcurran323@gmail.com>
To: elec-trak@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu
Subject: (ET) 36v vs 48v and aluminum vs steel build
Message-ID:
    <CAJ=p12LYk1PEqbwd5n6MHm=WgY_fCd1fGWxEOvDGMpLD5kCX9Q@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Don?t mean to spam the thread, as I asked about the METI yesterday, but,
now that I?m able to spend time on tractors again, I?m going full bore
before anything else comes up.

Any game changing advantages to switching to 48v? I?m doing a
semi-ground-up build and trying to decide if this would make things easier
in the long run (more available parts from golf cart industry) or harder
(less original Elec-Trak components would be compatible).

In a similar vein, and with the mindset of doing more work upfront with
less ongoing maintenance, anyone have thoughts on going full aluminum build
(including the frame) vs the current steel route? Although perfect is
generally the enemy of good, I?m looking to optimize on this build and am
focusing on building a tough machine that?s as low maintenance as possible
(while still using much of the original Elec-Trak design). If I go
aluminum, I?ll be gathering up most of the parts I plan to replicate from
the original Elec-Trak and then having them replicated in aluminum, with
appropriate modifications, by a local shop. Not the most cost-effective
route to take, but this is as much or more of a passion build as it is one
based in practicality.
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End of Elec-trak Digest, Vol 22, Issue 73
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