Re: (ET) Electronic control modification update - It worked!

["MR23=Christopher Meier \(Mtka, MN, USA\)" <mr23 worldspy net>]

Put a controller pre-charge circuit in.
Check the EV archive (http://www.egroups.com/group/ev)
-Chris



----- Original Message -----
From: <Kirkvg aol com>
To: <elec-trak cosmos5 phy tufts edu>
Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2000 9:11 PM
Subject: (ET) Electronic control modification update - It worked!


> To all, I spent about 4 hours going over every wire from the positive end
of
> the pack to the negative end. I put tape on each end of each wire as I
went
> and checked the crude wiring diagram that I had been creating. That was
> definetly tedious. The scary thing was that I didn't find any wires 
> hooked
up
> wrong or extra. That made me a little nervous since I have been working 
> on
> this for the last 3 years (more off than on). Anyway, I decided that I
should
> light it up on 24 volts instead of 36. So I used two old car batteries
that
> were laying around.
> As I connected the power disconnect I got a good sized spark. This would
have
> freaked me out if I didn't know that the large capacitors inside the
> controller needed to charge up. As I connected it the second time it
didn't
> spark (I admit I did check the fuses just in case).
> I decided to start out easy so I checked the lights first. They worked
great.
> One down two to go. Next, I tried the front lift (12 volts only). It
didn't
> work. :(   But then I remembered that I took out the fuse so that I only
had
> to worry about one circuit at a time. I pluged the fuse in and tried it
> again.  It worked both up and down.  :)
>
> Two down and one to go. Never mind that it was the complicated drive
circuit.
> I turned the key on and waited to see if there would be any smoke. So far
so
> good. I made sure the forward/reverse switch was in forward, hesitating 
> to
> push on the throttle unsure of what would happen. Not able to
procrastinate
> any longer I pushed the throttle. Nothing happened.  :(     I took a 
> quick
> look and saw that I had the seat up and that meant that the safety switch
was
> not engaged. Maybe I will be OK yet. I held the seat switch down and the
RTN1
> relay clicked on. I waited a few seconds to check for smoke.  None :)
I
> pushed the throttle down a little bit and the motor started spinning.
> YES!!!    I pushed it down further and it sped up!   COOL!!   I pushed it
all
> the way down and it sped up more.   I put it in gear and did that a 
> couple
> more times and the tires turned forward. REALLY COOL!!    Next I turned
the
> forward/reverse switch to reverse and tried it again. It worked just like
it
> was supposed to. I am exstatic.
> I then tried all of the safety's. The drive motor turned off when either
the
> seat switch or the brake switch was pushed. The drive motor did not
restart
> when either safety switch was reset, even though I was holding the
throttle
> down, just like it was supposed to. I lifted the throttle and reapplied 
> it
> and the motor started turning again right on cue.
>
> I can hardly believe that it all worked right the first time. I was
expecting
> to have to adjust the micro switch or the potentiometer for the 
> controller
or
> wires that were crossed. After a couple of minutes of running I did get a
> smell. I checked to see if anything was hot but didn't fell anything. I 
> am
> hoping that it was only because the motor hadn't run in about four years.
I
> ran it several more times and it seemed to work fine still.
> I plan on going out and buying a set of batteries tomorrow and continuing
my
> testing. I still haven't put it under a driving load or used the PTO 
> under
> load. Or both turning on and off at the same time. So I can't say that it
is
> going to work under everyday operation yet. But I am greatly encouraged 
> at
> this time.    Hopefully I can get the new batteries installed and wired
> tomorrow and hook up my mower and give it a proper workout. I will update
as
> soon as I can.    Kirk
>