Almost Rolling

This summer there have been a lot of distractions from working on the car although I have been working on the car when I am not doing anything else. And I have been taking a day off of work here and there to work on the car. What I struggled with was finishing the brake job. In the last blog I talked about the upgrade of the braking system. That upgrade took longer than it should because of various problems. What really stalled me was installing the brake pressure transducer. I had a really hard time coming up with the fittings to adapt the brake pressure transducer to the brake system. The pressure transducer is used the tell the GEVCU to apply regen torque when the brakes are engaged. The problem I ran into is that BMW uses a very special flare on the end of the brake tubing. It is called a bubble flare or convex flare. Although many places make adapter fittings I could not find exactly what I needed.   The main problem is the brake transducer came with 1/8" NPT and it has to be mounted on in a tee in the brake line. That meant I had to adapt 1/8"NPT to convex flare. I could not find fittings of the proper sex for the setup I was trying to use. After several tries I finally got all the correct fittings. I had to use a custom made stainless steel braided brake line to accommodate the placement of the transducer and to adapt it to the braking system. Related to the braking system is the clutch slave cylinder. I found I had to replace the slave cylinder and that turned into another big job. The slave cylinder cannot be bled while mounted on the transmission. BMW put the bleed screw on the bottom of the cylinder so the slave cylinder had to be removed and held in a special fixture to be bled. That had to be done first before bleeding the main braking system. I used a pressure bleeder to finish the job.

On the Electrical Vehicle front I now have nearly all the high voltage and low voltage wiring done. The high voltage wiring required the completion of the secondary contactor box that controls high voltage to the PTC heater in the car and the box heaters in the battery boxes. I still have figure out what to do with the thermistor wires coming from the battery box heaters. I don't need precise heating control and the heaters are somewhat self limiting in the amount of heat given off. I also have temperature monitoring in each battery pack via the BMS. The temperature measurement is really only required to determine if the batteries are too cold to charge. That normally will not be an issue for me because my habit with the Leaf is to put it on the charger as soon as I get home. If the batteries were cold from the car sitting in the parking lot all day they will warm up by the time I drive home. But it was a lot easier to add the heaters in the boxes before the batteries were installed, just in case I need to heat the batteries

I also got all the wiring connections completed for the BMS and made up the harness connector for the Cinch enclosure. I really like the Cinch enclosure because of the design and the very strong sealing mechanism. But the harness connectors are harder to assemble than Ampseal. I did not think that was possible. It took me several tries to get all 18 wires inserted into the harness header. Those connectors are supposed to be able to use with 26GA wire. I have 22GA and I really struggled getting those wires in the harness header. That size wire is used for the BMS as a safety feature (no fuses required, if a short occurs the wire will just melt and open the short). I did finally get a completed header assembly and was able to test the BMS. All temperatures and voltages were reading correctly although VBAT2 for the second battery segment had to be negated to read correctly. That means for the ADC the voltage was inverted. I reviewed the layout of the BMS and found there was an issue with the VBAT2 measurement circuit. I came up with a rework on the board that was fairly simple and it worked to fix the measurement problem. I had Collin Kidder send me his board to apply the same rework.

The last major bit of low voltage wiring needed is connecting the GEVCU to the car. I originally thought I would do that connection after I got the engine and DMOC back in the car because I plan to mount the GEVCU to the side of the DMOC. Having the engine out of the engine bay has worked really well to do the wiring because I can climb into the engine bay to work.

Hopefully in the next blog I post I can announce driving the car under electric power. The last time it was on the street as an ICE mobile was November 2013. If I get it rolling soon this conversion will be completed before two years are up.

A video of all this work can be seen here.

Add a comment

Getting Closer

I have been spending the last six weeks working on all kinds of small issues.  I needed to make the mounting hardware for all the peripheral components.  This includes the radiator/fan cooling unit, the water reservoirs, the water pumps, the vacuum pump and vacuum reservoir and the DC/DC converter.  The mounting hardware takes a lot of time because it has to first be designed, then machined and then painted. I also made some mounting hardware to mount the Brusa charger in the spare tire wheel well in the trunk.  The Delphi DC/DC converter proved to be a problem mounting because of the cooling lines.  The converter has 3/4" connections that required a hose that was more than an inch in diameter to be uses.  A hose that big does not bend with a tight radius so I had to adjust the position of the converter to account for that stiff hose. I also had to get some adapters to go from 3/4" hose to AN8.  In addition to the mounting hardware I also have been working on wiring all the pumps and cooling fan.  These all go through a new fuse box that I setup that will run off the DC/DC converter. Other mechanical issues I have been working on are the brakes. The front brakes got new rotors, calipers and pads and I purchased a upgrade kit for the rear brakes to convert them from drum to disk.  The installation of that kit went very well, although removing the left rear wheel hub was quite challenging and required a 5-ton hydraulic puller to break it loose.  It probably has never been removed in the car's lifetime.  The upgrade kit included some very well written instructions and all the hardware necessary for the conversion, including new hubs, new rotors, new calipers and new brake pads. A link to the brake kit vendor is here (Aardvark Racing). Other work on the brakes included restoring the vacuum booster unit and master cylinder.  The vacuum booster was in very bad shape - rusted and paint peeling.  So I removed it, wire brushed all the old paint and rust and repainted it.  I also rebuilt the master cylinder.  I am still amazed that I can get brand new parts (albeit 30 years old) from the BMW dealer.  The master cylinder repair kit , the seals and bolts and a new brake fluid reservoir were all available.  Some of the parts came from Germany.


On the electric vehicle front I started placing batteries in the battery boxes.  I started with the trunk box first.  This box is mounted on some sliding rails that allow the box to be slid forward for loading and testing batteries and then slid back and locked in place during vehicle operation.  The box design was detailed in a blog and video eariler this year (see below: BMS Respin and Battery Box Mounting). The batteries in that box weigh 254 lbs and I wanted to make sure the rail system worked.  I coated the rails with a dry fluro lubricant to help with the sliding.  The system worked just as planned and all the batteries were loaded without any issue.  Next step is to strap them all together and connect the battery cables.  I finished the work on rear seat battery boxes which included sealing and securely attaching the boxes to the seat deck.  Batteries were loaded in those boxes, but not strapped up.   I also started to work on the wiring for the BMS and battery heaters.  Next step will be to strap up all the batteries and finish the peripheral wiring.
Speaking of the BMS I also have been working another version of the BMS board.  The new version has a circuit designed to measure the battery current with an external shunt.  The board works exactly the same as the earlier version with only difference being the pinout on the connector.  To accommodate the shunt connections I had to make one common connection for the thermistor reference line.  All the thermistors are referenced to a current-limited +5VDC.  The two designs of the BMS boards give people an option to either use the CAB300 flux gate sensor or a current shunt.  The flux gate sensor has the advantage of no break in the battery cable. The current shunt has the advantage of higher accuracy.
A video of all this work can be seen here.

Add a comment

Formula E Race and EV West Visit

Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to travel out to California to see the Formula E race in Long Beach CA.  This is something I have been wanting to do since the race series was announced last year.  There were only two US dates, three weeks ago in Miami and last week in Long Beach.  I knew the California race would be better because Long Beach is not far from San Marcos, where EV West is located.  They hosted the race and had a get together before and after the race.  I was able to shoot some video of race, a link to the video is below.  The quality of the video is not that great.  It was brilliantly sunny that day which was great for the race but made it very hard to see the LCD viewfinder on the camcorder.  They also had a lot of barricades setup so it made it hard to get close to the race track.  They have to do that because when the cars crash all kinds of parts come off the cars, some at velocities that are lethal.  But the most notable feature of my video is how loud the cars are when racing.  You don't get that sound on the produced video of the race that is on YouTube (Link here).  The electric motors and gears really scream when they go by at 100MPH.  And you can really hear the tires on the pavement too.  The race had a really great turnout, probably well over 20,000 people.  The admission was free, but it was Easter weekend.  It was a really great time and I look forward to next year's race.
While I was out there I spent some time at EV West.  For the past six months they have been involved with a Smart Car repurposing program.  The Smart Car are fleet cars that have been salvaged.  Instead of crushing the cars and recycling the metal EV West is removing all the usable parts and making them available for sale.  Most notably are the battery packs, which are a Tesla design using the 18650 cells.  They cannot sell the whole battery pack, but they can sell the battery modules inside.  Each pack holds 8 modules that are 3KW/hr each.  It is quite amazing how small 24Kw/hr is with the 18650 cells.  I could almost put 48KW of these batteries in my 320i and probably take up less room and weigh less.  Maybe something to consider for my next build.  All the other parts of the drivetrain are available as well as all things like brakes and wheels.  While I was there I also looked at a Scott Inverter.  This is a 150KW inverter that might be a possible upgrade for the DMOC later this year.  The Scott has a very extensive software control package with a lot of functionality.  The only feature I did not see was the ability to program the amount of regen in the gas pedal position.  That is something that can be done on the GEVCU and gives the ability to drive with one foot.  The BMW i3 that I drove last year had that feature and I really like it.
In this past week I was also able to test the Delphi DC/DC converter that I replaced the HV input connector that I reviewed in the last blog and video.  The Delphi is unusual in that it requires 12V on the output connector to enable the converter to startup.  According to the user manual the Delphi requires that 12V to power up the internal circuitry and once the converter starts then the internal circuitry is powered by the HV.  The converter also seems to need a CAN message to set the output voltage to 13.5V.  This is very strange but it can be accommodated by the GEVCU.  I initially had a problem with the CAN messaging because unknown to me the CAN transceiver on the GEVCU I was using was not working.  Once I switched the CAN channel the converter started working and output current at 13.5V.

A video of the race and EV West visit can be found here.

Add a comment

Delphi DC/DC Converter

With all the extra electric items I am planning to add to the build like electric power steering, electric door looks, heated seats, etc I began to realize that the Chennic DC/DC converter rated at 800 watts was not going to be enough power.  In the electric vehicle there is no alternator to provide 12V DC power to all the accessories when the car is running.  A DC/DC converter is used. What the DC/DC converter does is take the high voltage of the battery pack and convert that down to 12V (13.5V actually).  Although at 13.5 the current is high, the current from the 400V battery pack is fairly low. The converters are usually about 95% efficient.  Another reason I was looking for another DC/DC converter is that I heard of some failures of the Chennic modules.  A couple of weeks ago Jack Rickard of EVTV demonstrated a 2.2kW DC/DC converter made by Delphi that was being used by the Chevy Volt and that it was available.  The power level of this converter is just what I was looking for. The converter can be controlled and monitored with the CAN bus. The only downside of the converter is that it is water cooled, but that is not an issue for me.  I found one of the units on eBay for a really discounted price that was brand new.  I think the reason the price was so discounted is that the unit came with a connector on the high voltage side that was a special connector probably just made for Chevy and unattainable for anyone else. It was a Amphenol connector but not available for sale. I looked at the connector and realized that it was on a standard bolt pattern for Amphenol. I looked the bolt pattern up and found a standard 2-pin connector was available.  The pins on the connector are 16GA so they are rated to 13 Amps. The connector is also rated to 700VDC so it is perfect for the high voltage input on the converter.  I also looked into the alternative connector made by Delphi.  A company called New Eagle sells a whole kit with the Delphi connector and an Ampseal connector (used for CAN connection).  The problem with the Delphi connector is that it is bigger in diameter and larger in cross-section than the Amphenol so the body of the converter would need to be machined to accommodate the Delphi connector.  I did not think that would be a viable alternative because the all the electronics of the converter would need to be disassembled to machine the connector face.  Replacing the Amphenol connector with another Amphenol connector seemed to be the best alternative.  The replacement turned out to be fairly easy, just removed the case cover, the four screws holding the connector and the 2 screws for the input wires.  I used silicon jacket wire rated at 600V for the connections from the Amphenol pins to the screw terminals on the converter.  All the screws on the converter where star cross pattern, but not an issue because I have a whole set of screw drivers and socket drivers for star pattern.  The next step is to test the DC/DC converter.  Watch for an upcoming video on that.
I also tested out my latest version of the BMS and built up a couple of boards, one for Collin Kidder and one for Jack Rickard.  The boards performed just as designed, the temperature and voltage were very steady and repeatable. The next step for the software that runs the board is to integrate the CAB300 current measurement.  Then the board can be used to calculate and measure the state of charge (SOC) of the battery pack.
A video of the Delphi converter and BMS testing can be found here.

Add a comment

Arduino GSM module testing

Ever since I got my Leaf and discovered that it had an iphone app that I could get the battery SOC (state of charge) or start the charging or turn on the heat or air conditioning I thought I could do that with my 320. I have a lot of experience using SMS (txt messaging) to have machine to machine control from other projects that I have worked on.  I did not think I would need to go to the trouble of making an iphone app because simple txt messaging can be used to control functions in the car.  I knew there were a lot GSM modules out there and have been thinking about how I could control parts of the 320.  A GSM module is just like a smartphone, it can send and receive calls, send and receive txt messages and even connect to websites.  The GSM module has to be connected to some kind of processor so the txt can be processed and some action is taken. I chose to use the Arduino GSM shield module mostly because there is a GSM library with all the functions and example programs built right into the Arduino IDE. I thought it would make programming easy (an it did!).  The Arduino GSM shield plugs right into an Arduino Uno board.  To enable the GSM module to connect to the cellular network it has to have an activated SIM card.  The Arduino GSM came with a SIM card, but it is for Movilforum network, which is based in Europe.  That SIM card would only work with a phone on Movilforum network, not with an iphone or Android here and I want to use my iphone.  I looked into what GSM networks are available here and found that T-Mobile is on a GSM network.  I also found they have a great plan for what I want to do.  It is a pay as you go plan and for $3 a month you get 30 txt messages or 30 calls.  My experience with the Leaf app is that I do not use it every day so 30 txt messages seems like it will be enough once I get the car on the road.  After 30 it is $0.10 per txt or call so another 30 would be another $3.  During the development of the code for the first control function I blew through 50 txt messages.   The first function I developed was the control of the heater blower motor speed via txt messaging.  To accomplish this I first built a MOSFET module to control the speed of the blower motor.  That MOSFET is controlled by a Microchip PIC processor to produce a PWM waveform. The duty cycle of PWM controls the speed.  In the original setup the dashboard switch actually switched current to control the blower speed.  What I did in this new setup was use the switch positions to be a different digital input on the PIC.  Depending on which digital pin was set a different PWM signal is sent to the MOSFET to control the speed.  Since the blower speed control now is digital I can have any other digital signal control it, independent of the switch position on the dashboard.  For the GSM module, I had different digital pins on the Uno processor set depending on the txt message received and those lines were connected to the PIC.  For example if I sent "Heat2" the GSM shield/Uno would set the same digital line on the PIC as the switch to set the blower speed to medium speed. The txt messages can be anything, they just have to be programmed in the control program on the Uno.  There is one issue using a GSM module.  For it to respond to txt message commands when in the car it always has to be powered.  That means a 12V circuit has to be live in the car at all time.  I was planning to have a small lead-acid battery because I also plan to have remote electric door locks.  Anything with remote control needs to be powered all the time.  The GSM and probably the door locks only draw a few milliamps when in sleep mode.  But even that load can discharge a 12V battery if left for a month or two.  That is what happened to my Leaf at the beginning of the winter when I was not driving it every day. There is one other issue using the GSM module to control functions in the car.  The interface needs some type of password protection.  In other words none of the txt commands will work without sending a password first.  I don't think this is too big of a worry but easy enough to implement.
I also worked on testing LED headlamps and turn signal bulbs.  I had purchased the LED headlamps a few months ago on EBay but had never tested them until now.  They were rated at 24 watts so I wanted to see how that compared to the halogen seal beam headlights that were on the car.  What I discovered is that the LED headlamps were well below 24W, more like 18W.  The halogen headlights were used just a little more power, but the LED were considerably brighter, by a factor of more than 2.  The turn signal bulbs were also quite a bit brighter than the standard 1157 bulb.  But they used nearly 1/4 the power as the regular tungsten bulbs so all four turn signal bulbs can be replaced and will only draw what one tungsten bulb would draw.
A video of the GSM module and LED lamp testing can be found here

Add a comment