Thursday, January 8, 2009

It's alive! Really alive!



YouTube link.

After some email back-and-forth with Azure Dynamics, they figured out that I had incorrectly labeled my 3-phase motor cables. I had swapped "A" and "B". To keep the lengths properly aligned ("C" must be 1.5 inches longer than "B", and "B" must be 1.5 inches longer than "A") and to avoid further shortening my motor cable, I made up three patch cables of the proper lengths. The labels on these patch cables are "AM" for "A, motor side", "AC" for "A, controller side", "BM" for "B, motor side", and so forth:


I unbolted the motor cable, and bolted the extensions on with stainless steel hardware:


I heat-shrink wrapped all three:


I still had the shielding braid from the really long cable, so I cut a piece to an appropriate length to splice between the DMOC and the original shield:


I zip-tied the new shield over the old shield, providing a continuous ground contact, bolted the three cables in, and tightened the fitting:


And it works! I drove the Jeep out and around, and parked it back in our gravel drive:


And here it is, charging next to the Volt914:


Sadly, during all this, the Manzanita Micro charger has developed a fault - it blows the breakers in the house panels when it is turned on. So, I get to send it back for diagnosis and repair. But I can charge the batteries individually for now...

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