Curtis 1238 96v 550amp Controller and HPEVS AC-35

Configuring the controller to the AC-35 motor has been a challenge. I was trying with another controller but blew the Hand Held Programmer and caused the controller to loose communication with any programmer or guage. That controller is a newer 1238 96v 650amp controller. Damn, now I have to get that fixed. At least it still turns on with no errors or faults. Just can't talk to the programmer. Since I have 4 good controllers Im good with one failure. I do hope to get the one fixed soon. The current controller does not have the HPEVS software but should still be fine for on road vehicles. HPEVS has extra functions but I can live with what Curtis has in their software. There is plenty I can do with this controller but the amperage is limited to 550 amps instead of 650 amps. Here is the latest video I did today after I found the offending parameter that was keeping me from getting the motor to spin freely.

VoltsPorsche 914 update.

I am getting ready to sell the beastie but needed to be sure everything is working. I had to purchase an new Serial to USB cable with new driver. I successfully connected to the computer with the Windows 7 laptop. I had used my virtual PC on my mac the last time I connected. I had dumped that so I had to start all over again and it was successful. Im still not clear on how the ccShell program works for saving graphs and stuff. I can save some things. But because the computer to inverter works Im good to go. The motor spins up as it did before. I needed to be sure the DC/DC worked and it does and I needed to see if the charger worked. It does. The charger had a bad spade connector so I removed that and replaced it with a good heavy duty one. It now has a decent connection. Im not a fan of spade connectors in vibration environments. I also fixed the connections to the 12v battery and DC/DC so the DC/DC keeps the 12volt battery charged. There is also a box on the console with two switches. One is a flip switch and the other is a turn switch. The flip switch is a regen switch. When the switch is in the down mode it is in auto regen and in the up mode it is off or coast mode. The other switch is likely a forward and reverse switch. The switches are not labled. Not sure if I can increase the throttle ramp but it is not agressive. I have not yet driven the vehicle but will be soon. I have a new video linked below.

VoltsPorsche AC Electric Conversion.

I picked up this old conversion last summer. Been sitting on it for awhile now. It is a 1975 Porsche 914 converted to electric using an AC conversion kit offered by Electro Automotive. I do believe they are no longer in business but their web site is still up. The kit consists of an Azure Dynamics 445 induction motor inverter and an AC24 motor coupled to an adapter to the original transmission and utilizes the stock clutch and flywheel. The kit is not a terrible powerful kit but an OK kit. What makes this one cool is I have all the accompanying paperwork and files for talking to the controller/inverter. In order for this to work the original files were needed and the person I purchased this from is the one that converted the vehicle. Lead Acid batteries were used and were the only option when the kit was new. They also offered an DC kit for the Porsche 914 also The 914 was used because it is light weight, mid engine and lots of room for batteries and still remains sporty. Mine was upgraded to a stiffer suspension to support the weight of the lead acid batteries. A lead sled to be sure. I will be using lithium batteries. Most likely I will be using Nissan Leaf Modules. For a 144 volt system it takes 21 modules in series. I put together a single pack of 21 modules to test the motor and electrical system. So far so good. I had to get the program ccShell 3 running on an old copy of Windows XP and I had to install a serial to usb driver. I had a hard time locating the 32bit version of Java Runtime Environment version 5. I finally got that installed and with all the components correctly installed I was able to communicate with the inverter. The .ccs file I was given is the correct file and matches the inverter. Anyone with a kit like this that does not have the original file will not be able to change any parameters. If the original parameters are still good you can make a .par or parameter file of the parameters within the controller. If the file is not original it may not work and you may brick your inverter. Im good. I have the original and the inverter still works. This was built back in 2008. The car is 45 years old. Dang. The conversion is 12 years old. The original kit was a very expensive kit. I believe in the range of $20,000 bucks not including the car. I think that included the batteries too. Mostly the motor/inverter, and adapter. Then the other components cleaned up your wallet.

I was able to put together the proper components for the computer to talk to the inverter. It required Windows XP. I have Windows XP Pro installed on my Virtual Drive on my Mac. It required Java Runtime Environment version 5 and a Serial to USB driver in order for it to talk to the inverter. I did have to have both 12 volt and pack voltage connected before I could successfully talk to the inverter. The original file works and I can say non-original to the controller don't work. I verified that my file is the original to the inverter as stated on the inverter and the file numbers. Both match. Inverter works and runs. The short video you can hear it run and the vibration also kicked up some long standing dust on the vehicle as you will see in the video. Im putting together a 42 module 144volt Nissan Leaf battery pack. That should give me a solid 60 plus miles or more range in this vehicle. If I can fit three 21 module packs in I'll get a much further range.

Leaf Power Wall Build

Welcome to the blog. Been awhile since I posted. I am currently working on a power wall using Nissan Leaf Modules. I have cut out a ply board that will hold the weight of the modules with ease. 3/4 plywood is heavy duty. The wall is a 48 volt unit to use with a 15kW Low Frequency Inverter to power the house completely with both 110 and 240 volts. I have 7 modules in series and then stack those in parallel for a total of 21 modules. This will be a hybrid system to go without out 7.2kW solar array. We have a propane 12kW generator to power the house. So 48 volts bumped up to 110 and 240 volts and up to 200 amps. The leaf modules lend themselves rather well to power walls or power boxes. I have an idea of mounting modules between wall studs in a shed on the north side or east side to prevent soaking up too much heat. When covered they will be fully hidden except for some cooling louvers. I can build an actual wall of these modules and have them mounted securely between the studs two high and still have room to mount a ply cover. Just don't hammer nails into the walls because you will puncture a module if you do without first removing the batteries from the wall.

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf is gone. My 2015 Leaf was a lease vehicle and the Lease came up last week. So instead of keeping the Leaf I let it go back to the dealer. I tried to get them to give me a good deal on the remaining but they would not so they got the vehicle back. So Im out an electric daily driver for a while. Thats fine. It has been a good 6 year run with the two Leafs I have driven over the years. I am totally sold on electric but the price point still needs to come down before the rest of the world jumps on board. There is no sensible reason for them to keep the distances short and prices high for electric cars. They should be very much able to build a good 150 mile per charge car for around $20k and one that looks good too. No need for junk. No need for $50k cars either. Prices of cars is just outlandish in the States. Just terrible.

Im also going to try to pick up another Porsche 914 which I have lined up already for a decent price. Paint is terrible but the rest looks good and no cancer. Clean title too. Possible candidate for conversion with an AC-50 Motor and DIY inverter and Leaf Modules.

Alpha Romeo

Alpha Romeo was sold and has made its way back to Italy. Yup, all the way back to Italy. Cool. I kept the electric components to put into my VW Bus. Yes, another change for the Bus. The AC-35 is going to go into my 67 Bug which I purchased this past November. Got it running and will be selling off the engine shortly. Yes many many changes as I progress slowly with my projects.

Alfa Romeo Spider is home

Ran out to pickup the Alfa today. Got there around 10:30 am. Had to wait about 15 minutes then started loading the car. Noticed that there were batteries in the car as well. That was not mentioned when the ad was posted. Also included were 27 100ah Thundersky LiFePO4 cells with all connectors and main fuse and contactor for the controller. Also included was a new Zivian 96 Volt Lithium Charger. It is only a 120v charger and not a 240 but it was included. Totally unexpected. So with the batteries and and all the little components included this is pretty much ready to make any vehicle roll and no BMS. Im quite sure that this was purchased and started when Jack Rickard was first putting out videos of his electric cars and what he had for a vision of electric cars for the future. Things change but this was a good deal.

If you know where I can get 3 100ah Thundersky Cells let me know. I could use them.