102: Sunday 10th January 2010

I tried out some different configurations today. I programmed the controller to 96v and moved over to just 8 batteries. The controller was still complaining of low battery voltage. I put my tester across the batteries and found 99v? So then I ran the tester on the programmer and that was only registering 83.7v, weird. So I hooked the 9th battery back in and tested at 111v and the programmer showed 97v and stopped complaining. This would do for a test run. I shall call the people at Zapi tomorrow and find out why there is a big difference with the battery voltage that the controller is registering. The next problem was that my 12v battery was flat, so the 120v line contactor would not operate. I bypassed the control with a short loop of wire and it clicked in, but as soon as I removed the wire link, it dropped out again. I rigged up a bypass switch so I could do a test run. I changed some settings on the controller and now the motor runs up to a proper speed. Quick run up and down the drive and all is well with the drive system again (I did a wheelspin in the snow - cool). At the moment I cannot charge the main battery bank as the charger only charges at 120v and I have a duff battery. I shall call the battery yard tomorrow to confirm a date to swap over the duff one for a good one. So now I am in limbo again. I am waiting for a new battery, a replacement DC-DC converter (that will stop the 12v system going flat) and the vacuum switch for the brakes. Once I have all these bits then I can have everything running as I expected. I shall keep the bypass switch as this will kick in the DC-DC converter when it arrives if the 12v battery is flat, then it should maintain the 12v, so I can switch out the bypass again. I shall also install a 12v charger to keep the auxiliary battery topped up when I am charging the car. Now if the weather improves I can remove the fuel tank and install the mains inlet plug in the fuel flap. So still a few jobs I can do. I didn't fancy laying under the car in the snow though! Flu seems to have died down a bit now, so it's back to work tomorrow.