304: Sunday 7th February 2021

Finished printing all the Battery Terminal Covers. They all clipped on really well. I took 3 of them and cut them in half on my bandsaw to cover the wire links on the sides. No metal showing now. I am pleased with the final result. First part of operation tidy up complete...!

303: Wednesday 3rd February 2021

Finessed the design of the battery terminal cover. The photo below shows the larger v1 and the refined v5.

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The first version was really to do a trial fit. I have made the walls thinner, adjusted the overall length, adjusted the large hole size a few times, changed the size of the + and - symbols, and chamfered out the inside to get to version 5. I did a trial fit with version 5 and it clicks on easily, stays on securely and quite difficult to pull with just your hands.

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Printed a batch of 5 version covers. That is the most I can print in one go on the printer bed.

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Fitted the first 5 Battery Terminal Covers. All fitted really well. I have since printed another 5 and have another 5 on the printer while I'm typing. I need 36 in total.

302: Tuesday 2nd February 2021

Printed a sample battery terminal cover today. The video below shows the start of the print. I have to print it upside down so the print doesn't fall in on itself, so the video is showing the top of the cover and it will work its way up layer by layer to the bottom of the battery cap.

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The photo below shows the start of the print after just one layer.

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The finished print flipped over the right way up, fresh off the printer.

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The battery terminals before the cover was fitted.

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The battery terminals with the new cover trial fitted. I found it was too narrow and too tall, and the large circular cups that push onto the big nuts were too tight. So I shall tweak the design and try again.

301: Monday 1st February 2021

 In August 2017 I changed from DC drive to AC. Since then I have had no real issues to report. I have added Air Suspension, a new DC-DC converter and a GSM switch to remotely control the cabin heater by text messages. I haven't updated the blog since 2018. I have just been pretty much trouble free driving since then. It is coming up on the 12th anniversary of the conversion start and 11 years of being road legal. Now this year is "operation tidy up". Over the years I have tried many different systems and basically replaced everything at least twice. Apart from the Air Suspension I have been driving the same system of AC drive for the last 4 years.

I still have exposed battery terminals in the rear trunk of 'sparky', so I have made a CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawing of a battery link cover that will prevent accidental shorts (none so far) and any risk of shock (only minor tingles so far). I shall 3D print these in Vivid Orange PETG plastic. I have had a 3D printer for just over a year now and it was one of the best Christmas presents ever. I knew nothing really. I had no experience with CAD drawing and no experience with 3D printing, but I knew what it was all capable of. I taught myself CAD in about 2 weeks. I have now learned the basics on 2 different CAD software. I have learned enough to make some fairly decent boxes, brackets and covers as well as the art that I have printed using my own designs (that's another hobby altogether). The pictures below show the battery link cover from 2 different angles. I shall print them upside down, so on the bottom (top) is 2 recessed symbols for '+' and '-' the I shall fill with paint (red for '+' and black for '-').