FVEAA Forums
Member EV Projects => Conversion Projects => Topic started by: tom.gralewicz on July 01, 2008, 07:44:48 PM
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I am sending e-mails directly to interested parties about the status and scheduling of the Milwaukee Electric car conversion. I also plan to copy the e-mails here so club members can keep an eye on what I'm up to and offer suggestions and comments.
Tom Gralewicz's Electric Car Build Project
Welcome to the mailing list for Tom's electric car project, as with all lists if you want off or want to add someone, just let me know.
What is it:
I am going to try to build an all electric car using mostly scrounged and surplus materials, I have had enough people express interest in helping build mine and learning how to build their own that I want to start an informal club.
When:
The current plan is to get together the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month from 10am to 2 pm. The times are loose and some days we may work all day, if you can't make it early feel free to show up any time.
Where:
To start with at Midwest Computer Recyclers at 1200 Davis Ave, in South Milwaukee, 53172, once I have a car to work on we will most likely move to my Oak Creek Warehouse.
What:
This is an informal club, no dues, club business, etc. I don't expect everyone to work, you are welcome to just show up and talk and watch. My car is the kick off project, but part of the goal here is to help others build cars too. I will try to send out e-mail reminders/status reports before each meeting like this:
Last Meeting: None
Status Report - I have batteries, AC motors, and two small AC drives. Hopefully all the connectors and wire to setup some bench testing. I am looking for a car and have narrowed the candidates to: Chrysler PT Cruiser, Chrysler/Plymouth Neon, or Ford Focus. I can get an older Neon fairly easy, but hope to find one with a bad motor less than 10 years old cheap.
Next Meeting: June 15th - 10am till 2pm - 1200 Davis Ave South Milwaukee, WI 53172 - Midwest Computer Recyclers
Goal: Wire up the battery pack and power up a motor from battery power. Talk about the project and get ideas and suggestions.
Plan on a fast-food lunch break around noon.
If you want to help wear work clothes, nothing here is super dirty but in the future meetings will involve dirty cars so keep that in mind.
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Status Report:
June 15th: Tom, Tom, Tom, and Ken attended (its going to be fun keeping us straight)
We wired up the battery pack on a pallet - 18 batteries delivering 226V
Used a 3 phase industrial disconnect (one of those big switches you see on the wall in factories) as a main
power switch.
The disconnect has some advantages: 3 independent fuses, 3 actual switches allow the pack to be
divided into 4 sub packs - 48V, 48V, 48V, and 60V.
Connected a 5HP 240V VFD to the pack and then to a 6.2HP motor.
The motor ran fine, from the AC voltage out of the VFD it looks like more batteries are in order. Info from
a VFD expert supports this. I need to get a peak voltage from the pack at least 1.414 * 240V = 340V - 26 batteries.
June 26th: We have a car! a 1999 Plymouth Neon ACR (4 door)
People keep asking me why this car so here is the logic that lead me here:
Phase 1: The smallest, lightest car I can find - less weight means less power, smaller motor, etc.
Looking at Geo Metro, Suzuki Swift, Ford Festiva, Honda Fit, Toyota Eco, etc.
I lean toward American made card, more info available, ready made parts, etc.
The batteries I have weight 54# each * 18 = 972 lb. About 50% the curb weight of the original car.
Finding out that I need 8 more batteries and conversion books pointing out that in addition to
upgrading the suspension you should upgrade the brakes as well.
Phase 2: Go from a sub-compact to a compact. Find something less than 10 years old.
When I started looking I ran across the ACR version of the Dodge/Plymouth Neon. A version of the car
built for amateur racing. Performance engine, upgraded 4 wheel disk brakes, stiffer struts and sway bars,
lower ratio differential, and minimum extras - no power windows, locks, etc. The only down side is a lower
ratio steering rack - not the best thing if I don't put a power steering pump in. But it is cheaper and easier
than upgrading the brakes and stripping out extras.
I found a 1999 Neon ACR on Craig's list from a local Neon nut (there were 10 neons at his house when I went to look at the car.) He also offered to help with parts and buying back the motor when I pull it out. Thanks Barry.
Next Meeting: Sunday July 6th, 10AM till 2pm or ? Where: 1200 Davis Ave, South Milwaukee, WI 53172
What: Wire up some motors and test the stall torque.
Measure the car pre-conversion.
Make battery mock ups so we can figure out how to fit 26 batteries in the car!
Everyone is welcome, call me if you have problems finding the warehouse (414) 380-1716
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Status: Sunday July 6th: Tom, Tom, Tom, Ken and Joe.
We did some stall testing - clamp a motor to a table, bolt a 12" bar to the shaft, let the end of the bar rest on a small scale.
Power up the motor and read some numbers.
We tried 2 different motors on the single 5HP AC Drive Results:
Baldor 200V 6.2HP Motor Stall current 35A Stall torque 14.6 ft lb using 230V DC
Identical results using 283 V DC
Baldor M2238 230V 10HP motor Stall current 35A Stall torque 9.9 ft lb both voltages
After consulting Gary L. (a very helpful engineer and my new best friend :-) ) I appear limited by the AC Drive. Its time to find a bigger drive.
I have been playing around with the numbers for acceleration and wind resistance and have come up with the following rough estimates:
To accelerate at 6 MPH per second I need a little under 23HP
To cruise at 60mph on level ground I will need about 15HP
Although it is possible to get these power levels out of the 6 and 10 hp motors I have I would be over driving the and loose efficiency by heating.
My concern has been how to get high horse power from a light motor - the 10HP motor I have is almost 150lb!
I have found a different style of motor "Open Frame Drip Proof" that are significantly lighter than the Totally Enclosed motors I have been finding. I have a possible source for a 30HP motor that weighs 280#\lb. This is making more and more sense - the 20HP version of the same motor is only 40lb lighter so why not run the extra power? Under driving the motor should help efficiency.
Plans: I hope to get wheel by wheel weights Friday night - thanks Tom B.
Gary L. may be able to get me a 30HP AC Drive, if not it is time to buy something.
Next Meeting: Sunday July 20th, 10AM till 2pm or ? Where: 1200 Davis Ave, South Milwaukee, WI 53172
Measure the car pre-conversion.
Make battery mock ups so we can figure out how to fit 26 batteries in the car!
Start reverse engineering the dashboard - I would like to use the dashboard speedometer, Odometer and possibly tach and temp gauges if we can figure out how to read and create the signals from the speed sensors and to the dashboard.
Everyone is welcome, call me if you have problems finding the warehouse (414) 380-1716
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Status: July 20th Meeting - Tom, Tom, Tom, and Royce
We measured the car - both from the top of the wheel wells and from alignment holes on the frame to get the ride height.
We started pulling the carpet and seats out of the back in preparation for batteries.
Royce cut a bunch of battery templates, these will be used to figure out the layout of the battery trays.
With an Oscilloscope, meter, and Haynes manual we figured out the electronic signals between the speed sensors, Engine control computer, and the dashboard. I hope to use the existing vehicle speed sensor to monitor speed, the existing dash to display MPH, RPM, and possibly temperature and state of charge.
Since the meeting:
I have a 30HP Baldor AC Drive Model ID16230-E0, Thanks Gary. It is an older model - programming is done through register numbers, I am looking for the programming manual for this drive, I have literature request into Baldor so cross your fingers.
There will be some challenges in getting the AC Drive to work on battery power. The internal circuitry and fans are powered by a AC transformer - we will need to determine the power supply ratings and replace them with DC-DC Converters and DC Fans.
I also have a 20HP motor Baldor M2515 - it currently bolted to an air compressor. The plan is to use this combination to start with.
I have been working on the battery pack monitor - a small circuit board that connects between the battery pack and the car. It will display voltage and Amps in or out. It will have an RS232 connection that a computer can read it remotely. I plan to put one on the main pack and one on the 12V accessory system. The circuit boards are done and the first one is mostly built and about 1/2 programmed.
Plans for the August 3rd meeting:
Reverse engineer the power system on the AC Drive - figure out what it needs for power.
Take more useless things out of the car :-) the rear seat is held in by large torx screws, my T50 is too small so if someone has larger bits please bring them if not a quick run to the store and I'll pick one up.
Measure the transmission position and locations of the motor mounts.
Make cardboard templates for the battery trays.
As always everyone is welcome, come and help or just watch.
Where: Midwest Computer Recyclers, 1200 Davis Ave, South Milwaukee, 53172
When: 10 am til 2pm Sunday
If you need directions call Tom at (414) 380-1716
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Status:
August 3rd: Tom, Tom, Tom, Ben, Wyane, and Mike
Tom B. brought seat mounting brackets to move the driver's seat back in the Neon, they worked great and now I can actually get in and out of the car :-)
Ben brought the forklift motor he wants to use in his Swift. Tom B brought a hipot tester and they did some checking on the motor, put it together and ran it on 12V.
The back of the Neon is cleaned out and ready for batteries.
Since the meeting:
I have a copy of the manual for the Baldor AC Drive and 2 new motors and drives.
A 15HP and 20HP Allen Bradley High Performance AC Servo motors with controllers. The only problem with these is that they are 480V. I plan on designing the motor mount to allow these or the original 20HP motor to be mounted.
I plan on looking at a junked Neon Sunday around 3pm not far from the warehouse as a possible donor for a transmission.
I have collected over 250 12V 7AH SLA batteries, not big enough for a car, but 2 banks with the 5HP motor and controller I have might make a good motorcycle project. If anyone is interested let me know.
Plans for the August 3rd meeting:
Ben would like to work on his DC forklift motor, possibly replace the bearings and insulate the field coils.
I want to make some cardboard cutouts of the battery boxes and look at battery layouts.
There are 2 potential ways to get the Baldor AC Drive to run off battery, feed the AC portion with a small VFD or replace the power supply, fans, and contactor with DC equipment.
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
1200 Davis Ave, South Milwaukee, WI 53172
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Status:
August 17th:
We heard some odd noises coming from Ben's Transmission and opened it
up enough to find a bad bearing. Tom B. brought in some coil
insulating spray since Ben's motor was showing leakage to the chassis.
August 31st:
We met a Ben's house, he got a replacement transmission and got the
car put together. The motor is hitting the frame and not sitting
right so the shift linkage can't be connected yet. We did go for some
test drives in 2nd gear around the neighborhood with a test version of
my Amp/Volt monitoring board connected. It looks like he cruises on
level ground at 20mph at about 150A. We did see spikes up to almost
400A (the controller limit) during acceleration. It Royce's and my
first time riding in an electric car - gota love it!
Plans:
I have the equipment to monitor the speedometer and tachometer sensors
to read actual values.
I still need to layout the battery boxes - I'm thinking of framing
them out of 1/2" foam, reinforcing them with aluminum and wrapping
them in fiberglass.
After much thought I am thinking of using 2 AC Drives in the car. I
have a small one that will work off of DC. I will use it to power the
transformer and fans in the main AC Drive and power an AC vacuum pump
for the power brakes. This will be the easiest approach to get the
car running.
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
1200 Davis Ave, South Milwaukee, WI 53172
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Status:
September 7th:
A good turn out.
Tom B. brought his "to be converted Pickup" and got ride height measurements.
We connected the 20HP motor, 30HP AC Drive, and a throttle position
sensor (TPS) off an unknown car to together and ran it on the bench.
We even ran the speed to over 4000 RPM (the motor is rated for 1780.)
The TPS doesn't go all the way to 0 ohms but once I adjusted the idle
stops it gets close, I expect to add a microswitch to the final
version to stop the motor.
I may have found my distributed chargers, I purchased one 12V 10A
smart charger. It does a 3 phase charge: Bulk, Top, and Maintain.
There are 2 pots inside the charger that should let you adjust the set
points. Although the charger works on 120 or 240V you need to flip a
switch to make the change.
I can buy 30 of these for less than $32 each including shipping:
http://cgi.ebay.com/12V-10A-Car-Lead-Acid-Battery-Intelligent-Sw-Charger_W0QQitemZ190248915231QQihZ009QQcategoryZ20589QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
So far the one I have has worked flawlessly. They are isolated so I
can put one on each battery. I am debating using these with a
microcontroller turning it on and off to balance line draw or buying
some standard power supplies and letting the microcontroller handle
charging as well. Either way the plan is for the microcontroller to
monitor current and voltage and report back watts in and battery
state.
Plans:
I have the equipment to monitor the speedometer and tachometer sensors
to read actual values.
I still need to layout the battery boxes - I'm thinking of framing
them out of 1/2" foam, re-enforceing them with aluminum and wrapping
them in fiberglass.
Modify the AC Drive to use the 2nd drive for power of the AC
components, then switch the hole setup over to battery power.
What ever other people want to work on.
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
1200 Davis Ave, South Milwaukee, WI 53172
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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11 builders, 3 electric vehicles and a good time were all in attendance.
I am not very good at remembering names but will insert what I can:
One builder showed up on an electric bicycle and let others take it for a ride, it was the fastest electric vehicle around until...
Ben brought his electric motorcycle, a few builders helped track down a bad battery terminal and rewired it to run on 36V, then it was the new speed demon!
Swee brought his electric Trike - Front half ATV back half Motorcycle and worked on getting a thumb throttle working.
I bench tested my motor and AC controller on battery power for the first time and ran the motor no load with out problems. It looks like I will be using a small AC drive to generate 240V AC to power the fans and control transformer in the larger drive. All the AC drives I have seen use a resistor across a high current contactor to pre-charge the capacitors on board before switching full current to the drive. I plan on letting the small AC drive charge the capacitors and let the contactor connect the high current battery feed to the the drive.
We also started making some cardboard templates for the battery boxes. I am bouncing between a few different ideas:
Form the battery boxes out of 1/2" rigid foam with metal straps to bolt it to the car and attach battery hold downs then fiberglass the whole unit.
Make a bottom panel out of 3/4" plywood and use metal or wood strips to divide the cells.
Or ? I'm looking for suggestion or comments.
I will be out of town the next week so Brian will be hosting the next meeting:
Next Meeting: Sunday October 5th - Not the alternate location!
Brian Mathis
12705 W Hickory Rd
New Berlin WI 53151
(414) 630-5305
Its just south of 124th and national. South on 124th about two blocks to Ohio, turn right (west) take first left (south) onto Hickory. Follow it around and through stop sign. I'm almost at the top of the hill on the left.
I'm going to work on battery boxes and supports for under the bed of the S10. Possibly install my battery charger, dc-dc converter, and if the motor shows up by then, install that.
I'll be glad to get dirty and help with anything anyone else has. I have a 120? amp welder, cutting tools, almost anything you could need. Except garage space, but I'll see what I can do...
Anyone can show up after 9:00 AM and continue till it gets dark or the fire dept shows.
Brian
--
Tom Gralewicz
Midwest Computer Recyclers
(414) 380-1716
www.deadcomputers.com
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Status
Last Sunday, we had a total of 4 show, mostly to help me weld a battery box for the left kidney, and fabricate a box for the right side. We did some more measurements on (Tom's) Nissan, and had a little welding training for Mike. All of this while dodging the raindrops. Also a lot of EV discussion as usual.
I'll be picking up a Warp 9" on Saturday, and the first controller should show in a week or two. If it doesn't, I'll use the Kelly 500 amp, see if its worth anything...
Next Meeting Sunday October 19th
Once again I will be unavailable to host so Brian has offered to meet at his house and work on his S10
Brian Mathis
12705 W Hickory Rd
New Berlin WI 53151
(414) 630-5305
Its just south of 124th and national. South on 124th about two blocks
to Ohio, turn right (west) take first left (south) onto Hickory.
Follow it around and through stop sign. I'm almost at the top of the
hill on the left.
I have several things to do...
Weld aluminum boxes for rear side batteries
Weld a rear battery box frame
Fix the clutch
Test motor and tranny with 12V
Start wiring S10
Install vacuum pump
Install battery charger
Install dc/dc converter
Make 2/0 cables
I should have some items done before Sunday, but there's always something to do! I can help with anyone's project. It looks like a mostly sunny low 60's day. I have 220 in the garage now and a 180 amp welder aluminum capable. I also have made more room, in case it rains again.
Everyone else is welcome to come over, help out, work on their own projects, or just enjoy the show.
C
Brian Mathis
MSGT USAF (RET)
http://www.evalbum.com/1752
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Status:
October 19th meeting:
We had another productive day. Had a Citicar parked in the driveway, worked on another Citicar charger, and after setting all my batteries out to a full 180V pack, made numerous 2/0 cables, put up a DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE sign, mostly to remind me to wear gloves, set the Manzanita charger to complete a full charge (used .5 KWH). Also set up and verified operation of the Pak-Traker (only 3 remotes, so only 144V worth of monitoring).
Also, I don't know if anyone is good at making a web site, but I was thinking we could start a simple page, updating what we have going on, with contact info so anyone in the area could find us.
Ben and I spent Tuesday evening shooting video of me making my adapter plate to mount the motor to the transmission. Ben would like to make more of these short videos about different parts of the conversion process.
Next Meeting: November 2nd South Milwaukee Warehouse
I hope to have the adapter plate done and the motor connected to the transmission - if so I want to do a full bench test of the modified drive, motor and Transmission.
I still need to work on my battery packs. I am also about ready to start measuring and modifying the engine compartment.
If other people want to bring specific projects to work on and want help, e-mail me details and I'll send them to the group.
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
1200 Davis Ave, South Milwaukee, WI 53172
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Status:
November 2nd meeting:
We had a great turnout and got some real work done:
Battery frames and hold downs were built for Ben's Geo Metro
Tom G's drive train: Batteries, Controllers, Motor and Transmission were connected and tested to speed!
Construction work on Tom B's prototype motor controller
Next Meeting: November 28-29th Tom G's House (see address below)
Sorry for the late notice on this, I had been unable to figure out the best place to pull the motor until today.
I don't expect this to be an all hands type of meeting, but anyone who wants to stop in is welcome.
I plan to spend Friday and Saturday from about 10am til 4pm pulling the motor from the Neon and fitting the new one.
Time permitting we can start mounting controllers and wiring it up.
I don't think there will be much room for a 2nd car this time, but in the future we should be able to work on 2 cars indoors.
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 4PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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status:
November 29th meeting:
We had a great turnout and got some real work done:
Battery frames and hold downs were built for Ben's Geo Metro
Tom G's drive train: Batteries, Controllers, Motor and Transmission
were connected and tested to speed!
Construction work on Tom B's prototype motor controller
Next Meeting: December 7th 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
Back to the usual days (1st and 3rd Sunday)
Status:
The Thanksgiving build made great progress. We had 5 builders, given
the late notice and unscheduled days I was thrilled with the turnout.
The gas components of the Dodge Neon are all out. Rich and Brian got
the manual steering rack installed with new tie rod ends.
Rich used his bearing kit to replace both front bearings - we finished
that yesterday, thanks Rich!
A test fit of the transmission and motor plate looks good, and we
finalized the motor mount locations. Some fabrication this week and I
hope to have the mount ready this weekend.
Dennis, a friend from Dallas was in town working on the electronic
dashboard got the first screen working and talking to the battery
monitor and temperature sensors.
Next Meeting: Sunday December 7th at the address below from 10am to 2 pm.
Its a new location, a little smaller but we should have enough room to
work on the neon and 1 other car indoors. Most tools should be
available including a lathe, small mill/drill, band saw and welder.
The plan is to get the final fit on the motor, transmission and
mounting plate, then take them out one last time for sanding and
painting.
The next 2 major projects on the Neon are the motor controller
mounting and battery trays.
Feel free to bring your projects, if you want specific help send a
message to the mailing list or drop me a line and I'll send it out.
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom Gralewicz
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Tom -
Thanks for the update. I can't make this Sunday, but I should be able to come up in a couple of weeks. I'm interested in your garage setup. By the way are you close to finishing any conversions yet? It sounds like you are - and progress is going well.
Do you guys have 3 projects going on now? If so, good job!
-Todd Dore
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Status:
December 7th meeting:
We had a great turnout and got some real work done:
We worked on two projects:
The new coupler for Ben's Geo Metro, we had a critical mass of brain
power and after running through a few senareos worked out a good
solution then started putting it together. The next weekend a few
builders helped Ben put it in and got his car back on the road!
Put most of the finishing touches on Toms Neon motor mount, a few more
holes and some paint and we can bolt it all together!
Next Meeting: Sunday December 21th 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see
address below)
We have plenty of tools and resources at the new location and enough
room to work on 2 cars indoors at the same time. Feel free to bring
your project and get some help building!
Ben is complaining about the cold so there should be some ideas and
possibly tinkering with solutions.
Toms Neon needs a little finish work on the motor mount and I hope to
have the parts cut and bent for the battery boxes. It will be time to
do some welding, bolting, painting, and gluing to get them ready for
the car.
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom Gralewicz
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Status:
December 21st meeting:
We had a great turnout and got some real work done:
Work is progressing on the motor mount for the neon, finished final fitting and its time for a coat of paint.
(since then I discovered I had a motor mount in upside down and had to remake the right bracket of the motor mount, its now painted and installed)
Ben got his pot box installed in a box, neatened up some other under hood wiring and we went for a ride around the block! Its sounding great.
Next Meeting: Sunday January 4th 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
I plan to work on building and mounting the battery trays for the Neon. I have the steel cut and bent and will be welding hold down bolts an dividers in place.
I need to figure out how to bolt the trays to the floor in the car, I hope to make use of the seat and seat belt mounting bolts.
The engine compartment needs a few pieces: mount the throttle body, wire the sensors, and find a path for the wiring to the motor controller.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
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Status:
January 4th meeting:
We spent the day working on battery trays. Ben brought his video equipment and shot another "how to" video on making battery trays.
The rest of the crew worked on building the trays and installing them in the car. Its coming together nicely, it looks like there will be room for 23 batteries in the back of the car and another 4 under the hood.
Saturday January 17th SWEVA meeting:
The Southern Wisconsin Electric Vehicle Association will be holding its next meeting at Tom G's house the Saturday before the build (January 17th) in the room above the garage from 10am till 1pm everyone is welcome!
This is going to be primarily a show and tell type meeting. Bring your project to show off and talk about. We should be able to get at least 2 more vehicles in the garage and anything else in the driveway. If you plan on bring a vehicle let me know what and plan on showing up around 9:30 so we can get them in the garage.
There will also be a Milwaukee Amateur Robotics club meeting that afternoon at the same location, also open to the public.
Next Meeting: Sunday January 18th 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
More fun with Battery Trays, I would like to get everything bolted in place and marked, then we can pull them. I have access to a sand blaster to clean them up before painting.
The next step will be to mount the disconnect and battery monitor where the back seat used to be and the motor controller in the back of the car.
We can also put the drive shafts back in, get the front end aligned and look at installing a wiring tube from the front to the back.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom Gralewicz
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Status:
January 18th meeting:
It was a busy weekend, over 20 people showed up for the South Wisconsin Electric Automobile Association Saturday and we hand a good turnout Sunday for the build.
A large steel Q was fabricated to mount the tail end of Ben's motor in his Metro, thanks Rich for the use of the plasma cutter and belt sander.
More battery boxes were fit into Tom's Neon and the cable pipe was rough fitted under the car.
Next Meeting: Sunday February 1st 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
More fun with Battery Trays, I would like to get everything bolted in place before Sunday so I can sand blast and paint the trays, but if history is any gauge, we will still be fitting battery trays. I should have some clamps to bolt the cable run hose to the bottom of the car. We can make a template for the plastic covers for the battery trays.
If Ben brings the metro I suspect we will try to build mounting trays for the motor controller, vacuum pump, etc.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom Gralewicz
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Status:
February 1st meeting:
We had a great turnout. Swee brought his Trike and we had fun "lightning" the front end.
We made some great progress on fitting the battery boxes and running the wire guide under the Neon.
Next Meeting: Sunday February 1st 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
Swee left his trike at the garage and we plan to move the motor mount this Sunday
Rich can you bring the plasma cutter? If not we can use the Sawzall.
I came down with the flu thats going around and didn't get any work done on the battery boxes for the Neon in the last 2 weeks so I hope to finish up the mounting this Sunday.
I am also looking at bolting important stuff down in the engine compartment as well.
Ben has been playing with "Turbo" mode on his metro and I suspect there will be much discussion and ideas for that.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom Gralewicz
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
--
Tom Gralewicz
Midwest Computer Recyclers
(414) 380-1716
www.deadcomputers.com
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Status:
February 15th meeting:
We had a great turnout. Swee brought his Trike and Rich his plasma cutter and we got the motor re-mounted.
Someday my batteries will have a home... We did make good progress but I messed up the back box support, a little cutting and re-welding and it should be done. We also got the tray for the 12V battery done.
Next Meeting: Sunday March 1st 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
I hope to finish the battery boxes and get them loaded up for blasting and painting. There are still some things to mount in the engine compartment.
We can start on the disconnect and power distribution panel - where the old back seat was.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom Gralewicz
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Something useful: http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16370+ME
An LCD thermometer with a remote sensor for under $4.
Status: March 1st Build:
A great turn out including some good Pizza!
We finished the battery trays for Tom's Neon, they are out for sand blasting and paint.
Ben got a new battery box under his back seat, much cutting (thanks for the use of the pasma torch Rich) and welding and it looks great!
Next Meeting: Sunday March 15th, 2009 From 10AM till 2PM
No more battery trays for the Neon! :-) Its time to move on - Mount the master disconnect, HV and LV distribution boxes and start running some wire.
What ever other people want to bring.
At Tom Gralewicz House
6630 W. Coldspring Rd.
Greenfield, WI 53220
(414) 380-1716
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Status:
February 15th meeting:
We had a great turnout. Swee brought his Trike and Ben his Geo, as well as the house car the Neon.
Lots of fun was had cutting, welding, and drilling holes!
Next Meeting: Sunday April 5th 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
Ben is getting a 144V controller, so I expect we will be working on his battery pack to go from parallel to series.
The Neon needs the disconnect and HV distribution panel installed and wired. Work on the 12V box and wiring are also planned. I need to put the axel nuts back on and re-install the washer fluid tank.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom Gralewicz
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Status:
April 19th meeting:
It was a good time, we had Swee's trike and the Neon to work on. Swee got the fenders mostly complete and the Neon has its insulation cut for the battery boxes and the main disconnect ready to install
Next Meeting: Sunday May 1st 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
The Neon needs insulation glued into the battery trays and the main disconnect installed. A little work on the front wheels and put the windshield washer tank back in.
Swee plans on bringing his trike: finish the fenders, wire the lights and work on the seat and pot.
Ben might bring his electric motorcycle and some interesting parts to tinker with.
Remember the plan is to meet 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, if you want to bring a project to work on drop me an e-mail the weekend before and I'll add you to the plans. If you want help transporting your project to the work location or want to host a build at your place just let me know.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom Gralewicz
6630 W. Coldspring Rd. Greenfield, WI 53220
Plenty of on-street parking
10AM to 2PM
Call Tom if you have any questions (414) 380-1716
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Status:
May 3rd meeting:
It was Motorcycle Heaven! Ben brought his cycle and another closely related bike was there (I forgot who's it was) Swee had his trike in for more work and after the meeting Rich dropped off a frame for the start of another motor cycle project.
The Neon is making good progress, wires have been run from the front to back, the motor was plugged into its harness (nothing on the other end yet) and the main disconnect and power monitor box got mounted and partly wired.
Next Meeting: Sunday May 17th 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
Neon:
I spent last weekend wiring the power monitor box and plan to test it this week. The battery boxes got their foam liners. So this Sunday its time to finish the battery trays! Yep, that right, no more battery trays to work on! Once they are bolted in we can start placing batteries and make the hold down plates with attached chargers.
Ben and Swee both have other plans this Sunday so there is plenty or room to bring your project to work on.
Drop me an e-mail if you want to work on something along with what you want to do. We can have people bring tools, materials, and help transport if necessary.
Someone asked for some aluminum channel (I forgot who), I have a 6' piece at the garage.
Remember the plan is to meet 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, if you want to bring a project to work on drop me an e-mail the weekend before and I'll add you to the plans. If you want help transporting your project to the work location or want to host a build at your place just let me know.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
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Status:
May 17th meeting:
The battery trays got bolted into the Neon and I have been bringing batteries home since then. The hold down/charger mounts got cut but need to be drilled and wired.
Chris stripped the motorcycle chassis and started blasting and priming it.
Next Meeting: Sunday June 7th 10am till 2pm Tom G's House (see address below)
Neon:
The battery trays are done! Long live the battery trays!
Next we make the hold down plates, mount the chargers, and start wiring it all together. Mounting the motor controller is also on the list.
Tim plans on bringing his electric tractor mower
Chris is likely to be working on his motor cycle.
Ben and Swee both have other plans this Sunday so there is plenty or room to bring your project to work on.
Remember the plan is to meet 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, if you want to bring a project to work on drop me an e-mail the weekend before and I'll add you to the plans. If you want help transporting your project to the work location or want to host a build at your place just let me know.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom's Garage
6630 W. Coldspring Rd.
Greenfield, WI 53220
(414) 380-1716
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Status:
June 7th meeting:
Neon: We got the hold down plates cut and drilled and a good start on mounting and wiring the battery chargers.
Tim's Mower: A tear down on the mower deck to replace some bearings and some good ideas on getting the clutches working well
Chris's Motorcycle: A box of new parts and some fitting, a little more blasting of the frame as well.
Plans:
June 21st Meeting
Neon: More wiring and mounting the AC Drive. I would like to power up some of the chargers as well. We'll look into paralleling the hawker batteries to fill the open battery slots as a temporary measure until the car is running and I buy some batteries.
Tim's Mower: Rebuild the deck and work on putting the rest together.
Ben, Swee, and Rich are not going to make it this Sunday so if anyone has a project they want to work on bring it along!
Remember the plan is to meet 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, if you want to bring a project to work on drop me an e-mail the weekend before and I'll add you to the plans. If you want help transporting your project to the work location or want to host a build at your place just let me know.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom's Garage
6630 W. Coldspring Rd.
Greenfield, WI 53220
(414) 380-1716
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Status:
June 21st meeting:
Neon: We tested and charged some of the hakwer batteries as temporary batteries until I can get another 8 real batteries.
Wiring on the chargers and battery hold down trays continued.
Tim's Mower: We got the deck back together with the new bearings.
Plans:
July 5th Meeting
Neon: More wiring and mounting the AC Drive. I would like to power up some of the chargers as well. Most of the fabrication and installalition is done, now its just a bunch of wiring.
Ben plans on bringing his cameras and I suggested we start an album of our cars on the web site, so bring your e-vehicle if you can!.
Remember the plan is to meet 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, if you want to bring a project to work on drop me an e-mail the weekend before and I'll add you to the plans. If you want help transporting your project to the work location or want to host a build at your place just let me know.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom's Garage
6630 W. Coldspring Rd.
Greenfield, WI 53220
(414) 380-1716
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Status:
July 5th meeting:
Neon: Wiring on the chargers and battery hold down trays continued. Mounted the controllable power strip and wired up the switch box.
Chris's Motorcycle - Finished priming the frame and started putting it all back together.
Plans:
July 19th Meeting
Neon: More wiring and mounting the AC Drive.
Swee is bringing his Trike for some Battery testing
Any other projects people want to bring?
SURVEY: Do people like the lunch solutions we have been using or does someone want to be in charge of coordianting lunch? I have a grill and kitchen available if people want to grill hot dogs or burgers. E-Mail me with what you think we should do.
Remember the plan is to meet 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, if you want to bring a project to work on drop me an e-mail the weekend before and I'll add you to the plans. If you want help transporting your project to the work location or want to host a build at your place just let me know.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom's Garage
6630 W. Coldspring Rd.
Greenfield, WI 53220
(414) 380-1716
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Status:
August 2nd meeting:
Neon: Wiring on the chargers and battery hold down trays continued - almost done. Started front to back wiring
Ben's Mower received a main drive motor transplant and had a nice ride around the street.
Rich showed up in his Citicar, we didn't do anything but admire it!
The plasma cutter has tips and spares
The Air compressor room is almost done with the dryer, automatic drain, and cord reel.
Plans:
August 2nd Meeting
Neon: Lots and lots of wiring. One or two more mounting projects, the its just down to the wiring.
Ben is bringing his electric Lawn mower for more work (possibly)
Brian is bringing his recently completed Ford Probe
Chris plans to work on batery and motor placement in his motorcycle
Any other projects people want to bring?
Remember the plan is to meet 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, if you want to bring a project to work on drop me an e-mail the weekend before and I'll add you to the plans. If you want help transporting your project to the work location or want to host a build at your place just let me know.
Any other projects people want to bring?
If you want to bring a project to work on or hold a meeting at your
work shop, drop me an e-mail or just post to the above list!
Come one come all, watch, talk, and participate!
Tom's Garage
6630 W. Coldspring Rd.
Greenfield, WI 53220
(414) 380-1716
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Status:
Last meeting we had Rich show up with his electra car and I worked on putting my 4 battery's in the front of the Probe, to the rear, mounting, wiring, and mounting the charger and dc-dc. Also finished putting in the charger plug behind the gas fill door. Most others came to look and shoot the breeze!
Tom, the El-Camino Tom, might be interested in having a meeting at his place. He has the entire side of a barn covered in solar panels and has a wind generator. He also has a second garage with an electric top loader, an original electric riding mower, and two other electrics. They are all powered by four solar panels on the roof of that garage. He has a waterfall running purely on the solar. He also has a ladder fire truck!
Asked how he can afford it, he says cause he's not married!
His new motor showed up, warp9" and so we pulled his ruined whatever it was, brush tore off, and started installing his new motor. Have not finished installing front mount. Hole pattern is different.
Neon: New batteries ready for some serious tuning, DC-DC Converters is working
Plans:
Tom's Neon: Electronics: Get tach working and work on controller speed matching for shifting gears.
Ben: Time to winterize! Battery heaters and insulation
Chris: CAD work (Cardboard Aided Design) on the layout, battery charging and possibly mounting the motor.
Meeting Info:
Where:
Tom Gralewicz's house
6630 W. Coldspring Rd.
Greenfield, WI 53220
(414) 380-1716
When:
10 am till about 4pm or when we run out of steam
What:
Working on cars, talking about cars, dreaming about cars.
We usually send someone out for a lunch run.
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Status:
The Saturday Motor pull was a success! 2 more 12" motors, 1 10", and 1 8" motors. Along with some smaller motors, controllers and various other bits and pieces. A few people have expressed interest in the motors but nobody has ponied up the $50 and claimed one. They are at my warehouse if anyone wants to take a look or get one for a project.
Chris's Motorcycle: The frame was adjusted with a little brute force and Mr. Blue wrench (a torch) and the battery trays are coming along nicely. He has a motor controller to start with but still needs a throttle - anyone with a motorcycle pot box?
Neon: New springs in the back and it rides like a Cadilac! (Ok, more like a chevy - but still much nicer.)
A hand controller from one of the fork lifts Saturday and A new shift knob with buttons is born. Since Sunday I have installed the new shift knob and wired my garage for 220V charging. Range for the first 2 full charges was 53mi and 48mi. I'm still tweaking the controller and hope to get the drive smoother and a little more range.
Swee's trike got some insulation and general tweaking.
Plans:
Tim needs help pulling the motor on his 2002 Ford Ranger so the next meeting is at his house.
Starting at 9am till the motor is out or we get cold!
I plan on bringing a socket set and some other bits for pulling a motor.
I'm not sure if my bridge crane will be wide enough, can anyone bring an engine hoist?
Bring your own tools
I figure from 9am 'till the motor comes out or it gets dark or it starts snowing or something. I don't have much in the way of tools and I don't know what else might be required to get the motor out so I'd say, bring your favorite wrench set, a cherry picker, perhaps a torch? I dunno. I have most of the exhaust removed except for one stubborn bolt so I sawed through the pipe. The power steering pump is also giving me problems so it's still connected. I'm not sure what else has to be removed before we start disconnecting it from the trans and the engine mounts. Maybe it would be a good idea to have someone else look at it who knows what they're doing before the 15th to get a better idea?
There might be room in the garage for another vehicle and there is plenty of level space on the drive.
I don't live too far from Tom's place: 7466 S. 46th St. Franklin. Take 46th street South from Rawson Ave. Stay left at the fork and go all the way to the end of the street. We're the last house on the left. Remember to mention there will be pizza and beer for all. Unless it's really cold then maybe hot chocolate or coffee instead of beer.
Thanks, Tim
414-421-9788
Meeting Info:
Where:
7466 S. 46th St. Franklin
Tim: 414-421-9788
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Tom Gralewicz
Midwest Computer Recyclers
(414) 380-1716
www.deadcomputers.com
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Status:
Tim's motor came out and he is getting ready for the new electric motor. Thanks to all who helped out.
Neon: The Neon got a new door prop and a door that wouldn't open! Later I dismantled the door and put it all back together so it works right. I also figured I had done the best in tuning it for economy and started tuning for performance. Last week I took it on the freeway for the first time - 65mph was attainable - acceleration is a little slow above 40mph but its deffinately freeway ready. Now that I have an idea of range I'm going to use a different approach to charging - recharge every day rather than run the pack all the way down. This should extend the life of the pack and reduce the potential of getting stranded.
Plans:
Its that time of year again, when a young mans fancy turns to thoughts of warmth. Brian wants to work on a heater for his S10 and me on the Neon.
Chris hopes to get his motor cycle drivable.
Swee wants to work on mounting solar panels to his trike.
Anyone else want to bring anything?
Meeting Info:
Where:
6630 W. Coldspring Rd.
Greenfield WI 53220
(414) 541-1716
When: SUnday December 6th, 10am till mid afternoon.
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