ELECTRIC CAR PROJECT 9311 DIARY, EVERMORE
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4/24/97
Made 13.1 miles. Noticed that the tach stops working when the
battery
voltage gets down to about 50 volts. Odd.
5/8/97
Battery acid has soaked through the right bottom of the rear
battery
box. New adventures ahead!
5/17/97
Made 15.1 miles.
6/9/97
Watered batteries. Acid has soaked through the right rear bottom
of
the front battery box. Poured about 8 ounces of soda solution
into
both battery boxes to dilute the soak through. Funny thing
happened
when I opened up the line booster unit in preparation to
installing
an hour meter: the AC power-in black wire came out of its
terminal!
Wrongly crimped, it would seem. There was evidence of heating on
the
terminal's plastic body. Replaced terminal. Added new wires for
the
hour meter. Installed hour meter.
6/14/97
Completed the assembly of a charger test box which allows a
resistor
to be switched into the AC power ground wire. A voltmeter across
the
resistor gives an indication of the ground fault current.
Measured
the AC line current to the charger: 14 amps with 10 amps battery
charging current.
7/1/97
Removed the tachometer module. Tests verified that it stops
working
when its supply voltage drops below 13 volts. This happens when
the
traction battery voltage gets so low that the DC-DC converter
drops
out and the 12 volt start battery takes over. Redesigned,
rebuilt,
and reinstalled.
9/30/97
Got a little "float" charger to safely keep the start
battery fully
charged. Once-a-week drives weren't enough. The charger is a
module
that plugs into the wall and connects to the start battery via a
permanently installed cable and connector.
6/24/98
After last charge, glove box door wouldn't open. Cut the strap
and
removed the glove box today. Opened latch from inside. The little
actuating nib on the lock cylinder had broken off. That cheap pot
metal strikes again. Repaired.
7/22/99
Did an instrumented test run. Got about 21 amp hours. Earlier
runs
this "season" showed similar short battery life.
Batteries are shot!
8/5/99
Planned to do another test run but car would not go. No va!
8/7/99
Removed the engine compartment batteries and rack to gain access
to
the control circuitry. What a mess! Acid drip "damage"
all over the
place. Gooey messes on the aluminum parts including the
controller.
8/8/99
Removed the shield from over the controller terminals. The shield
was attached with four cap screws. Three of them were corroded.
Could
get two off with an Allen wrench. Cut slots in the other two and
used
a screwdriver. Acid glop had oozed under the shield (which was
about
a half inch above the controller) and down onto the terminals.>
8/11/99
Cleaned up the engine compartment. Removed loose crud. Got
workshop
ready for removal of batteries. Dropped insurance on the car. The
car
did not go because of corrosion on the controller power terminal.
This
is a push-on type. Removed and reinstalled the terminal, bypassed
the
missing batteries and all worked fine.
12/7/99
Removed the front batteries and box. The box was stuck in the
rack.
Pried it out with a 2-by-4. What a mess! There was liquid acid in
the
box so sprinkled baking soda on it. Lots of fizz! Lots of goo and
crud
on the rack and compartment floor. Sprayed with baking soda
solution.
Washed out box with water. More fizz! Removed seats.
12/11/99
Removed the stop plate on the rear battery rack. As before, the
box
was stuck to the rack. Lifted it up and loose with a 2-by-4 lever
arrangement and put 1-by-4 "shims" under the sides of
the box so that
the box will slide. Installed the rear battery loader. Used
various
implements to move the box out onto the loader. It did not slide
smoothly as it did during installation. Removed the batteries
then
the box. Usual mess and procedure. Removed the battery loader.
12/15/99
Interstate Batteries guy collected the batteries and took them
away.
7/8/03
Removed the front battery rack and fuel tank half. Removed the firm
set seam sealer that had been used to seal the rack clearance cutouts
in the tank bottom. Cleaned up a little inside front compartment.
7/15/03
Began to remove the rear battery rack. The rivet-nuts of the rear,
outside bolts do not hold. Drilled out the bolts. Remember the four
flathead bolts. Scrape off the crud covering them. Will they come
loose? Nope. Will drill out but drills are now dull.
7/22/03
Not much progress. Two more drills are now dull.
7/29/03
Sharpened drills with my cool new Drill Doctor.
8/5/03
This is not working! The cap-head screws are harder than the drills. I
give up.
4/19/08
Been working on cleaning up a bit the last few weeks. Today, removed
the extra wiring used for the Pocket Logger setup. Accidently removed
the wires to the ammeter. Not sure I got them back on correctly. I
noticed that there is a long dent in the cowling of the right
headlight.
5/12/08
Removed wheel locks.
5/17/08
Reinstalled the front battery rack. Right-front bolt is missing. There
is no "pop-nut" in the body. This was an original nut, not one that I
had installed. I must have had to drill it out when I removed the rack.
Note: The hydraulic cylinders that are supposed to hold up the front
compartment lid don't work even tho there were replaced. The lid makes
funny sounds opening and closing.
5/21/08
Reinstalled the remaining rear battery rack stuff. Took a new photo.
Note: Outside bolts at rear of rack were drilled out when trying to
remove the rack. The four flathead bolts remain, drilled, but not out.
5/24/08
Reinstalled the seats. Took some photos.
5/31/08
Started cleaning exterior. A lot of crud has accumulated even though
the car has been in the garage.
6/7/08
Finished cleaning. It's cleaner. Wheels need polishing. Took more
photos. Ready to write up for eBay.