2017 - El Turbo OD/OV

[Functional Artist]

Dual fuses, that sounds like a plan

Bigger fuses? not just higher amps but, actually bigger fuses

Like the primary fuses that are under the hood of some cars

Let's see what we can find

Well, I found a usable fuse box hanging out of a Chevy Astro van

Clipped a ~100 wires & brought it home

Popped all the fuses out (like 8 big & 15 small) (there's even a couple of, I think their called "diode" lookin' fuse that we might be able to use for something)

I think we can use (2) of these big 30 amp fuses & part of this fuse holder to make a 60 amp fuse

So, I

...popped all the guts out

...cut off the big fuse section (with a hack saw)

...cut off part of that

...clipped off (2) sections of fuse holder contacts

...folded over a section of the end going to battery terminal & the end going to the battery cable

...& reinserted it into the shortened fuse holder

Yup, that should do it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcOvQdzlkgc

 

[Functional Artist]

The only other thing I had to do

...after makin' the dual fuse holder

...& mounting the dual fuse holder, on to the battery terminal

...was to remove the other fuse holder & crimp on a 1/4" ring terminal


So, I fired up the solderin' iron (plugged in to start warmin' up)

...cut off both layers of heat shrink (doubled for safety because it's a "high voltage" positive (+) cable)

...put tip of solderin' iron against junction until the solder liquefied & the (2) ends released

...slid (2) fresh pieces of heat shrink on

... crimped on a ring terminal

...& bolted it, with a 1/4" x 1" bolt, flat washer, lock washer & a nut, to the other side of the dual fuse holder

Now, we can do a test drive

 

[Bbqjoe]

I don't know if it makes a hill of beans or not, on my 6 volt 320 ah batteries, I use 4ga 600V wires to connect them together for 12v.

 

[Functional Artist]

I don't know if it makes a hill of beans or not, on my 6 volt 320 ah batteries, I use 4ga 600V wires to connect them together for 12v.

We'll find out

Ready to see if this thing works?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-704ZyJkaU

 

[Bbqjoe]

 

[Functional Artist]

Yup, it was flyin (for a minute there)

Boy, Oh boy Turbo is FUN!

...too much fun (hard to stay off it, once you use it)

So, I don't think the motor is gonna last too long

(the motor was SUPER hot when we parked it)

...but, we'll see


I let Desteny take it for a few laps while it was out

...but, not Turbo

...she's not ready for Turbo yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv1q3Ei8UrY

 

[Functional Artist]

Took Turbo out for some more testing

Gather some more data

I think we're killin' the motor

...we'll see how long it lasts

...for test purposes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0KlGaiVdaQ

 

[Functional Artist]

She was pretty hot after the last tests

so, I let 'er kool down a bit


Kool enough, lets do some more testin'


Well, I put ~ another 15 min on 'er

...one

...or two

...maybe three

yup, it was three,

three more Turbo blasts

...& then it was dead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dF0SEtbq1Q

---------- Post added at 08:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:22 PM ----------

Had to push 'er home

I'll have to charge the batteries back up

...& then do some testin'

...to figure out what failed

(it wasn't a fuse, I checked that before pushing)


While I was pushin'

I was thinkin', what could have failed?

I would think, top of the list would be:

1. motor

2. speed controller

3. maybe a wire fried

4. or, I may have drained the batteries too low

...& the under voltage protection, built into the speed controller, kicked in


We'll figure it out

 

[Functional Artist]

After chargin' the batteries

* the 36V charger would not act right

...usually a green light lights when batteries are attached (correctly)

...then the green light goes out when the charger is plugged in & a red light lights to show charging in progress

...when charging is complete the red light goes out & the green light is lit again to show "fully charged"

But, this time, when I hooked the charger up

...the green light lit (like normal)

...then when I plugged the charger in

...the red light came on but, the green light started flashing

...& kept flashing

So, I separated them & charged them individually with a 12V charger


After all of that

I did some testin'

Using my multimeter, I started @ the batteries, where the power begins (then follow the money)

Yup, we got power

...followed that up to the solenoid inputs

Yup, we got power there too

...next, check each solenoids out puts (to make sure their making contact when switched on)

Wait, NO we have a failure (showing no power on out put side)

But, which one?

After checking them individually

...it seems that the right constant duty solenoid gave out already

After less than (1) hour of use

...& not a constant (1) hour of use

...but, spread out over several tests

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N--CrU7IeRY

 

[Functional Artist]

Well,

...what should we do with Turbo


I think we've gathered some good data

...& learned a few things


We already knew "overvolting"

...is bad

...will increase speed/power


I was interested in

..."how" bad (immediate-bad or eventually-bad)

..."how" much speed/power increase (the theoretical 30%?)

...would intermittent use be OK?

...could it be done without back feeding the overvoltage to the controller?

Well,

Yes, it can be done

No, it's not a good idea (even intermittently)


* Conclusions

...this motor/controller/kart would do 15 mph consistently before these tests

First test run:

...top speed w/controller 15 mph, then jumped to 20 mph with Turbo engaged

After the second or third Turbo burst

...the kart's speed topped out at ~13 mph & with Turbo burst it only jumped up to ~17 mph

...& I could feel significant power losses during normal mode & Turbo


So, this motor seemed to draw 30-32 amps normally to propel this kart to 15 mph

...then when Turbo was engaged, this motor would draw 50-100 amps to ONLY go 5 mph faster

...that's a 30% increase in speed

...but, a 200-300% increase in power draw

...& it's a complicated set up

...plus it damaged the motor internally


Not is this concept BAD on the motor

...but, it's probably even worse on the batteries

Because

...there is NO under voltage cutoff to protect the batteries

They could be easily & permanently damaged by draining too much power out of them

...they are being drained unevenly

(by pulling 12V for solenoids, 24V for motor/controller & then 36V for Turbo boost)

...the third battery is being drained hard (by powering Turbo)

...the second battery even more (by powering normal mode & Turbo)

...& the first one is being sucked dry (by everything, the solenoids, normal mode & Turbo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J1QWwa2csg