Blog
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I created this page with a dual purpose, one of which was to remind me what my day to day duties consist of as a
hardware manufacturer. The other was to give a glimpse to the viewer what's going on here as well. I hope to update
it at least weekly.
hardware manufacturer. The other was to give a glimpse to the viewer what's going on here as well. I hope to update
it at least weekly.
6/9/10 Spent part of the week dealing with a laptop trying to install SP3 on. What a nightmare, I think I must have
visited every problem site to try to get it to work. As of today, once it reboots after the install I get the splash screen,
then nothing afterwards. Pretty sad for 2010, I surf only to see Win7 isn't faring as well as touted either. Forget vista,
you have to upgrade office. Something more exciting, worked on a lower cost Gen1.8 revision, that works with one AC
input voltage. This way its not a full Gen2 upgrade and most of the internals remain unchanged. I'll get some
feedback as to how it works in the vehicle from a customer later this week. From what I could test here, it looks good
and costs much less to upgrade. And if you don't need to charge over the international AC voltage range, then its
more EV dough in your pocket. More to do, gotta go and play with XP. Anybody seen my hammer?
visited every problem site to try to get it to work. As of today, once it reboots after the install I get the splash screen,
then nothing afterwards. Pretty sad for 2010, I surf only to see Win7 isn't faring as well as touted either. Forget vista,
you have to upgrade office. Something more exciting, worked on a lower cost Gen1.8 revision, that works with one AC
input voltage. This way its not a full Gen2 upgrade and most of the internals remain unchanged. I'll get some
feedback as to how it works in the vehicle from a customer later this week. From what I could test here, it looks good
and costs much less to upgrade. And if you don't need to charge over the international AC voltage range, then its
more EV dough in your pocket. More to do, gotta go and play with XP. Anybody seen my hammer?
| Where's the rest of the blog? Right here |
Thoughts? Ideas? email me here
6/20/10 Salute to all the dad's out there, you're still needed even if it doesn't seem your any good at it. The field test
for the Gen1.8 Charging Mod is working as expected. This will drastically reduce the cost of the upgrade from Gen1.5
to Gen1.8 down to $75. It will have the G2 benefits at a fixed AC input instead of Gen2's international AC input range.
Ditched the SP3 update and got a cheap (and newer) laptop to handle testing with. The old one might end up as
dyno hardware if I can find another PCMCIA GPIB card that's cheap. Still doing testing on the 2.4kW charging
hardware. Need to locate a larger fan to keep a dual AC input setup cool. More building to do, back to work.
for the Gen1.8 Charging Mod is working as expected. This will drastically reduce the cost of the upgrade from Gen1.5
to Gen1.8 down to $75. It will have the G2 benefits at a fixed AC input instead of Gen2's international AC input range.
Ditched the SP3 update and got a cheap (and newer) laptop to handle testing with. The old one might end up as
dyno hardware if I can find another PCMCIA GPIB card that's cheap. Still doing testing on the 2.4kW charging
hardware. Need to locate a larger fan to keep a dual AC input setup cool. More building to do, back to work.
6/28/10 Last few weeks the lab test time is shared to refill the bank tank. Creating a flooded charging system control
scheme to better handle flooded charging and charger throttling. Revised System Upgrades page to show Gen 1.8
changes and pricing. Building up test hardware this week to start on Li-Ion cell testing. Looking into advertising to get
the EV word out. Found an issue with the recent HV adapter build, likely caused from sealant etching solder
connections that were trimmed after conformal coating was applied. More building to do, back to work!
scheme to better handle flooded charging and charger throttling. Revised System Upgrades page to show Gen 1.8
changes and pricing. Building up test hardware this week to start on Li-Ion cell testing. Looking into advertising to get
the EV word out. Found an issue with the recent HV adapter build, likely caused from sealant etching solder
connections that were trimmed after conformal coating was applied. More building to do, back to work!
7/5/10 Adding more international shipping to the EV accessories list of items. Still building up the cell test hardware,
its allot of wiring to do. Travelling in the next few days so email responses will be delayed. More building to do, back to
work!
its allot of wiring to do. Travelling in the next few days so email responses will be delayed. More building to do, back to
work!
7/28/10 Boy, how time flies! I thought I wrote an entry here a few weeks ago >>EDIT, I did, it was on another computer
that didn't update the blog, so I nabbed it and posted it below.<< Thus far I've completed a interface board for the cell
tester and verified it able to change the load current with Labview on part of the load (600A worth of modules on 1
heatsink). Still have a bunch of wiring to do to finish it up and another heatsink to load up. Starting to stock completed
boards on the shelf to reduce the time lag between orders and shipments. Also still doing some lab sharing to keep
the bank tank in the green zone. Getting prepped for another board build this week as well. The remaining orders to
date are 2 chargers (0.5 of a kit each) which are 95% done, awaiting the final pack voltage calibration from 2
customers. So onward with sub assembly builds for the time being. I think I'm forgetting something, but for now, this
entry will suffice. More to do, back to work.
that didn't update the blog, so I nabbed it and posted it below.<< Thus far I've completed a interface board for the cell
tester and verified it able to change the load current with Labview on part of the load (600A worth of modules on 1
heatsink). Still have a bunch of wiring to do to finish it up and another heatsink to load up. Starting to stock completed
boards on the shelf to reduce the time lag between orders and shipments. Also still doing some lab sharing to keep
the bank tank in the green zone. Getting prepped for another board build this week as well. The remaining orders to
date are 2 chargers (0.5 of a kit each) which are 95% done, awaiting the final pack voltage calibration from 2
customers. So onward with sub assembly builds for the time being. I think I'm forgetting something, but for now, this
entry will suffice. More to do, back to work.
7/17/10 Catching up on board builds, component orders and organizing things to flow better on the website. Still need
to work on the cell tester along with component quals for existing and new designs. This is when the weather turns up
the heat, so usable shop time is compressed to early & late hours. Board fabs are also coming up, but I have a few
boards that need a tweak or two to make them better. More work to do, better get back to soldering!
to work on the cell tester along with component quals for existing and new designs. This is when the weather turns up
the heat, so usable shop time is compressed to early & late hours. Board fabs are also coming up, but I have a few
boards that need a tweak or two to make them better. More work to do, better get back to soldering!
8/9/10 Finished up some board fabs, putting them in the queue to be loaded. Nearly done with the cell tester
software, 600A worth of electronic load is done with another heatsink of 400A capacity left to build. Had to retrain
myself when it comes to programming with LabView, forgot some of the intricacies to handle certain tasks. Still have to
create the excel reporting / graphing functions, but I'll do some preliminary tests just to see if the software is acting as
it should. Time for some ZZZ's, more to do in the morning!
software, 600A worth of electronic load is done with another heatsink of 400A capacity left to build. Had to retrain
myself when it comes to programming with LabView, forgot some of the intricacies to handle certain tasks. Still have to
create the excel reporting / graphing functions, but I'll do some preliminary tests just to see if the software is acting as
it should. Time for some ZZZ's, more to do in the morning!
8/21/10 Finishing up on board builds, 600A of cell testing electronics is up and running. To date, (2) 400A tests have
been run on 2 different 100Ah cells, with a difference in Ah capacity noted for each cell. Hopefully, manufacturers will
send in cells and take this opportunity to show off their product and grow the database of cell info. For those in the
market seeking to buy, able to make informed decisions regarding their purchase. Cell temperature data is in the
works, need to build a Peltier system to handle that task. More to do, back to work.
been run on 2 different 100Ah cells, with a difference in Ah capacity noted for each cell. Hopefully, manufacturers will
send in cells and take this opportunity to show off their product and grow the database of cell info. For those in the
market seeking to buy, able to make informed decisions regarding their purchase. Cell temperature data is in the
works, need to build a Peltier system to handle that task. More to do, back to work.
8/29/10 Back from a week's trip from the bay area to refill the bank tank, its good to be back. Took some of the
mechanical work with me to do between work and sleep, so the build schedule doesn't come to a halt. Ordered a few
more current mode modules for the 2nd cell load tester. Organizing the workload for the week, and contacting a few
LiFePO4 manufacturers for samples to test.
mechanical work with me to do between work and sleep, so the build schedule doesn't come to a halt. Ordered a few
more current mode modules for the 2nd cell load tester. Organizing the workload for the week, and contacting a few
LiFePO4 manufacturers for samples to test.