Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Nissan Leaf/e-NV200 drive stack topics
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

Well done JaniK!
Apologies for the error on those sketches. They have been edited and updated!
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

JaniK wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 7:53 pm Yeah that would have revealed the error. I was allready feeling unlucky that something is broken, but it was just user error and now it spins, so I got a smug look on my face all day 😁
Keep going mate, The smug face days will keep coming with every small win. :)
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by vin »

langoo wrote: Wed Jul 31, 2019 9:29 pm Today I tried to do this operation myself on my Gen1 inverter. I have previously tested out the Arduino and CAN-comunication with a Gen2 inverter and everything worked like expected. When I now do the same operation won't the motor turn on my Gen1, what I think might be broken on my Gen1 is the voltage sense component because I read 255 on byte 1 in CAN-message 1DA. What voltage measurement do you get Kevin when you read out that message from your inverter?

Anyone who has experience with broken voltage sense components on inverters? 😉
Hi Langoo, do you have any wiring diagram form this setup please? Particularly for Throttle connections to the Arduino.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by vin »

james@N52E01 wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 6:10 am Basically yes, the board is a heavily modified Arduino Due so you’ll want to make sure you have Arduino Due Native USB available in the boards manager. You’ll also want to download all of the library files referenced at the top of the code.

If it’s your first time configuring the board you may want to reduce the MaxTrq (max torque value, basically limits the torque relative to the pedal position) for testing purposes. I started at 100 for testing and brought it up from there.

Glad there’s someone else working with the VCU, give us a shout if there’s anything you’re not sure about
Hi James@N52E01 I’m attempting to do some testing on my leaf stack and I’m using an Arduino Due with the Leaf Gen1 inverter code on it, I don’t have a throttle pedal setup, how can I command throttle via the command? Is it possible? Also is it possible to use a Single throttle instead of both Throttle 1 and 2 on the Arduino Due board please?
Much appreciated
Thank
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by james@N52E01 »

Sorry for the slow reply, I just PM'd you
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

Hi guys
I have been working on this (at my usual snails pace) and last night discovered that the default software for this VCU works a treat with my Freelander. I guess it's not that surprising since BMW owned LR at the time my car was built and Damien set it up for an E46.
I already knew the accelerator pedal worked but after connecting the CAN to my dash the temp gauge and Rev counter are working too so now I only need to sort a few warning lights.

The one thing I'm struggling to understand is I'm getting temp and rpm on the WiFi web page but not pack voltage. I thought the inverter would be broadcasting the voltage on CAN but so far nothing. I do not have an IVT-S shunt so was wondering was this the problem.
Has anyone else figured this out?

Thanks
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by LRBen »

Alibro wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 11:31 pm Hi guys
I have been working on this (at my usual snails pace) and last night discovered that the default software for this VCU works a treat with my Freelander. I guess it's not that surprising since BMW owned LR at the time my car was built and Damien set it up for an E46.
I already knew the accelerator pedal worked but after connecting the CAN to my dash the temp gauge and Rev counter are working too so now I only need to sort a few warning lights.

The one thing I'm struggling to understand is I'm getting temp and rpm on the WiFi web page but not pack voltage. I thought the inverter would be broadcasting the voltage on CAN but so far nothing. I do not have an IVT-S shunt so was wondering was this the problem.
Has anyone else figured this out?

Thanks
Check out page 4 on this thread, explains it way better than I could. Looks like you can get the inverter voltage at least. But otherwise for pack voltage you will need the IVT-S.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

LRBen wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 7:25 pm Check out page 4 on this thread, explains it way better than I could. Looks like you can get the inverter voltage at least. But otherwise for pack voltage you will need the IVT-S.
Thanks mate, I'll get an IVT-S ordered then as I'd like the VCU to control the precharge relay and main contactor.
Broadcasting the pack voltage would be nice too.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

Would this be suitable?
https://ebay.us/nOdiaH
I'm assuming it is 500A which is more than enough for my car.

Edit: From what I can see it has no voltage sense outputs, am I right?
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by LRBen »

Alibro wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:46 pm Would this be suitable?
https://ebay.us/nOdiaH
I'm assuming it is 500A which is more than enough for my car.

Edit: From what I can see it has no voltage sense outputs, am I right?
I'm being stupid, your BMS should be spitting out the pack voltage onto canbus which would be a much easier way to do it. You can get IVT-S with voltage reading but that model isn't it.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

LRBen wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 9:37 pm I'm being stupid, your BMS should be spitting out the pack voltage onto canbus which would be a much easier way to do it. You can get IVT-S with voltage reading but that model isn't it.
You are right that the BMS will give pack voltage and I can see it on Leafspy but for now anyway the BMS is not installed. When I transfer everything to the new car I will try to reinstate it but for now I have to control my precharge with a timer which is not a great way to do it.
Also I have no idea how to read the pack voltage from the BMS CAN and use it to control anything. :(
I have asked one of the members here for a price on a shunt with voltage sense so will see what happens.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by LRBen »

Alibro wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:19 pm You are right that the BMS will give pack voltage and I can see it on Leafspy but for now anyway the BMS is not installed. When I transfer everything to the new car I will try to reinstate it but for now I have to control my precharge with a timer which is not a great way to do it.
Also I have no idea how to read the pack voltage from the BMS CAN and use it to control anything. :(
I have asked one of the members here for a price on a shunt with voltage sense so will see what happens.
I might be wrong. But if there is a pack voltage value in your wifi interface you can map a canbus message input to that value. If the Leaf BMS is on the same canbus that is it shouldn't be too difficult.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

LRBen wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:28 pm I might be wrong. But if there is a pack voltage value in your wifi interface you can map a canbus message input to that value. If the Leaf BMS is on the same canbus that is it shouldn't be too difficult.
Good point about the Leaf BMS CAN bus. I hadn't planned to have the two connected. Might it broadcast something that would cause the inverter to shut down? I don't know but would be concerned it might not play nice with Damiens VCU.
I'm probably over thinking it but until the shunt arrives I think I'll stick with my Arduino timer relay module for turning on the precharge relay, Neg and Main Pos contactors.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by LRBen »

Alibro wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:57 pm Good point about the Leaf BMS CAN bus. I hadn't planned to have the two connected. Might it broadcast something that would cause the inverter to shut down? I don't know but would be concerned it might not play nice with Damiens VCU.
I'm probably over thinking it but until the shunt arrives I think I'll stick with my Arduino timer relay module for turning on the precharge relay, Neg and Main Pos contactors.
I should think it would work just fine. A list of canbus messages the leaf BMS spits out should be easy to find, then you can compare to the VCU messages and see if there are any conflicts. But given there are lots of OI projects with Leaf batteries and BMS around it should be fine.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

Hi guys
I've been struggling a little to get my VCU/Inverter setup to work reliably and hoped some of you may have suggestions. I'll describe as best I can how I have it connected, what works and what doesn't.

Currently I have the Inverter 12V connected to the battery and the VCU 12V is connected to come on with the ignition.
I have tried every other combination of connecting the VCU and Inverter power and this is the only way it works but even then not correctly.

If I connect the battery and turn on the ignition it will not work first time, the VCU powers up and I can see CAN from it controlling the dash but no drive.
If I disconnect the battery briefly and reconnect it then turn on the ignition it will work fine and will work again if the ignition is turned off briefly then back on.
If I turn off the ignition but leave the battery connected after several minutes it no longer works and I have to disconnect and reconnect the battery again.

I was wondering if the CAN connections are the problem as I have lengthened the CAN Wires from the inverter by around 2m but noticed the Inverter has no terminating resistor. With the CAN wires connected but battery disconnected I can see 120R which is coming from the VCU

Any suggestions before I rip it all out and reconnect with shorter leads?
Thanks
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by vwbrady »

I have the inverter and the VCU on different switches - inverter is on a reliable toggle and the VCU is on ignition. The Inverter was killing my 12v battery when it had a KL30 connection.

I found the same behavior as you when I would turn the inverter switch on too early. The inverter clearly has some timer that errors out if it doesn't hear proper CAN within some time limit.

IDK if what I did is necessary, but it works reliably.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

vwbrady wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 6:08 pm I have the inverter and the VCU on different switches - inverter is on a reliable toggle and the VCU is on ignition. The Inverter was killing my 12v battery when it had a KL30 connection.

I found the same behavior as you when I would turn the inverter switch on too early. The inverter clearly has some timer that errors out if it doesn't hear proper CAN within some time limit.

IDK if what I did is necessary, but it works reliably.
Thanks mate, glad to hear it's not just me and there can be a simple fix/bodge. :)
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by JaniK »

There you go:
http://productions.8dromeda.net/c55-leaf-inverter-protocol.html wrote:
"Operation: Getting the inverter to turn the motor
-------------------------------------------------

1. Switch on 12V power
2. Start sending CAN messages within 2s, preferably instantly
3. Finish precharging to at least 180V within 10s of switching the power on.
4. Continue sending CAN messages to control motor torque.
5. To shut down the inverter, make sure it has received the torque command 0 and
then just switch off the power supply."
Any opinions are my own, unless stated otherwise. I take no responsibility if you follow my way of doing things and it doesn't work. Please double check with someone who knows what they are doing.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

Thanks mate.
This is for a Gen2 inverter but hopefully it will work for a Gen1.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by LeonMN »

Hi all!

tell me if it is possible to use the factory inverter from nissan leaf ze0 in a somewhat non-standard mode for it, namely, as shown in the diagram:

that is, instead of the EM61 motor, connect an alternating 3-phase current from a socket or from a type 2 charging station, somehow start the inverter and make it work in recovery mode, thereby charging the machine’s battery.

I'm not very good at development and programming, and therefore I would like some ready-made solution, or at least some instructions on how to run it and get the result. and in general, is it possible in principle? It seems like an investor does this every day.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

LeonMN wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 1:44 pm Hi all!

tell me if it is possible to use the factory inverter from nissan leaf ze0 in a somewhat non-standard mode for it, namely, as shown in the diagram:

that is, instead of the EM61 motor, connect an alternating 3-phase current from a socket or from a type 2 charging station, somehow start the inverter and make it work in recovery mode, thereby charging the machine’s battery.

I'm not very good at development and programming, and therefore I would like some ready-made solution, or at least some instructions on how to run it and get the result. and in general, is it possible in principle? It seems like an investor does this every day.
Isn't the item in the photo a high voltage junction box and dc to dc converter?
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by LeonMN »

Alibro wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 7:47 am Isn't the item in the photo a high voltage junction box and dc to dc converter?
it might be, i could take a wrong picture

anyway the question is the same - is it possible to start the inverter and make it work in recovery mode, thereby charging the nissan leaf battery ?
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by JaniK »

Has anyone made forward/reverse switch for the leaf vcu?

Edit: ok I just made a code that changes torque request to negative when IN2 is high. Seems to work just fine (full speed reverse though like this, so maybe I will make a software limiter)
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

Has anyone out there got voltage and current showing in the web monitor with an ISA shunt?
I connected mine yesterday to the shunt for the first time and the Voltage was not showing on the web app but motor and inverter temp were. I checked the shunt is putting out CAN and there was 353V at the inverter so I'm assuming the issue is in the software but won't have time to look at it again until later this evening.
Do I need to enable this in Version 1.5 of the software?

I have the CAN connections from the Inverter, shunt and VCU connected with leads as short as possible and have ensured there are two 120 ohm resistors in circuit.
I thought it odd I didn't see any CAN coming from the VCU but need to play around a bit more to confirm this.
Any suggestions welcome thanks.

Edit: I think the answer is on page 6 of this thread so I'm working through it now. Will report back later with the outcome.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Alibro »

Hi guys
So I've spent a couple of days playing with my Nissan Leaf Gen1 VCU and have not got much further so would appreciate any input.
When I connect the ISA shunt the VCU throws a wobbly and reports all current, temp voltage etc at full scale. But worse it won't reset until I power the VCU off and on and it does this with or without james@N52E01 software tweaks. I don't yet know if my shunt is faulty or I'm doing something wrong.

So I decided to park the shunt for now and try to work without it and see if outputs 1 and two (to drive the contactors) work with the default SW and they do..... sort of.

If I turn on the ignition Input 1 comes on immediately and input two a second or so later which is great. The serial monitor is showing the correct pack voltage too so I although I haven't tested it yet I suspect the car would drive.
However if I turn the ignition off then back on again I get nothing and don't get anything until the battery is disconnected and reconnected.
I tried putting a switch on the positive feed and from the battery to the feed for all so that I could reset everything with the ignition off and it didn't work nor did it work on the negative feed.
At this point I'm more than a little confused as to why disconnecting the battery works but just removing 12V from VCU and inverter doesn't.

I had this setup temporarily working previously but it was cobbled together and I was using timers instead of the VCU to drive the contactors and somehow ended up with welded contactors. I also had the issue then of having to disconnect the battery to get it working so I appear to have an issue somewhere.

Any help appreciated
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