openinverter forum

first drive around the block

Congratulations, it drives very quietly ...... gear selection is still a tad noisy though Do you have first and second speeds in the transmission working? How does it feel with both MG1 and MG2 running compared to MG2 only?

T1 Terry

Very cool! Are you planning to get it back on the Dyno now with the extra battery and MG1?

T1Terry wrote: ↑Mon Aug 11, 2025 1:26 am Congratulations, it drives very quietly ...... gear selection is still a tad noisy though

T1 Terry

ha ha, yes I hate that "tractor" B&M shifter, Racing & Performance my @ss

planning on replacing it with this handsome 1997 Chevy Blazer OEM unit

T1Terry wrote: ↑Mon Aug 11, 2025 1:26 am Do you have first and second speeds in the transmission working?

T1 Terry

I do not have the High and Low gear changes implemented, keep in mind I am still rockin' the Legacy VCU like a true OG !

T1Terry wrote: ↑Mon Aug 11, 2025 1:26 am How does it feel with both MG1 and MG2 running compared to MG2 only?

T1 Terry

In one word: Smooth, but I have not taken it above 35 MPH yet, might could today

barracuda816 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 11, 2025 9:50 am Very cool! Are you planning to get it back on the Dyno now with the extra battery and MG1?

Yes sir, can't wait! the plan is to Dyno MG1 all by itself (gently) and then let them both rip simultaneously, but first we need to do some shake out driving around both on the street and the highway, wouldn't you agree?

Gregski wrote: ↑Mon Aug 11, 2025 2:37 pm first we need to do some shake out driving around both on the street and the highway, wouldn't you agree?

Street tuning is always the right answer. And as I've learned, the whole "silent EV" thing makes it a lot easier to avoid "hello officer" (I've got a couple good stories)

P.S.Mangelsdorf wrote: ↑Mon Aug 11, 2025 8:44 pm Street tuning is always the right answer. And as I've learned, the whole "silent EV" thing makes it a lot easier to avoid "hello officer" (I've got a couple good stories)

Hey, maybe that’s an idea for a whole new section on the forum - ‘best EV conversion stories’?

ianlighting wrote: ↑Tue Aug 12, 2025 5:58 am Hey, maybe that’s an idea for a whole new section on the forum - ‘best EV conversion stories’?

Possibly an idea for a thread... but I do try to abide by "don't post your crime-ing on the internet" so some may have to wait for in person meet ups. (once again for the record, if anyone is ever in the greater Raleigh NC area (aka the Triangle), hit me up)

Gregski wrote: ↑Tue Aug 12, 2025 2:46 pm Greg On The Lake.jpg

That's fine until you roll over to get more comfortable So, when do we see the Lexus L110 powered version of one of those .... can't wait to see the first full power take off in it

T1 Terry

well this Never Ceases To Amaze Me, Can You Relate - NCTAM,CYR

so out of everything I tweaked, tooked apart, disassembled during Phase II, the battery charging system was not one of them ! I simply unplugged the little fellar aka 1st Gen Chevy Volt onboard battery charger and moved it to the bed of the truck

So can you guess what is now NOT working ?

[I'll give you a second minute (as my 4 year old son used to say)]

that's right the charging does not work, well it sorta works sometimes if I wiggle the key in the [brand new aftermarket] ignition or lift the tiny AVC2 gizmotron and set it back down right where I found it


here I am attempting to granny charge it using my 120 volt 15 amp standard US household circuit using my Hyundai Ironic 5 granny charger cord cause no way in hell was the truck willing to even consider charging using my beloved Vevor cord on the 240 volt 30 am clothes dryer circuit


I use this Nextion display to monitor the charging process, I rolled it myself

I believe it's called Murphy's law

In any case you know it will be something you did.
Not the big thing that you now spend 6 hours looking at.
Nope it will be the little thing you never for a second considered would cause an issue.
In fact it will be so insignificant a thing you have forgotten all about having done it and will only remember when you find the cause.

Such is life.

So bad wiring + shitty ignition barrel?

What is all involved in your charging setup? Since you are not using the ZombieVerter or a BMS I believe.

tom91 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 14, 2025 2:29 pm So bad wiring + shitty ignition barrel?

What is all involved in your charging setup? Since you are not using the ZombieVerter or a BMS I believe.

just running Damien's AmperaCharger code

and this is my little serial menu for it

now I'm wondering if it's actually working, but the Nextion display is not updating, time to tinker

Gregski wrote: ↑Thu Aug 14, 2025 3:18 pm just running Damien's AmperaCharger code

On what is the question.

Also so many items in the chain best to start from basics and run through all the signals.

Any reason you didn't use the Buck/Boost in the top of the Lexus inverter? Or are you still powering the inverter through that?

T1 Terry

T1Terry wrote: ↑Fri Aug 15, 2025 12:59 am Any reason you didn't use the Buck/Boost in the top of the Lexus inverter? Or are you still powering the inverter through that?

T1 Terry

To do what exactly?

As far as I am aware no-one has fully reverse engineered driving or controlling the GS450h boost converter.

tom91 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 15, 2025 11:35 am To do what exactly?

As far as I am aware no-one has fully reverse engineered driving or controlling the GS450h boost converter.

Bugga, ya might have got me there, every chance I've got my wires crossed with the Prius inverter, too many projects getting researched at the same time .... or simply getting old to keep it all together in the head ..... pick one or both

I will return to the video watching tomorrow ... maybe, and see if I did actually get that completely wrong ..... I am male after all, my wife reckons there is very little chance I could ever be right

T1 Terry

I believe someone on here has got the buck boost from a gs450H working but separate from the rest of the inverter and I dont think it was used in a conversion in the end.

so don't want to drive the truck, cause I can't charge it, and I can't charge it cause it ain't cooling, so today I did the bucket test and it appears that the recently relocated Tesla Model S H2O pump aint pumpin'

I checked all the fuses, tightened all the hoses, and then I decided to yank the thing to test it off the truck, anyone remember the pin out

thank the EV Gods for the Open Inverter Wiki


armed with this knowledge I decided to send the pump to a Specialist, where it tested A OK !

Note: these pumps will pompulate at full umph absent the PWM signal

I now PWM mine from an Arduino Uno R4 Wifi
DeepSeek (before stealing my online profile and planting a virus in my brain) wrote code to let me control it over Bluetooth from my phone.
I have two pumps which I need to run at different speeds so it controls them individually.

so I tested the water pump wire harness plug, I got 12 volts on Pin 1 and a good ground on Pin 2 and when I submerge the Tesla water pump in a bucket of water whilst plugged in to it's harness it's pumping, so it must be a circulation issue

so I tried my clear hose trick for optimum visability, now before you go screamin' air bubble, burp the system, that air bumble settled there after I turned off the pump and that clear hose leaked a bit as it's a bit too big for them outlets

meanwhile let's have some fun

so a quick update on the truck, to be honest with you all I had to step away from it for a minute, hey all you working on your projects out there, there's no shame in that, I needed a moment, then I though I best get her on the road so we can dyno test both MGs before my hibernation kicks in

so this evening I thought what if I run that Tesla Model S water pump at full speed, will that get all the air bubbles out or whatever is causing it not to cool the charger properly


well I think that might have worked as now it's been granny charging at 120 volts and 15 amps for over 3 hours and the charger is warm but not too hot to the touch by any means, and the water pump is PWMing at a reduced speed as it always had before


took this pic at about 5:00 PM note the 342 volts

and here it is about 3.5 hours later around 8:30 pm and the volts climbed to 352

(no I won't be charging this slow eventually this is all part of baby steps after the battery pack upgrade)