1971 GMCe Lexus GS450H BMW 530e Tesla Model S Electruck [Upgrade]

[Gregski]

I also did a write up on BMW Hybrid Battery Cable Connectors Reconfigured Rekeyed
in order to eliminate the OEM output plug (one less connection to worry about)

so I'll just post some highlight pics here

[Gregski]

then I cut that longest OEM 5' lead in half to make two leads to the Inverted out of it

[Gregski]

then I assembled it all for what I hope is the final time, the S shows how they are connected in series

[Gregski]

a little close up of the leads going into the inverter, 90% of all that orange will be out of sight out of mind

[Gregski]

just another day at the office

... so close tonight ...

[Uppertown]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you

[Gregski]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you

thank you so much, but please include your toes as well

[Gregski]

[Gregski]

the guy who has no business explaining what it takes to spin the wheels for the first time, explains in great detail what it takes to spin the wheels for the first time

[TassieDevil]

My first post was disapproved as an 'odd first post', which surely fits well with gregski's humour.

[Gregski]

My first post was disapproved as an 'odd first post', which surely fits well with gregski's humour.

[Gregski]

so here's where we be at, I am using the OG VCU ver 2 (the pre ZombieVerter hardware)

• battery, safety box, inverter, trans, vcu, and throttle all hooked up (no DC-DC converter, no charger, no BMS, yet)

• throttle calibrated

• torque set to 500

with the contactors closed:

• the S box sees: 347 volts

• the inverter also sees: 347 volts - but they drop quickly 310, 260, 180, 80, 60, down to zero type of thing without me doing anything

when I press the throttle, the rear wheel just budges like so



your help and advice is greatly appreciated

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

• the inverter also sees: 347 volts - but they drop quickly 310, 260, 180, 80, 60, down to zero type of thing without me doing anything

Not familiar at all with VCU. Barely at all familiar with OpenInverter software.

What you're describing matches what you'd expect if the power was connected, then disconnected.

I.E. You power up the inverter slowly through the pre-charge contactor that has a resistor in series with it so that the capacitors slow charge (1-3 seconds), rather than try to charge in 1/10000th of a second and blow each other up. This charges the capacitors. Normally what happens next after pre-charge is the main contactor engages that shorts out the pre-charge contactor, or, well, there's 3 or 4 variations of what clicks and clacks in a pre-charge setup, there's several ways to do it.

So that the inverter isn't left charged at hundreds of volts even when unpowered, the inverter has a resistor bank to bleed down the capacitors in a few seconds. Capacitors don't hold a lot of energy, so this is normal and not a lot of power is wasted.

If you pre-charged, then, instead of engaging the main contactors you just... did nothing.. and disconnected the pre-charge contactor too, you'd see the voltage slowly drop as the resistor bank bleeds the capacitors safely dry.

The reason you might not see the wheel spin at all, or just barely, is maybe because you're trying to spin the wheel just off the energy left in the capacitors. Seems ballpark right that you'd get enough to turn the wheel over a few times and that's all.

So, all adds up to: Main contactor isn't turning on.

Check wiring on your safety box, check our connects between safety box and VCU and make sure you've connected to the right places, check that main contactor actuates. Check code that it ever actually tries to turn the main contactor on, maybe it doesn't.

[Gregski]

guess what size we need?

[Gregski]

Not familiar at all with VCU. Barely at all familiar with OpenInverter software.

What you're describing matches what you'd expect if the power was connected, then disconnected.

I.E. You power up the inverter slowly through the pre-charge contactor that has a resistor in series with it so that the capacitors slow charge (1-3 seconds), rather than try to charge in 1/10000th of a second and blow each other up. This charges the capacitors. Normally what happens next after pre-charge is the main contactor engages that shorts out the pre-charge contactor, or, well, there's 3 or 4 variations of what clicks and clacks in a pre-charge setup, there's several ways to do it.

So that the inverter isn't left charged at hundreds of volts even when unpowered, the inverter has a resistor bank to bleed down the capacitors in a few seconds. Capacitors don't hold a lot of energy, so this is normal and not a lot of power is wasted.

If you pre-charged, then, instead of engaging the main contactors you just... did nothing.. and disconnected the pre-charge contactor too, you'd see the voltage slowly drop as the resistor bank bleeds the capacitors safely dry.

The reason you might not see the wheel spin at all, or just barely, is maybe because you're trying to spin the wheel just off the energy left in the capacitors. Seems ballpark right that you'd get enough to turn the wheel over a few times and that's all.

So, all adds up to: Main contactor isn't turning on.

Check wiring on your safety box, check our connects between safety box and VCU and make sure you've connected to the right places, check that main contactor actuates. Check code that it ever actually tries to turn the main contactor on, maybe it doesn't.

thanks Matt that was one of the best pre charge explanations I have ever read. I hear you on the Main contactor isn't turning on, but I hear it CLICK

[Gregski]

so I did a test where I connected a 300 watt (30 volt 10 amp) bench power supply directly to the inverter and the wheels spin just fine

[Gregski]

more trouble shootin'

here I am bypassing the Positive Contactor in that black Safety Box and only closing the Negative one, and we see full voltage from the 30v bench power supply, so something is up with the Positive Contactor closing then opening, or maybe some circus board logic in that box, donno

[Gregski]

I usually like to keep to myself (I'm a very private person... I'll wait till you stop laffin') and work in the privacy and comfort of my garage, but the wife insisted I do this next part on our granite kitchen counter tops


the butter knife is there for scale purposes I so did not use it to pry that plastic lid off that it would fit perfectly under the tabs if I or any other person decided to use it in that matter, but I didn't, I swear

time to check the B.A.F. Big @ss Fuse

it beeps so I recon it's good, plus I would expect it to make a mess if it had a bad hair day

[Gregski]

so great news I got it working, it turned out to be operator error, I did not understand/know how the logic of the S-Box code works, now I do, so here is how it works

anytime you execute a menu option (like close Negative contactor) first it opens all the contactors

So when I thought I was executing these commands stacked on top of each other, I wasn't

1. Close Negative contactor
2. Close Pre Charge Relay
3. Close Positive contactor

It actually does this:

• Open All Contactors

1. Close Negative contactor
   • Open All Contactors
2. Close Pre Charge Relay
   • Open All Contactors
3. Close Positive contactor

which results in only a closed Positive contactor

[Gregski]

4 hours of unpinning and repining and all I got to show for it is the VCU and throttle pedal are now on the other side of the firewall

[Uppertown]

Updated side input port is now on Grabcad, the M20x1.5 thread prints a little lose on one of my slicers and a little tight on the other (Flashforge and Cura) . The small overhangs and threaded holes all print OK without support for me but YMMV. Let me know how you get on.

https://grabcad.com/library/gs450h-side-port-1

[Gregski]

got the second connector harness through the firewall and now the EV Vehicle Control Unit (aka VCU) as well as the skinny pedal live in the cab, getting ready for the next test from within the cockpit, the goal still being running and driving truck by the end of this month

[Gregski]

got the Lexus GS450h transmission external electric "oil" pump working for the first time today, I was so relieved to hear it a pumpin' up to this point I had no idea if it was good or not

since I bought the OEM wire harness with the fuse block I believe this is the OEM original relay

[Gregski]

So the goal is still to have a running driving truck by the end of this month. So what do we have left to do to meet this specific goal?

1. Wire an Inverter relay to turn it on from the VCU
2. Add CAN Bus code to control the Chevy Volt DC-DC Converter
3. Wire a relay for the Toyota Prius EPAS (Electronic Power Assist Steering)
4. Wire a relay for the Tesla water pump
5. Add PWM code to control the Tesla water pump

This will be a crude drive test, most likely with a laptop sitting shot gun for S-box control as I am still in the process of finding suitable ChatGPT code in order to automate that.

Also we will be running an off board Chevy Volt battery charger, for this test lol

[Gregski]

well that escalated quickly, as I spun my wheels all evening chasing over a dozen grounds, I think I'm gonna list them all for prosperity if you see one I missed please let me know (also I think I will brand the apparatus cause details are good) may take me numerous updates to this post plus it's midnight

1. EVBMW.com Lexus GS450h VCU ver. 3 Damien Gaguire Signature Series - A Plug
2. EVBMW.com Lexus GS450h VCU ver. 3 Damien Gaguire Signature Series - B Plug
3. Lexus GS450h Inverter - First Ground
4. Lexus GS450h Inverter - Second Ground
5. BMW 530e Safety Box
6. Tesla Model S Water Pump
7. Tesla Model S Water Pump Relay
8. Arduino UNO PWM for Tesla Model S Water Pump
9. Toyota Prius Electronic Power Assist Steering Motor
10. Toyota Prius Electronic Power Assist Steering Controller
11. Toyota Prius Electronic Power Assist Steering Relay
12. Chevy Volt DC-DC Converter
13. Chevy Volt Onboard Charger