openinverter forum

Posted: **Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:37 pm**

two bit coin to the first person to tell me what hood these nostrils came from

Posted: **Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:38 pm**

Terrific job. But has it moved? An inch maybe?

Great present. Here's what I got 2 years back

Posted: **Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:45 pm**

johu wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:38 pm Terrific job. But has it moved? An inch maybe?

Great present. Here's what I got 2 years back

thanks, coming from YOU that is huge, and what a wonderful gift you got, super!

so the plan is to remake the DC-DC HV cable that runs to the BMW Safety Box in the air conditioned house and wait till the temps drop below 40°your degrees and then get back out there, and see if we can pull her out of the garage under her own power and drive her back in point A to point B straight line baby, cause last night it was still 35°C at 10:00 PM outside

only reason I am fusing both sides the negative as well as the positive leads is to use them fuse blocks as junction blocks so I can send the thinner wire through the existing holes in the BMW Safety Box (this is a bit more cleaner and improved design than my prior one where I drilled small holes in that flimsy S-box lid and went in from the sides)

Posted: **Mon Jul 24, 2023 8:39 am**

Gregski wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2023 1:43 pm but I don't know what any of that 12K, 18K, or 24K British Thermal Units even means, nor do I want to learn how to speak British

Don't worry most brits don't like BTU! for quick refrence 24,000 BTU = 7kW = almost 10 hp.

P.S. A BTU is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. so probably makes more sense to your average American

Posted: **Mon Jul 24, 2023 2:47 pm**

just a high tech truck with a low tech hood (bonnet) brace

all wired up except for the Chevy Volt onboard charger, I just didn't have the [ahem] energy to deal with it this month, so we will run on whatever charge the battery pack has in her (per SimpBMS "Lite" 347 volts = 50%)

the inner fenders still need to be installed, we left them off just in case we need access to what ever signals it needs accessing during the test drive type of thing

not sure why that dual fuse block insists on flipping over like that, it was fine and right side up on the work bench !

Posted: **Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:05 pm**

Gregski wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:37 pm two bit coin to the first person to tell me what hood these nostrils came from

Pontiac GTZero

Posted: **Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:07 pm**

muehlpower wrote: ↑Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:05 pm Pontiac GTZero

Posted: **Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:14 pm**

That's what you claim in your text, in fact it's Pontiac GTO 1968-1970

Posted: **Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:15 pm**

muehlpower wrote: ↑Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:14 pm That's what you claim in your text, in fact it's Pontiac GTO 1968-1970

I thought no one reads that stuff !!! lol

Posted: **Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:16 am**

First "drive" under it's own power !

Posted: **Tue Jul 25, 2023 11:15 am**

Gregski wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:16 amFirst "drive" under it's own power !

What's the big deal? Can't have squeezed that 60 seconds in a day or two sooner to make your anniversary worth remembering?

...

Congrats. I see moving, I see stopping. In 2 directions none-the-less. This completes the criteria for "driving under it's own power before the end of July." Now, some people may see that 20 feet travel and say "It's a long way from being competitive", and to those and to you I announce that I conceed that I have lost our race of thee who makes the first running and driving car. Perhaps the most important victory your truck will ever see. Winning awards without even leaving the property. Cherish it always. I'll make you a trophy out of my failures, if I can find a way to condense them small enough.

Posted: **Tue Jul 25, 2023 11:33 am**

MattsAwesomeStuff wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2023 11:15 am What's the big deal? Can't have squeezed that 60 seconds in a day or two sooner to make your anniversary worth remembering?

...

Congrats. I see moving, I see stopping. In 2 directions none-the-less. This completes the criteria for "driving under it's own power before the end of July." Now, some people may see that 20 feet travel and say "It's a long way from being competitive", and to those and to you I announce that I conceed that I have lost our race of thee who makes the first running and driving car. Perhaps the most important victory your truck will ever see. Winning awards without even leaving the property. Cherish it always. I'll make you a trophy out of my failures, if I can find a way to condense them small enough.

[um] USA, USA, USA !!! jk

meanwhile, later that day...

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 5:27 am**

happy to report that with the help of our honorary forum member Patrick I automated Damien's BMW Safety Box code so that the VCU pre charges the Inverter and if the bus voltage reading is above 300 volts closes both the (negative and positive contactors) this eliminates the need for a laptop directly connected via the USB umbilical to the VCU

I also got tired of test driving with the radiator cap laying atop the regular car battery so I shoved it into the radiator where it actually belongs

I am still in the delirious phase, so sharing some more silly test drive videos, we are getting more brave and had her over 5,000 RPM, here I am with a buddy who is holding a laptop just so we can watch the digital gauges that I modified and apparently done did it wrong, I will explain in a follow up post

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 5:35 am**

this is what the default digital gauges look like and what mine read, I suspect Amps are not working because I am not using the ISA shunt but the OEM one in the BMW Safety Box, so I will be looking at that code next, as it will obviously fix the Kws as well

also since I did not lock the input shaft, and set MG1 torque to 0, MG1 is not spinning the rear wheels, that's why I just crossed out it's RPM and Temp gauges

and this is how I dumbed them down, and what Josh in the passenger seat was trying to show us on the laptop

it's supposed to work on an Android tablet sorta like this:

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 7:44 am**

Great to see the hard good enough work paying off

I like that little screen you put in the dash showing the camera view of the front tire.

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 8:06 am**

Congrats on getting your truck driving! This is one of my favourite build threads on OpenInverter, full of technical detail but also very entertaining.

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 8:40 am**

Well done getting it going.
Really great progress and very neat under the bonnet.

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 8:52 am**

Gregski wrote: ↑Wed Jul 19, 2023 7:22 am man this hydraulic crimper off of AMAZON sucks, it leaves these sharp edges that I have to spend more time filing off than crimping, do you guys and gals have a good one you can recommend please

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great now I find this video

The dies that come with those cheap crimpers are really badly made. In my case the 35mm crimps were so big the cable fell out after crimping so I had to file out the 25mm dies to the right size. In your case either the dies are too small or the crimps are too big for the cable.

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 1:47 pm**

johu wrote: ↑Wed Jul 26, 2023 7:44 am Great to see the hard good enough work paying off
I like that little screen you put in the dash showing the camera view of the front tire.

Nothing get's by you eh? Yeah you know I was staring at that Phantom GoPro screen the entire time I was driving like a little kid learning how to ride a bike and starring at the spinning front bicycle tire, despite being told a thousand times not to. Thank goodness new neighborhoods in this area have underground power lines and phone lines and no telephone poles sticking out of the ground, if you know what I mean.

actual pic of my video gear

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 1:50 pm**

JamesA wrote: ↑Wed Jul 26, 2023 8:06 am Congrats on getting your truck driving! This is one of my favourite build threads on OpenInverter, full of technical detail but also very entertaining.

thank you so much for saying that, I know I post a ton on here in this thread, and often times there are zero replies, and I am left thinking, is anyone looking at this? I know the views go up but sometimes I think Johu is just boosting my ego with fake stats, lol

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 1:54 pm**

Alibro wrote: ↑Wed Jul 26, 2023 8:52 am The dies that come with those cheap crimpers are really badly made. In my case the 35mm crimps were so big the cable fell out after crimping so I had to file out the 25mm dies to the right size. In your case either the dies are too small or the crimps are too big for the cable.

from the State side reviews I have seen and now I can confirm myself, our problems stem from the fact that our lug sizes fall in between those die sizes, and I have tried a number of tricks, first crimp down with a too big of a die and it gives you a GORGEOUS crimp, that is loose as a Goose, and you can just pull the wire right out and even press it gently right back in, Zero Fun in terms of building HV cables, then I go back and replace the dies with a set that is just a bit undersized and crimp it down, now I have a nice and snug fit, but it looks like a Razor Back and I have to bust out with the files

every day I tell myself buy a quality crimper don't be a cheap skate, and every day I tell myself well how many more crimps you gonna make, this is definitely your last one, and then I make two dozen more over the next two weeks

EV Builder Problems !!!

Posted: **Wed Jul 26, 2023 2:36 pm**

Gregski wrote: ↑Wed Jul 26, 2023 1:54 pm from the State side reviews I have seen and now I can confirm myself, our problems stem from the fact that our lug sizes fall in between those die sizes, and I have tried a number of tricks, first crimp down with a too big of a die and it gives you a GORGEOUS crimp, that is loose as a Goose, and you can just pull the wire right out and even press it gently right back in, Zero Fun in terms of building HV cables, then I go back and replace the dies with a set that is just a bit undersized and crimp it down, now I have a nice and snug fit, but it looks like a Razor Back and I have to bust out with the files

every day I tell myself buy a quality crimper don't be a cheap skate, and every day I tell myself well how many more crimps you gonna make, this is definitely your last one, and then I make two dozen more over the next two weeks

EV Builder Problems !!!

Even with metric cable and crimp lugs the dies are so badly made they don't fit half the time and we have the same issues as you.
File a smaller one out a bit and give it a try, once crimped put the end of the lug in the vice and see if you can pull it out.
If not your good.

Posted: **Thu Jul 27, 2023 2:50 am**

and now a Top Tip from a semi amateur EV Converter: Here's what you do the next time you try to put your newly converted EV into reverse and it won't go, before dropping the transmission and rebuilding it from scratch:

Step 1. clear the lump in your throat

Step 2. check them wheels for one of these things...

Posted: **Thu Jul 27, 2023 2:55 am**

parked her outside today... cause you know, I can, lol

Posted: **Thu Jul 27, 2023 5:03 am**

I saw in one of your photos of the bmw Contactor box that there is a isolation (current) shunt that you are connected to. Wonder how hard it would be to get it telling you nice amp stories...... I have an e tron one sitting here about to get the @gregski CAN hook up. I hope to get some data out of it, throw it into the forum and 2 minutes later have some magic code made up by a higher being (or 3)

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