Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

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

Post by Kevin Sharpe »

Cookie6000 wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2020 1:08 pm I need to double check again at the VCU board instead of at the HVJB but pretty sure I was taking measurements on the + side of the contactors. WIll be going at it again tomorrow to check the functions on the board.
Hard to imagine this is not wired correctly given you drove the car but this is how I think this should be wired;

(1) positive ("main") contactor

"+ side" to the switched 12V supply

"- side" to the VCU driver pin OP2

(2) pre charge contactor

"+ side" to the switched 12V supply

"- side" to the VCU driver pin OP1

(3) negative contactor

"+ side" to the switched 12V supply

"- side" to ground
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

Thanks Kevin

Yes, all connected up as you put it there, with the exception of the negative contactor. the - side is sharing the OP1 VCU driver pin. I'll review and run a few more tests hopefully today and see if we can get back up and running.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Kevin Sharpe »

Cookie6000 wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:26 am the exception of the negative contactor. the - side is sharing the OP1 VCU driver pin.
Ok, I think thats the problem... when precharge has finished you're turning off the negative contactor and cutting power to the inverter... at least that's how I would expect the software is intended to work***;

(1) turn key to 'ignition', turn on the negative contactor

(2) turn key to 'start', turn on the precharge contactor

(3) measure bus voltage, turn on positive contactor

(4) turn off precharge contactor (both positive and negative contactors stay on)

(5) drive car

(6) turn key to 'off', turn off positive and negative contactors


*** I've not looked at the software recently and it's possible that the precharge contactor/resistor is intended to be on all the time but I'm pretty sure Damien likes having the negative contactor controlled by the key switch directly :?
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Kevin Sharpe »

I've had a quick look at the V1.5 software on Damien's github and believe the precharge contactor will stay on when the positive contactor is on so my comments regarding the VCU implementation are incorrect.

I still believe the negative contactor should use the switched 12V not the OP1 VCU driver.
Kevin Sharpe wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:41 am
Cookie6000 wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:26 am the exception of the negative contactor. the - side is sharing the OP1 VCU driver pin.
Ok, I think thats the problem... when precharge has finished you're turning off the negative contactor and cutting power to the inverter... at least that's how I would expect the software is intended to work***;

(1) turn key to 'ignition', turn on the negative contactor

(2) turn key to 'start', turn on the precharge contactor

(3) measure bus voltage, turn on positive contactor

(4) turn off precharge contactor (both positive and negative contactors stay on)

(5) drive car

(6) turn key to 'off', turn off positive and negative contactors


*** I've not looked at the software recently and it's possible that the precharge contactor/resistor is intended to be on all the time but I'm pretty sure Damien likes having the negative contactor controlled by the key switch directly :?
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

Kevin Sharpe wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 12:35 pm I've had a quick look at the V1.5 software on Damien's github and believe the precharge contactor will stay on when the positive contactor is on so my comments regarding the VCU implementation are incorrect.

I still believe the negative contactor should use the switched 12V not the OP1 VCU driver.
Yep, that's the way it works but you are correct in saying I should still have the Neg switched by the ignition. I made that change yesterday but still no luck. Will be working on the car this afternoon so, will run a load of tests on the VCU. I still wonder about OP1 not driver not switching the precharge off after main is triggered by OP2. I may tackle that code change after I get things running correctly.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Kevin Sharpe »

Cookie6000 wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 7:04 am Will be working on the car this afternoon so, will run a load of tests on the VCU.
It would be interesting to see what the inverter thinks the bus voltage is... maybe your drive has lowered the voltage below the precharge threshold :?
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Jack Bauer »

Out of curiosity has anyone produced a wiring diagram and uploaded it to the wiki? Might be a good place to start. Seems I didn't give some people enough homework.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

It's done sir! I swear.... it looks crap and wanted to draw it up again.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by zippy500 »

have you got your leaf board working again ?
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

zippy500 wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:42 pm have you got your leaf board working again ?
Not yet. Spent the last two long days wiring bms... unsure if it is still alive now however :? Pack Sniffer spitting out spurious results... facepalm emoji
I'll try again tomorrow on the VCU. Wiring is correct and was proven before on mine and James' FigLeaf setup.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

Issue resolved.
OP1 and OP2 shared a plug on the existing audi loom used for the old airflow meter - 3 wires, one to gnd and two to the old ECU. the wire being used for OP2 just expired. That's all I can say. No fuse in line, nothing. All that was being read was 0.5v. Ill dig deeper later. For now, I switched to another spare (idle speed valve) ECU destined plug for OP2 and now all is well. It's all good with the VCU. Stand down.
Audi nil - Leaf VCU 1 :)
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Kevin Sharpe »

Cookie6000 wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:14 pm Issue resolved.
That's good news :)

Going forward we need to think about contactor control during charging when we don't want the key on :geek:
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Jack Bauer »

Contactor control for both drive and charging is intrinsic in all the vcus both hardware and software.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Kevin Sharpe »

Jack Bauer wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:07 pm Contactor control for both drive and charging is intrinsic in all the vcus both hardware and software.
Great! So all we need now is the documentation ;)
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by konstantin8818 »

I tried to power up Leaf VCU v2 board and didn't succeed. As I've seen on photos here, there is a shottky diode on the power supply lane, with grey line facing other way.
Is it placed correctly on my board?
111.jpg
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Kevin Sharpe »

konstantin8818 wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 7:57 pm As I've seen on photos here, there is a shottky diode on the power supply lane, with grey line facing other way.
Is it placed correctly on my board?
Note that both D1 and D2 in this photo have the grey line positioned away from the '+' symbol on the PCB. I've no idea if this is correct but they are consistent :?
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by konstantin8818 »

Grey line represents "-" so according to silkscreen everything is correct, but here is early pcb design that was working correctly, according to Damien:
IMG_20190813_153216_030.jpg
I believe same mistake is on this diodes as well:
20200820_234518.jpg
Scheme differ from silkscreen:
Снимок экрана (323).png
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by kiwifiat »

konstantin8818 wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:05 pm Grey line represents "-" so according to silkscreen everything is correct, but here is early pcb design that was working correctly, according to Damien:
IMG_20190813_153216_030.jpg

I believe same mistake is on this diodes as well:

20200820_234518.jpg

Scheme differ from silkscreen:
Снимок экрана (323).png
Both diodes D1 and D2 are back to front on your board. Take a look at the schematic to confirm.
Leaf_VCU_PS.PNG
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

For reference, here they are on my board. Looks like they are reversed on your board. All working up to two days ago. More to follow on that :roll:
20200821_124845.jpg
20200821_125118.jpg
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by konstantin8818 »

Flipped all diodes on the board. Now Led2 glows, but Led1 is not. WiFi also powered up.
Shuld led1 glow if board is not flashed?
20200821_224224.jpg
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Berdi »

konstantin8818 wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:17 pm Flipped all diodes on the board. Now Led2 glows, but Led1 is not. WiFi also powered up.
Shuld led1 glow if board is not flashed?
20200821_224224.jpg
Konstantin - very good job !!! I'm sure of you !!!) :) :)
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

konstantin8818 wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:17 pm Flipped all diodes on the board. Now Led2 glows, but Led1 is not. WiFi also powered up.
Shuld led1 glow if board is not flashed?
20200821_224224.jpg
Led 1 sould flash once the v1.5 firmware is flashed onto the board. Led 2 stays on.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

Following on from resolving the issue with the VCU over a week ago. I had the system running perfect. I am stuck now however in a new problem that needs your help.

The wiring in the footwell needed tidying up and into a proper connection block in case I needed to remove the VCU again with little hassle. I swapped the OP1 and OP2 for slightly larger wires in the Audi loom to take the load. Once I had completed this task, I then spent the next 2-3 days quite literally banging my head against a wall. It is just like the sequence of Negative - Precharge - Main contactors, one after the other, has just gone. No amount of reviewing the code (which I did not change after the last success btw) or continuity testing on the loom and wires could resolve the problem. Here is the schematic as it is wired up and that has worked since the bench test.
VCU Schematic v1.3.jpg
Here is a video which outlines some of the scenarios as it is a bit clearer then me typing everything out. Excuse me if some of me detail or lack of it on the measuring the test scenarios. Feel like I am stumbling in the dark at this stage...
When IGN is switched with NO HV connected, Neg and Pre Charge close... That is fine.
When IGN is switched with HV connected, Negative closes. Pre charge does a brief close. Main clicks and switched 12v voltage reads -1.04v.



Is it a 100ohm precharge resistor issue? I tried a second one I have and I still get the same results. Contactors? VCU component damaged during the messing back and forth?

Some photos of my layout and the VCU which I have moved to the engine bay to remove any other variables that might cause issues as well as the code. HV Preset is set to 190v for these tests.
20200821_123505.jpg
20200821_123454.jpg
20200821_123427.jpg

Code: Select all

  inv_volts_local = (inverter_status.voltage / INVERTER_BITS_PER_VOLT);


  if (T15Status && !Pch_Flag)  //if terminal 15 is on and precharge not enabled
  {
    digitalWrite(OUT3, HIGH);  //inverter power on
    if (inv_volts_local <190)
    {
      digitalWrite(OUT1, HIGH);  //precharge on
      Pch_Flag = true;
    }
  }
  if (T15Status && !HV_Flag && Pch_Flag)  //using inverter measured hv for initial tests. Will use ISA derived voltage in final version.
  {
    if (inv_volts_local>190)
    {
      digitalWrite(OUT2, HIGH);  //main contactor on
      HV_Flag = true; //hv on flag
    }
  }
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Kevin Sharpe »

Cookie6000 wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:58 am Contactors?
It's not unusual for failed contactors to 'click' but have contacts that are burnt out or welded closed. Have you checked the contactors measure ~0 ohms when they are energised and ∞ when de-energised?

What relay are you using for precharge? Are the contacts DC rated? Has it welded closed?

The 190V threshold you are using is very low because you are switching ~200V with the main contactor while still charging the inverter capacitors. On last weekends course Damien suggested that you should wait for a ~20V difference during precharge.
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Re: Leaf Gen 1 Inverter Board

Post by Cookie6000 »

Kevin Sharpe wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:05 pm
Cookie6000 wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:58 am Contactors?
Have you checked the contactors measure ~0 ohms when they are energised and ∞ when de-energised?
Just checked all three. Neg and precharge energised sit at 0 ohms. Positive... 1.5 ohms :? Not energised, Postive also exhibits variable value changes. Smoking gun?
Kevin Sharpe wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:05 pm
Cookie6000 wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:58 am
What relay are you using for precharge? Are the contacts DC rated? Has it welded closed?
Using the Leaf Panasonic AEV6501c precharge relay from the 24kw pack. I remember it being given the thumbs up in the Hardware section here and the one I have is rated 400v DC 20A,
20200525_221755.jpg
Kevin Sharpe wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:05 pm
Cookie6000 wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:58 am
The 190V threshold you are using is very low because you are switching ~200V with the main contactor while still charging the inverter capacitors. On last weekends course Damien suggested that you should wait for a ~20V difference during precharge.
AH, good to know. I had it up at 300V for a while when trying to test. I'll change it back when I get the suspect contactor swapped.

Thanks for the invaluable input here Kevin. Much appreciated.
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