openinverter forum

Hi,

This is my very first post on this forum, although I've been reading from the shadows for a while now. Thanks for having me.
Consider me a complete beginner.

Context
I bought a fully assembled ZombieVerter VCU (shipped with v1.01.A, now upgraded to 1.11.A).
I'm doing the most simple bench test with a GS450h transmission and inverter (from the same car).

I wired up the following

- transmission-inverter resolvers
- vcu-inverter serial
- inverter HSDN to shifter park signal (not shielded for now)
- shifter forward/reverse signal to vcu
- shifter +12
- vcu Start/T15 to switches
- vcu Throttle 1/+5/Ground
- vcu +12/Ground
- inverter +12/Ground (without relay, I manually connect the ground after VCU has started)

- I use a 30V10A high quality power supply for the "high voltage", connected straight to the inverter's internal bus
- I use a 12V4A power supply (from some computer display originally) for the low voltage

- I used 2 Ethernet CAT6 cables for resolvers and 1 for serial comm
- I used 0.3mm² automotive cable and slightly thicker (was lying around, not sure the specs) for the low voltage power lines
- I used 5mm² automotive cable for the "high voltage"

Both power supplies will cut off if asked more amps than they can give, therefore I have decided not to use current limiting devices nor fuses for now.

What works
- With everything turned off but connected, I do test 60Ohms between each 4 pairs of serial comms
- The inverter whines and shows as InvStat On, unless in park (HSDN doing it's job)
- The din_forward and din_reverse always work
- INVudc shows 30V, which is what the power supply is setup for

What's fishy
- dir sometimes works, sometimes stays as Neutral.
- uaux drops to 11.8, hopefully that's still enough
- status stays at UdcBelowUdcSw, but I think that's normal if I don't use the precharge

What doesn't work
The throttle pedal. I don't have an actual throttle pedal yet, so at first I used a 3-wire 50kOhm potentiometer, in potmode SingleChannel.
I carefully tested it separately to find the correct pins, and confirm that if given 5V, it would give between 0 and 5V. Once connected to the VCU, the pot value stays between 0 and 1, sometimes 1 and 2.
Therefore, even setting potmin to 0 and potmax to 2-3, potnom always stays at 0%.

Thinking my potentiometer somehow died between the tests and now, I removed it and borrowed a Curtis PB-6 that my brother had lying around. I had to add a resistor to turn it into a "3-wire potentiometer". I once again tested it separately, and it worked. Connected it to the VCU, and same story. That's when I decided to measure the voltage given to the potentiometer.
And it's nowhere near 5V. It's between 0 and 1mV. So noise basically.

In conclusion
What's happening here ? I'm not getting 5V to my potentiometer, so it cannot give back any value.
I'm pretty sure I got it wired up correctly from the first try, so it would be unlikely that I broke the 5V supply, although if that's the case, I assume responsibility.

Please help if you can. Thanks in advance.
Tim

The THROTTLE1/2 inputs effectivly have 2Kohms to ground, so even with a good 5V supply the 50K pot will have most of is adjustment close to one end. Looking at the spec of the Curtis pot it is 5K which is still a little high but should work. The two Bosch pedals I have are less than 2K. Not sure what resistor you were using from the 5V but is looks like a very low value ( 1ohm ?), this will not act as a divider so THROTTLE1 would be at 5V,.

Assuming that the board is running and there is 5V at the PSU, then check at pin 9 of the 56 pin connector and also that you have connected to the correct pin.

royhen99 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 8:33 pm The THROTTLE1/2 inputs effectivly have 2Kohms to ground, so even with a good 5V supply the 50K pot will have most of is adjustment close to one end. Looking at the spec of the Curtis pot it is 5K which is still a little high but should work. The two Bosch pedals I have are less than 2K. Not sure what resistor you were using from the 5V but is looks like a very low value ( 1ohm ?), this will not act as a divider so THROTTLE1 would be at 5V,.

Assuming that the board is running and there is 5V at the PSU, then check at pin 9 of the 56 pin connector and also that you have connected to the correct pin.

Hey, Thank you so much for your answer !

Indeed, it was only an 80Ohm resistor that I had on hand. When testing separately from the VCU, it made for a correct voltage divider, so I went with it.
But as you said, with such a small resistor, I should have 5V at Throttle 1 (pin 47), therefore 100% throttle, but it's 0V, because the +5v Throttle (pin 48) is at 0V.

- What are you referring to when you say "there is 5V at the PSU" ? you mean at pin 48 ? Putting the multimeter between pins 48 and 45 shows 0V when everything is on.
- Pin 9 is Analog 1 in. What should I be testing there ?
- I triple checked that I'm on the correct pins (45 GND, 47 THROTTLE 1, 48 +5v).

Thanks a lot for your help

I am referring to the pin number on the circuit board. What I was suggesting is that you check that there is 5V being generated on the board and that is is getting to the pin on the connector ( the one soldered to the board).

royhen99 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:45 pm I am referring to the pin number on the circuit board. What I was suggesting is that you check that there is 5V being generated on the board and that is is getting to the pin on the connector ( the one soldered to the board).

Hey,

I took the 56 pin connector out, only plugged 12V and ground, and measured voltage at the 5V. And indeed 5V there was. Nice, I didn't break it !
Plug the 56 pin back in, measure the voltage, 0V...

So I unpinned everything, and pinned back one at a time to see which pin makes it stop working... And to my surprise, I plugged everything back in, and it still works.

It's always sad when one fixes an error without knowing what went wrong, because then one can't learn from his mistakes... Nevertheless, this issue is resolved.

I'm now faced with a different issue, but I will look around the forum, and if I can't fix it, I'll make a new post about it later.

Thanks again for your help !
Tim