Thursday, March 19, 2009

Control Box Pt. 2

A friend from work is going to help me wire the components, but he was busy this past weekend. Probably for the best though, as I was able to prep the base for permanent attachment into the car. Where we left off last week...


Happy with the location, I drilled mounting holes through my aluminum motor mount and the front of the control (box?) base. After adding a couple 5/16" bolts...


It actually held very nicely. The base only mounted at the front but it was resting at several locations on the car's frame. I was able to jiggle the back end of the base a little more than I was comfortable with. With smooth streets it wouldn't have been a problem, but I didn't want my control components to be shaking with every small bump in the road.

I looked into all sorts of ways to fix the back end, but what seemed to work best was just sliding rubber strips between the base and the car's frame.


The rubber strips act as great shock absorbers, but they may not last long term. I'll have to see how they hold up with a few miles of driving. I'll play around with other ways to restrain the rear of the plate later.

I found some extra metal sheeting in my storage room that I could use to cover the holes of the base.


Then I stripped off all the electrical components...


And began drilling the component mounting holes through my new metal sheeting...


Next up was a couple coats of shiny black paint...


Looks great!


Haven't yet, but I think I'll use JB weld along the edges to bond the two metal plates. For now the component bolts hold them together very well.

2 comments:

John said...

How do I do an electric vehicle conversion without using the transmission?
Salt Lake City electrician(s)

Clint said...

Conversion without a transmission simplifies some things but complicates others.

What to watch out for...
Without a transmission, you'll have to use a larger motor (heavier/more expensive) to handle a wide range of speeds. Electric motors have great torque at low RPMs, but they are most efficient at high RPMs. Next, you'll have to make sure your electric motor is reversible - not all of them are. Instead of a coupler to match the motor and transmission shaft, you'll have to couple to the drive shaft. I've seen "Warp 11" motors with shafts meant for coupling direct drive. It's more common to use AC motors in direct drive, but they are also much more expensive.

On the plus side you remove the inefficiencies of the transmission, the weight of the transmission, and have one less thing to go wrong on the car! Check out www.diyelectriccar.com/forums for more help!