Plum the ProCart

[peterthethinker]

Well yesterday I got the Green light to do the ultimate Senor Project

A Hybrid GolfCart

Right after I got the OK I converted the Prime mover I was gonna use to Propane .
A ) Easy to use and keep clean and its Very Common in fork trucks .
B ) Good for the environment .

[ Play Quicktime file ] PropaneSMALL.mp4 [ 10.02 MiB | Viewed 731 times ]

[peterthethinker]

Today I did a few more steps to the GenSet..

[peterthethinker]

OK DAY 3 I did a few changes and upgrades to it and did a 1st light !

[ Play Quicktime file ] 3-32-12,part1SMALL.mp4 [ 5.23 MiB | Viewed 721 times ]

Not to shabby for a days work .

[ Play Quicktime file ] 3-32-12,part2SMALL.mp4 [ 7.73 MiB | Viewed 721 times ]

[peterthethinker]

New Alternator and its now mounted to the engine .


From a 1978 Ford LTD .... 100 amp

[peterthethinker]

OK I added a Under body mount ... Now I can sink the GenSet lower In the rear ...





I ordered a new Magneto .


NOTE .. You leave it floating to run and pull to ground to stop .

it got toasted cause I thought you pulled High to enable and then float to stop .

OPPS!

in the next week I need to arrange a sequncer to controll the Gen Set Logic .


My Plan is that If the genny is pulled high it will do its song and dance to start and Run

then Send a RUN line High to trigger other events .

then for shutdown you just float or Pull Low .

Peter

[peterthethinker]

OK today I did a small thing for the project,,
I re-rigged the amp out of a old flat screen TV to drive some speakers .. now I can add a dedicated sound system in it .

Sounds good too!!.

12V Draws Avg of 200mA

Some bad news for the cars system ... I am gonna have to Neg GND the Drive system as the alt is tied to chassie GND.

Its OK as its just 36V

but for real EVs you NEVER GND the pack anywhere.. Ever !.

I need to develop the 12V sub system..


12V lights ect .

Peter

[peterthethinker]

OK its running
on the 11th I had My Proff ride it then the Dept Head then He Drove it to the Dean's office and the Dean rode it .. This makes me very Happy

While My Proff was Driving we saw Officer Stigler whom was rather excited about it ..

[ Play Quicktime file ] 4-11-12SMALL.mp4 [ 10.71 MiB | Viewed 658 times ]

On the 12th I got the old lady to run !







I
Here is how I got the ALT to excite !!

OFF the same 12V bus that feeds the starter I ran a wire From it to the input of a relay .. then that relay goes to the input of the Rotor on the ALT
this rotor then ties to GND .
If I need it I can also run the ALT blower fan on it too so that its on when the ALT is on .

This relay is triggerd by the ALT in the engine .... its a 2A rated one for charging the starter batt. but as there is NO starter bat It is just used as a trigger..I made a guess and reckond that at low RPMs the internal ALT wont put out enough V to Trigger the relay .. and I was right !!

under 600-800 RPM the voltage is too low to sustain the pull in needed to key on the relay .. One glitch I saw was this smaller ALT used a single diode to produce DC ( very crude ) so one issue was contact buzzing at the rate of the RPMs of the motor .. NOT good .. so I grabed a cap and just shoved it across the relay coil to smooth the DC ..... BINGO! it works .. and well!!


I may use a Op-AMP and a MOSFET to triggger it some time later to a PWM RPM sensor .. but for now its rock solid .. Yet Crude ..

[ Play Quicktime file ] 4-12-12-V2SMALL.mp4 [ 10.31 MiB | Viewed 658 times ]

[peterthethinker]

Then on the 13th I added a hard top for rain and comfort .





I had just enough angle Iron to make the roof by 4 inches !!!!!!!!!!!!!!



later that day the Muffler came loose and lost a nut .. ( I now remember not doing any thing more then hand tight on it a few days Before )
Its OK as on Monday I am off to the auto shop to get a Geo metro Muffler and make the panther Purr!

[peterthethinker]

OK I did a few road tests ... with a full bat and NO propane I got 12 Miles per charge . On only 52 AH of batt at 36V (1872 kWH)..

This means I use 156 watts hours per mile . ( 1872 kWH / 12 miles ) OR 4.3 AH per mile @ 36

Now for the Genny . Its rated at 100 amps . I have never see this drawn with guages .
I see 30 amps charge rate as normal at 36 V ( 1080 watts ) . 1080 WH of power available ,

Here it is !!

Discharge is at 156 WH ..
SO its at 15 MPH ..
so 60 Min / 15 =4
so 4 * 156 Wh per mile .. 624 Watts to run . ( about a HP ) ( this seams right to me )


624W to run ..
and we can charge at up to 1080 Watts
1:1.73 discharge to charge ratio
.57 Load factor ......

It can charge faster then the ( AVERAGE ) running power .


I can Prove this as I can run the cart on Just LPG power direct with no loss in use.


Thus Provided I have Propane ...
this cart has NO range issues per charge ...

[peterthethinker]

OK I handed in my paper last week.

Plum the cart will be active again in the fall..

Peter