Judebert.com (Entries tagged as charging)

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: RubeRally

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:02:00 -0400

People just love Silent E

Thanks to my good friend Clark, today I attended the RubeLab RubeRally alternative fuel vehicle rally. Rather like a scavenger hunt, really. Silent E took second place! Well, the first place car ran on CNG -- a fossil fuel -- so I contend it should've been disqualified, but hey...

I also pushed my car beyond its limits, saw some other neat vehicles, and enjoyed hanging out with my brother. Read on for details and more pictures.

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Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Crashing the Party

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:35:37 -0500

On Tuesday, Greg Frenette, manager of Ford's Global Electrified Fleets, came to UCF with a prototype Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid Electic Vehicle (PHEV) to show off their new solar EV charging station. I had received an invitation via Facebook, and I planned to show up early and charge my home-built EV in the new spaces. I figured I'd be available if there was a problem, and Silent E would likely get a picture with Ford's prototype. I had even washed and waxed her for the event.

Unfortunately, one of my children got sick, and I had to take her to the doctor. I didn't have time to attend the photo-op, but I did go to the lecture.

And thus began the adventure.

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Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Stink

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:35:00 -0500

A combination of cold, work, and family events has prevented me from working on my car lately. After Kayla dinged my nice paint job with the door of our other car, I cleaned out my side of the garage and moved Silent E where she'd be safe.

After a quick 1.5A refresh charge, I figured I'd take another shot at rescuing my two leftover batteries. They'd gone bad when I had my motor disaster, as you recall. Sometimes, if you use high voltage and low current, you can get the battery back.

The first battery seemed to work overnight! It was at 13 volts the next morning. I may be able to up my range a little, or replace that one battery that's driving me nuts! I plugged the second battery in and left it overnight.

The next morning I kept waking up, wondering what the horrible smell was. I thought a cat had been incontinent right in the room. It was terrible. Eri woke up once, too; she asked if I had been farting. When she mentioned it smelled like rotten eggs, a light went off: sulfur!

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Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: I'm Not the Only One

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:05:21 -0400

I'm driving a friend's gasser right now, because I'm preparing Silent E for painting and windshield replacement. So the electric vehicle charging space at work has been going unused.

Until yesterday! I came out of work to find a plug-in Prius in my spot!

I didn't get to meet the driver, but the stickers indicate it's one of Sarasota county's plug-in Prius hybrids. I wish my cellphone camera was better, so it could capture all the awesome!

Hybrids at UCF

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:49:09 -0400

I recently took Monday off and attended the UCF - Progress Energy Senior Design Symposium in Renewable & Sustainable Energy. Don Harper generously arranged charging for my EV behind one of the UCF engineering buildings.

The seniors presented finished projects in a variety of alternative energy fields. They featured real-life building improvements, biodiesel extraction and automation, wind turbine control and design, ocean wave energy, mass transit monitoring, and even a electric generating bicycle and a solar cooker.

I enjoyed talking with all the teams. They were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I was especially impressed by the wireless auto-dimming LED light bulb, the DynaLight (I want to re-illuminate my entire house with them!). But of course my favorites were the two hybrid golf cart teams.

One team made a series hybrid golf cart, while the other made a parallel hybrid. In a series hybrid, the gas engine only generates electricity and the electric motor only pushes the wheels. They Chevy Volt will be a series hybrid. In a parallel hybrid, both the gas engine and the electric motor push the wheels. The Toyota Prius is a parallel hybrid.

Both projects were rudimentary, and neither were applicable to a production automobile. But it was interesting to see how each team had solved the control problem.

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Disappointed in Downtown Oviedo

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:22:45 -0400

Since Eri took Melissa to Disney for her birthday, I needed to pick up the kids from school. And today was a busy day, too: Tatiana had forgotten her homework, so I needed to pick up Kayla, drop off Tatiana's homework, pick up Tatiana less than an hour later, drive Tatiana to her pottery class an hour after that, and pick Tatiana up again an hour after that.

Estimating 15 minutes from all these locations in downtown Oviedo to my house, that left only 30 minutes of charging for each 6-mile round trip. I can't put 2kWh in those batteries in only 30 minutes! I needed a new plan.

The plan was to drop off Tatiana's homework and hang around the school if they let me charge. Get some new books at the library, and see if they'd let me charge. Drop Tatiana off at pottery, eat at a restaurant that would let me charge, pick Tatiana up, and go home.

Things didn't work out that way, though.

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Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: The Mad Unplugger

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:55:43 -0400

Since my garage door broke several weeks ago, I've been parking the Silent E outside. Eri has been concerned that someone will steal my extension cord, since it's a really nice version I paid some extra money for.

But we live in a nice neighborhood, so we haven't had any problems with that. Instead, somebody's been unplugging my car.

It's happened 3 times now. I've detected each occurrence with plenty of time to correct the problem, but it's still a little disturbing. The big question is, "Why?" Does someone just hate EVs? Is someone jealous? Is my charger or fan making a noise that's driving someone crazy?

Or is a squirrel trying to climb the wire and pulling it free?

If I had enough money, I'd set up a little camera to watch the car. The cheap, low-tech solution is to just tie a knot in the cord; at least that'll deter anyone who isn't actually upset.

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Pizza with a Plug

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:52:24 -0500

My daughter is home sick, so today I used my lunch "hour" to eat with her. I stopped at the Red Brick Pizza on my way home to get something that we'd both enjoy.

Naturally, I asked the guy if I could plug in. He didn't even flinch, just asked, "Just a regular outlet?"

The outlet was behind the shop, in the grass, and a UPS truck was already using the ramp. I had to drive on the concrete pad that holds the air conditioning condensers. That was actually kind of fun, but next time I'll go around the other way; more grass, less close quarters.

They even offered to bring the pizza out back next time! (The only reason they didn't do it this time was because I was already gone when they stepped out to ask me.)

Definitely a cool stop. Great food and friendly people.

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Cavities and Charging

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:27:00 -0500

Today Kayla went to the dentist to get her first cavity filled. Last time I was there, I took Tatiana and Melissa in the (gas) minivan. I asked the doctor if it was okay to charge up outside his office, and he was delighted to acquiesce.

So today, we took two cars. Eri was driving the minivan, and I took Kayla in Silent E. I plugged in right next to the air conditioning condenser. The plan was to charge up while the cavity was filled, then split up: Eri would take Kayla home, and I could go straight to work.

Everything went off without a hitch. I had plenty of energy, so I could even drive a little faster than usual.

Thanks, Dr. King!

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: New Charging Space

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:33:25 -0400

Yesterday I taught this year's first Math Super Stars class at my daughter's elementary school. The principal agreed to allow me to charge the car while I was in.

A custodian and I found a nice plug just outside the cafeteria loading dock. It has a locking cover, but it was unlocked! Half a kilowatt-hour later, Silent E is happier.

Thanks, principal Cummings!

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Smart Charger vs. Dumb Batteries

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:23:00 -0400

Because I built for reliability, I invested about $2000 in a battery management system (BMS). It includes a "smart" charger (the PFC-20) and regulators that monitor the state of each battery, communicating with the charger when unusual conditions occur. This system keeps the charger from damaging the batteries with improper charging (especially overcharging).

But everything needs to be set up and calibrated to work properly. And I'm having problems accomplishing that.

Maybe it's because of a dumb operator, but I'm blaming it on dumb batteries. Read the rest of this (very long) entry to see what I've been doing for the past three months now.

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