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social misfit
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Location: dorset

Postby social misfit » Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:17 am

ChrisB wrote:Cant comment on the PM as it obviousely wasnt to me, might pay to send it again as the ISP isnt the best here and it could have got lost in the ether :?

But I agree with you that theres no harm in doing fun stuff with mechanical controllers and other low efficient stuff, at the end of the day we all arnt electronic wizzes, I certainly am not :oops:

You have to remember that some of the folks here are pushing the boundries of mile/watt etc which is good.
We need some folks equally who are able to work with the basic stuff and show the learners how to even just wire a motor to a switch and battery etc

May be we need a learning area :?:

ChrisB
a learning area would be good,i do have some electronic knowledge but failing eyesight makes life difficult.
also what would be usefull is if anyone knows where one can get one off engineering done.

SimonR
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:17 pm

Postby SimonR » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:26 am

i sent a pm about that tubuler controller idea that looks good but no reply,also i find these days that if something isnt super efficient it gets thrown out a lot of good ideas fall by the wayside because of this. my opinion also with electric vehicles is to much reliance on electronics,where as some mechanical controllers still have a place,but aren't efficient.
i think some of the fun side has gone from what it used to be,an example is cedric lynches motor made from baked bean cans and other odds and ends when he started with his odd vehicles but he nearly always won the long endurance races. :D


OK, that was my fault, but I did not reply to the PM because my mail server went down and I didn't get the notification.

The reason I have stopped posting on here is the hostile and unfriendly replies I generally get.
Post about batterys - apparently I'm an idiot for not rushing out and buying LiFePo and that lead acid are only good for a golf cart.

Post about building a low cost charger - and get treated like I'm brain dead - leave it to a grown-up kind of thing.

Unfortunately, it's always the same people who post this way.

I've de-camped to the DIY electric car forum where the same posts have received a much more encouraging response. The low cost charger has turned in to a bit of an open source hardware project:

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/charging-any-more-complicated-than-thisi-32967.html

And has been helped by all kinds of people. Not one has told me that electricity is dangerous and I should leave it to a grown up.

There is space there for other battery chemistrys - not everyone can afford lithium and lead acid may suit some peoples needs better - particularly when you can source them for £2 each.
Mentioned in my electric Freelander build thread [url]
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/sh ... 33633.html[/url]

So - the reason it's quiet here is because when anyone new comes along you flame them to the point they vanish and never come back!

I am actually a professional electrical engineer and own a successful engineering business - so I guess I really don't have much to contribute to a forum so full of 'experts'

Bye!

social misfit
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:53 pm
Location: dorset

Postby social misfit » Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:59 am

will check out that site,but i stand by what i said the posts on here are thin on the ground.
ive not renewed my subscription to the bvs and have no intention of doing so.
so will be leaving this place as well as its DEAD

SimonR
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:17 pm

Postby SimonR » Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:09 am

Here is the thread about the mechanical speed controller:

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/lobuck-controller-hi-amps-31134.html

Si

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ChrisB
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Location: Hampshire on the Southcoast
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Postby ChrisB » Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:52 pm

social misfit wrote:will check out that site,but i stand by what i said the posts on here are thin on the ground.
ive not renewed my subscription to the bvs and have no intention of doing so.
so will be leaving this place as well as its DEAD


As a sort of reply SM and in no way am I sticking up for anyone or anything or taking sides, here in the UK there are still very few folks who are interested in EV's or even want to understand them, sadly we still suffer the milk float image here :cry:

There are many places on the web that are able to assist and give advice to folks but very few that are actually based in the UK, and hence why this was set up :wink:

ChrisB
I reject reality and substitute my own !!!!!!

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Jeremy
Posts: 472
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:35 pm
Location: Salisbury

Postby Jeremy » Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:08 pm

SimonR wrote:The reason I have stopped posting on here is the hostile and unfriendly replies I generally get.
..................................
Post about building a low cost charger - and get treated like I'm brain dead - leave it to a grown-up kind of thing.

..................................
I am actually a professional electrical engineer and own a successful engineering business - so I guess I really don't have much to contribute to a forum so full of 'experts'

Bye!


Hmmm............

OK, so you're a professional electrical engineer, so presumably fully qualified and competent in the use and abuse of electrical systems. However, your first post about the simple charging system here didn't mention this at all. What you wrote was: "I have a string of 16 Optima batteries (from a scrap yard so they don't matter too much). Would it be entirely dumb to charge them just by rectifying 230v mains - and connecting it straight to the batteries?"

The obvious first question is, why pretend to be unknowledgeable, then choose to be critical when you were given sound advice?

As a fully qualified electrical engineer you were already sure to know about the potential problems associated with high ripple charging of sealed lead acid cells, plus you have to be fully up to speed with the particular safety hazards associated with the use of an non-floating high voltage DC supply. I know for a fact that the latter is part of the mandatory training required before even a humble electrician, let alone a professional electrical engineer, can sign off electrical work.

I've taken the time to read those responses you received, and have to say that they seemed to be quite reasonable and were clearly aimed at trying to inform someone who, by their own declaration, seemed lacking in knowledge of matters electrical. Perhaps if you had made it clear that you were better qualified than those trying to help you, you might have received answers better suited to your own knowledge level. It's very difficult on a forum like this to know how much someone already knows, particularly if they don't make this clear, so consequently it's easy to unintentionally belittle someone, or appear to talk down to them.


Jeremy

SimonR
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Postby SimonR » Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:36 pm

QED

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Jeremy
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Postby Jeremy » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:25 pm

That's a curious reply, as I most certainly didn't demonstrate anything at all, nor did I set out to.

Sorry if you found even that humble explanation offensive, I was simply attempting to offer a possible reason for the impression you have of the replies you received to your previous questions.

In my experience of internet fora, I have found that it is fairly easy to unintentionally cause offence, most probably because this format is informal and conversational, yet there are none of the body language cues associated with conversation.

Jeremy

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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:37 pm

Forums can be a very hard place to work, as you say Jeremy.....

there are none of the body language cues associated with conversation.


All you see is text on the screen and you can read it many different ways, I like to try to use the smillies where ever I can to indicate a little of what I'm trying to express but even that isnt idea :? but it can help 8)

Reminds me, I must import a better smillie pack :wink:

ChrisB
I reject reality and substitute my own !!!!!!

SimonR
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:17 pm

Postby SimonR » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:34 am

Jeremy wrote:Sorry if you found even that humble explanation offensive, I was simply attempting to offer a possible reason for the impression you have of the replies you received to your previous questions.


Offensive - no, patronising - yes.

It's just the kind of reply which drives people away.

The point is nobody should have to prove how qualified they are. People like you come in all guns blazing to show how clever you are and make them look stupid.

With things like the battery charging, I had hoped to start a discussion about alternatives to the multi-thousand pound high voltage chargers available - start with something simple ans build upon the idea until you have something workable. It works in the US - but not here it seems.

I asked about batteries - Numax specifically - because we sell thousands of them and I can probably get a better price than most in the UK (likewise with Optima, Hawker Enersys etc) - but oh, no - unless I'm really dumb I'll forget SLA's and buy Li instead.

People like you are why this forum is dead - nobody is prepared to stick their head up above the parapet in case you start sniping at them.

There is a small cartel of members who know how to do it - and there seems little space for anyone with a different view.

So, you can keep your patronising, narrow mindedness - I'm off.


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