how to improve my range???

Chat about all things battery in here.
Need to know what type to use or size or capacity then again place your thoughts here
User avatar
ChrisB
Posts: 4657
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 11:33 am
Location: Hampshire on the Southcoast
Contact:

Re: how to improve my range???

Postby ChrisB » Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:49 pm

EV_dub wrote:
GregsGarage wrote:
EV_dub wrote:My commute to work is 30miles, so I really need to be getting quite a lot more range, I don't want to strain the batteries to much, when I start driving to work.


Is that one way or round trip? If 30 miles is the round trip, then you need to convince your employer to let you charge at work.


30 miles one way i'm affraid! a recharge is essential. I work 12hrs in a day, so plenty of recharge time!


:shock: so you'll be giving the pack a pasteing twice a day :shock:

Shall I open a book on how long they last :( ............I'll start with 6mths, not long I'm afraid :cry:

Could be wrong but with the currents your talking about and discharge levels I really think your going to be running into issues after 6mths, Trojans are good batteries but I personally think you are taking them to the max..... and beyond.

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

User avatar
EV_dub
Posts: 93
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 8:31 pm
Location: Dorset/Devon

Re: how to improve my range???

Postby EV_dub » Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:50 pm

Yea I know they wouldnt stand a chance. Its back to the drawing board I think!

For now I'l keep the car in my garage, its only 24miles from there to work. The only downside is swapping cars from my house to to the garage! :?

I'm thinking about changing the controller for a higher voltage one, 156v maybe, a couple extra batteries may help to keep the amps down.

The zapi controller is brilliant and I have switched the regen on low setting which returns between 5-15amps to the batteries and gives about the same braking as the original engine.
1993 Veedub Golf, 156v, 1200A, 150ah's

User avatar
EV_dub
Posts: 93
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 8:31 pm
Location: Dorset/Devon

Re: how to improve my range???

Postby EV_dub » Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:48 pm

My range has really dropped now

I am concerned I may have damaged the batteries. On a run the other day after 12miles I climbed long steep hill
I pulled 200+amps to maintain 40mph. After, the batteries felt weak and I had to stop after 19miles.
Did a recharge and today drove it, again it was loosing power by 20miles.

Looking inside the batteries it looks like some of the plates might be slightly distorted, although couldnt see allot as didnt have a torch handy.

I thought these batteries could handle allot more draw on short bursts.

I know a guy with the same setup as mine in a heavier car, hes currently testing with some second hand flooded batteries about 120ah (20hrs) hes managed 26miles and has been using 4th and 5th gears, so he must be sucking some amps, but hasnt reported any problems.

Is there any test I can check my batteries with, perhaps using a hydrometer?
1993 Veedub Golf, 156v, 1200A, 150ah's

User avatar
Peter Eggleston
Posts: 162
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:12 pm
Location: Tyne Valley Northumberland

Re: how to improve my range???

Postby Peter Eggleston » Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:59 am

Get a multimeter and test the voltage of each individual battery immediately after a run. There may be just one battery which drops as low as 8 volts if it is on the way out, which pulls the whole pack voltage down.
Peter

User avatar
EV_dub
Posts: 93
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 8:31 pm
Location: Dorset/Devon

Re: how to improve my range???

Postby EV_dub » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:02 pm

Thats super strange!

It performed its best yet today! I did 28.5 miles without even noticing much power loss :)

After the drive, I left it for 2mins and the voltage climbed back up to 120volts.

I Drove it in the same manner as usual. The voltage did not drop below 100v under draw.

Maybe the batteries didnt charge up fully before????? :?

All the batteries are within 0.05volts after driving.
1993 Veedub Golf, 156v, 1200A, 150ah's

User avatar
ChrisB
Posts: 4657
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 11:33 am
Location: Hampshire on the Southcoast
Contact:

Re: how to improve my range???

Postby ChrisB » Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:42 pm

mmmm sounds like the charger may have shut down for some reason early :?

It might be worth (if you havent already) getting an energy meter similar in line with the mains supply of the charger and then reset it to zero each time you plug in, then you'll be able to check how much energy you have used each time you charge the batteries, if at any time it suddenly shows a drop of several Kwh then you can suspect the charger stopped working.
Of course you do need to realise that the Kwh consumed will depend on the state of charge the batteries are in when you put them on charge, but I'm sure you'll very soon start to see normal trends for a pack thats say 1/4 full, 1/2 full to 3/4 fully charged and the amount the charger uses.

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


Return to “All things battery related”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests