Aixam battery and charger issues - FIXED

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thomosafer
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:31 am

Aixam battery and charger issues - FIXED

Postby thomosafer » Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:44 pm

Hi everyone..
I have come on here to tell you my story, if your interested.. hopefully so..
I acquired a Aixam mega truck a few months back from a dodgy car dealer. Didn't pay too much after realising he had already stripped out a lot of the necessary parts. It was always going to be a project.
So after getting it home i realised that the charger was a really important part and missing.. oops.. After talking with the UK dealer he advised that the van will not run without the charger and the batteries have to work with the charger otherwise mileage etc will be affected. Of course he would say this.. Plus although he was helpful could not supply a wiring diagram for the car which I found odd.
It was turning in to a larger project than I hoped for.
But undeterred I set about making it work without the troublesome batteries and charger I have read so much about.. We contacted the Curtis UK distributor (the manufacturers of the speed controller) and they sent out free plugs and sockets to help with the over ride. I must say they were very helpful indeed.... two thumbs up..

After only a day of work, yesterday we did it.. it runs and the dash works.. we are no longer reliant on exchanging expensive parts with Aixam. We can now use any batteries we prefer and have the roam of the open market to find appropriate cells. I am very happy about this as initially my heart sunk after reading up about all of the failures and battery issues they have seen in the past.

I own a solar company and we planned to use it as project to promote electric vehicles and solar power etc... After my experience and having read some upset people after having their pockets emptied I hope we can help others to avoid the extortionate fees for charger units and batteries.

The van runs.. this is not the end though.. we have big plans and I hope you will enjoy our progress. The next couple of weeks will be exciting.

I have a blog page which will be updated when I have a moment. It can be found here:
http://www.sunstore.co.uk/Project-Blogs/

Other picures and videos can also be found on our facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SunStore-Solar-technology/334206663079

My apologies for the bad writing as it was written in excitement and with limited time.

User avatar
skooler
Posts: 129
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:19 pm
Location: Worcestershire
Contact:

Re: Aixam battery and charger issues - FIXED

Postby skooler » Fri Jan 04, 2013 9:36 pm

Hi,

Just had a read through your blog.

Interesting project.

Have you considered using lithium cells? They're relatively cheap when you take cycle life and performance into account. Thinking about it, have you considered lithium for your solar installs?

And is it really only 48v?

Cheers,

Mike
Posts by Mike Schooling
Director and tech lead at indra.co.uk

Mazda RX8, Soliton Jr, 24KWH Sinopoly LiFePO4, Kostov 11alpha
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/sh ... 61556.html


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