simple top balance thingbumper stickerheatersingle cell chargerpot boxmotor slam tiesball joint and pitman armfound the problemTen bales of hay
OwnerPat Walker
LocationRoberts Creek, British Columbia Canada map
Web/EmailWebPage email image
Vehicle1991 Toyota extended cab pickup
MotorAdvanced DC 9 Series Wound DC
dual shaft, rev-limiter magnet and pickup
are mounted on the front shaft.
Drivetrain5 speed manual transmission with clutch.
1st cuts out at 42 Kmph, 2nd at 72 Kmph.
Sometimes use 4th 'cause it's quieter.
ControllerCurtis 1231C
mounted on massive aluminum heat sink
behind the grill with thermostatic
cooling fan.
Batteries48 Sinopoly 200, 3.20 Volt, Lithium Iron Phosphate
First lead pack did 15,000Kms
Second lead pack did 27,000Kms
30 KWH Lithiums installed July 2014
Mini BMS keeps any one cel from over
charging. There is a low cel alarm but I
try not to go below 50%.
During -8 Celsius had to go easy on the
throttle below 60% or alarm would sound.
System Voltage154 Volts
ChargerZivan NG3 120VAC at 30A (actually 25A or 15A)
On the side of the front battery box.
there just isn't room to hide it in the
cab. Now set to 10 amps only. That is just
fine with me. Easier on the pack, can
charge anywhere and with less weight it
doesn't need as much juice. Usually shut
off by the BMS.
Heaterelectric - 1500w
(solder all HV push terminals or they will
burn)Draws 13amps so if it's on for an
hour that
is about 2 KWH reducing range from 68
to about 60 miles.
DC/DC ConverterIota GPC 45
45 amp 144 volt DC-DC converter
2015-11-12 still fine
2012-10-13 New Iota working fine.
2012-09-17 failed after over 4 years
2008-03-08 will be on 24/7, just easier
that way.
Instrumentatione-meter link 10 (always on % now)
Mini BMS in and working fine. Had to put
in galvanic isolator and re-route cel loop
to stop false alarm from PWM interference.
Top Speed70 MPH (112 KPH)
2008-04-10 no problem to do 100+ km/h.
Accelerationjust fine, can pull out onto the highway
into traffic.
Range68 Miles (109 Kilometers)
Using trip meter down to 60% then calced to
20%. Lots of hills and no regen so would be
better on flat terrain.
Watt Hours/Mile256 Wh/Mile
EV Miles
Start:146,270 Miles (235,348 Kilometers)
Current:183,876 Miles (295,856 Kilometers)
Total:37,606 Miles (60,508 Kilometers)
Seating Capacity2 normal adults and 3 smaller ones (often
4 normal ones)
2010-10-06 extended cab is used almost
every day. People, groceries or farmer's
market stuff.
Curb Weight3,600 Pounds (1,636 Kilograms)
was 4700 with lead 3600 now
Tiresblack on rusty rims.
Toyo 44psi
Conversion Timea year and a half.
2016-05-08 8 years
2015-04-04 still having fun 7 years
2014-10-14 still driving
2013-04-02 still driving***5 years***
2013-01-13 still driving
2012-07-17 still driving
2011-10-12 still driving
2011-01-28 still driving
2010-10-06 still driving
2010-06-22 still driving
2009-10-13 still driving
2009-02-24 still driving
2008-04-07 done. now we drive.
2007-11-28 ordered parts.
2006-10-13 ripped out smelly stuff
Conversion Cost2016-09-14 $650 shocks and front end work
2015-09-30 $19 solid state relay for BMS
2015-08-05 $650 curtis repair + main fuse
2015-06-15 $275 new rear bumper (not
mounted yet)
2015-02-12 $136 brush ring and springs
2015-02-02 $100 motor brushes.
2014-03-01 $175 reprogram Zivan
2014-01-15 $14,500 lithiums
2013-08-30 $35 used battery.
2013-07-24 charger plug $9
2013-06-09 $40 u-joint
2013-05-04 $35 for used battery.
2013-01-13 $25 battery terminal repair.
2012-09-17 $365 new DC/DC
2012-08-15 $40 15 feet of brake line.
2012-05-10 $45 used motor mount.
2011-09-18 $800 for Curtis repair and
shipping, $50 for lawnmower battery.
2010-09-21 $5.00 for new plug, old one
starting to go black.
2010-06-20 $750CAD for used Curtis.
2009-12-11 $3,500CAD for new floodies.
2008-04-07 $15,000CAD in parts and
batteries
the truck was mine.
Additional Featuresemergency shutoff cable (works great),
inertial cutout(hope
it never works), 2 stage rev limiter, motor
thermal cutout,
clutch in and start position safety, charger
interlock (so i
don't yank the garage), Mini BMS, ABC fire
extinguisher and a
really nice pull-out coffee mug holder.
2019-11-09 Has been sitting in the driveway gathering leaves for
two years...motor if fine but controller blew again. Four of the
lithium batts are flat but the rest are still at voltage. We are
buying a used ev to replace Chuck.
Also have an S10 conversion done by canev with good parts
including J1772.


2016-09-15 shocks all-round, sway bar ends
and stuff make it
drive like an MG again.
2016-05-08 DC/DC was clicking and 12v
system quit. So I
cleaned
the old lead aux battery contacts and
plugged it in again...
went
up to 17v and batt started gassing. I
ordered another DC/DC
from
CANEV (great service). Two days later
tried a different 12v
batt
and it worked perfectly. Wish I was rich
enough to keep the
new
DC/DC for a spare. Think the leadie should
be replaced with a
little lithium, then no more failures and
yucky lead contact
problems.
2016-02-20 running fine. Mounted inverter
under the hood so
we have ac power during outages for
incubator and brooder
lamps. Plan to power the heat tapes under
the batteries next
winter with it. Should turn on at plus 4
Celsius so I won't
hurt the batts by charging below 0.
2015-12-06 Just had a scare.. the charger
quit working so I
took it out and couldn't find anything
obvious so plugged it
in on the bench and it started! Um, turned
out to be the wall
plug for the charge cord, duh.
2015-11-12 Controller shorted and blew the
main fuse. Quick
to find an fix but time lost waiting for
Curtis repair. Solid
state relay for the charger was just wired
around the screw,
burnt off, smoke. So the new one has ring
terminals on the
wires. We had to drive the gas car while
Chuck was down and
did not enjoy paying at the pumps.
2015-06-15 Still a pleasure to drive. The
turn buckle on the
motor hold down opened up so the
replacement is welded
closed. Back when
the truck was down with brush problems the
12v batt drained
down so low that nothing worked, the 12v
plug in charger
wouldn't start
so I hit the boost and burned out the
isolator on the BMS.
Just
saying that if you are going to mess with
higher voltages on
the
auxilary batt pull the terminal off...
2015-04-04 Should have replaced the
brushes sooner. It was
easy and cheap even with fixing the burnt
mess. Next time for
this build it would be easiest to use a
puller to take the
brush end off and replace them on a bench.
The truck is 24 years old and the rust is
starting to nibble
at the fenders and under the
doors....spent way too much on
the lithiums. I need an easy solution like
rubber or
something. The frame is still fine.
2015-02-14 Had to order a new brush ring
'cause one of the
slots was burnt. Such a deal from
CANEV..$136 c/w springs
ready to go! Got here 3 days after
ordering. Had to tap out
the terminal screw holes, but brass is
easy. Was able to put
it all back in from above decks (out of
the mud). Cleaned up
slots then used a knife stone to smooth
the comutator after
powering up. The brushes are seating now
with 4 12v 12a
chargers running.
2015-02-02 Came to a jerky stop after
erratic power. Tested
here and there and found full voltage to
the motor but no
joy. Pulled the batteries out of the front
box and removed
it, about 2 hours.... The top set of
brushes had burned right
off. Already have a new set($100) and I've
ordered new
springs. They have only done about 30,000
miles, but might
not have been seated before pulling 500
amps and I don't
spare the throttle.
2014-10-14 Lithiums in and all the bugs
worked out. Goes like
stink. Seems to pull about half the amps
on hills. Load
capacity is 1/2 ton greater and amazing
range.
2014-03-08 Zivan is back from
reprogramming. I'm cutting out
most of the old posts and putting them on
the blog:
electricchuck.blogspot.ca
2014-01-14 Committed to 48 Sinopoly 200s
from Randy at CANEV.
He
says his mining customers prefer them. And
it looks like mini
bms,
is there such a thing as middle balancing?
2013-12-10 Well, that's it. Lead pack #2
is finished. In the
past couple of weeks range has gone from
20 km down to a few.
Voltages are consistently low. They don't
owe me anything,
they've done 4 years and 27,000 km. That
works out to less
than $20/week or $0.13/km + $0.02 for
juice is still about
the same as gas. When we started this in
'07 lead was the
best choice, now... Quitting is not an
option. 45 CALB CA180s
would be a perfect, a local estimate was
$18,500 CAD. I don't
want to spend another 4 years dragging an
extra 1/2 ton of
lead around. And I'll get almost all the
truck bed back. The
Curtis and the Zivan are still great. Plan
to bottom balance
and charge to 80% (as Jack R. advises).
Don't know about
Sinopoly. Will start finding lots of
money.

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