[ausev] Iota converter

[Bill Gooch]

When it's connected, I see that my 55A Iota draws power constantly,  
even when there's no overt load on it (car and all accessories are  
turned off).  This makes me reluctant to have the converter "always  
on" as you do yours, because it will gradually drain the traction pack  
whenever I don't have the main charger on.  I've also had some trouble  
with the high-voltage relay that powers the converter not always  
opening when the ignition is turned off, so I typically unplug the  
converter manually when the car is parked, just to be safe.

Responding more directly to the original questions that started this  
thread: when I first started using my car after the conversion, the  
Iota was not getting any power at all because of a fault in the  
high-voltage relay.  Not realizing this immediately, I drove about 20  
miles - half of it at night with the headlights on - and ended up not  
being able to go further because backup battery was drained and the  
main contacter wouldn't close.  My backup battery is 33 aH AGM (if I  
recall correctly).

I wouldn't want to be strictly dependent on the backup battery to keep  
the car moving.  Having a converter seems like a better bet - that way  
if there's power left in the traction pack, the car can move (assuming  
of course that things are working better than they did with my car  
initially).

Bill

Quoting ausev-request at austinev.org:
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:14:11 -0600
> From: Brian Lasseter <blasseter.cmpe01 at gtalumni.org>
> Subject: Re: [ausev] Iota converter
> To: AustinEV News Announcements and General Discussion
> 	<ausev at austinev.org>
> Message-ID:
> 	<2b3d5a440912292214gfeb51d2p7b1d12bfe3af54a8 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> ....
> In my case... I have a 12V power steering pump that will pull above
> 480W when my steering wheel is fully to one side or the other.
> Therefore my power needs were above any reasonably sized 12V battery,
> so I have a 45A Iota DC-DC converter with a small 15Ah 12V motorcycle
> battery.  (In reality, I probably need a larger DC-DC converter since
> my headlights noticibly dim when I turn my steering wheel fully to one
> side or the other.)  Also, my DC-DC converter is "always on", thereby
> charging the tiny 12V battery once I get home and shut my electric car
> off.
>
>
> --
> TTFN,
> Brian "Lasso" Lasseter