[ausev] Iota converter

[Brian Lasseter]

On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 9:43 AM, Bill Gooch <goochb at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> 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.

I should specify that I have an Iota DLS-45 with the IQ4 charge
controller:  "DLS-45/IQ4 features an internal IQ Smart Charge
Controller which automatically provides three-stage battery charging
for safer charging and longer life for your system's battery."
http://store.solar-electric.com/dls-45.html

Therefore... it doesn't draw much power.  I find in my tests... that
my high voltage batteries lose 1-2% of charge per day.


> 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).

Yeah... I used to have my 12V battery charging (i.e. the Iota DLS-45
turned on) when the car's ignition was on.  I quickly realized that I
was running down my 12V battery, and it was never really charging
properly... thereby leading to the embarassing predicament where I had
to ask people with gas powered cars to jump my 12V battery, so that I
could turn on the relay to my DC-DC converter which would then hold
the 12V battery at a reasonable charge so that I could drive home.
:-/


-- 
TTFN,
Brian "Lasso" Lasseter

"No Sane man will dance."   -Cicero (106-43 B.C.)