FAQ for beginners (under development)

If you own a Electrique or any of the other PSA range of vehicles then look here for your answers and post your questions or general views here
arsharpe
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FAQ for beginners (under development)

Postby arsharpe » Wed May 30, 2007 5:57 pm

What is the affect of discharging the 12v battery ?
    Will this discharge the HV battery (eventually) and/or will the car still be driveable

tim.strutt
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Postby tim.strutt » Wed May 30, 2007 11:15 pm

Discharge of the 12v aux battery will result in the traction batteries being used to charge the AUX - net result - I have been informed is 0% in the traction after a relatively short period (10+ days?),

The evidence I have seen for this it two fold (different Berlingos)


B1) Cooling fan contantly on - "panic" and lack of time meant I ultimatley had to pull the plug on the cooling fan - it was running for 36+ hours (I was away) and resulted in almost 10% loss of power as indicated by the dial for the traction batteries.


(( Unable to locate short /failure - reset ecu and problem "went away" - Main Fuse, Aux >Neg< next, wait 5 mins, Aux >Neg< back on, then Main fuse - Apparently don't get this order wrong or you LOOSE reverse - I think I can vouch for man fuse being one of the two v-large blade type behind the Aux Bat - I always use the one on the left - LOL !))



B2) We bought a "non runner", and (Megan 8) found the Aux battery to be 3.8v! On replacement of the 12v, a check of the electrics (inc fuses etc), found the REAR courtesy light in the "ON" position - (its always the last 'kin thing!)! Dial then showed 0% in traction batts.


((After a recharge 100% was retained by the main (totally depleted prior to charging), and has held charge in the last 10 days -awaiting replacement watering union... pS have invested in a 0.5w (?) maplins PV panel as one day I heard another van kick in I assume to recharge the AUX bat from the traction bats - this one is last in the Q with a suspected snafu commutator - spare motor in the boot! ))



IMHO - so a failed or contantly discharging 12v aux will pull down the traction batteries.

Tim

PS Also EvanT later confirmed it doesn't take long for a failed AUX to drawn down Traction batts to nill!

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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Thu May 31, 2007 8:15 am

Yes the ECU checks the 12volts Aux batt every 30mins or so from memory and if the volts are low then kicks the DC-DC converter on, this inturn starts the coolent pumps and can also start the coolent fans.

If the Aux battery is in good condition you shouldnt have any probs I have left my van for a week and I dont think the 12volt Aux ever gets charged from the traction pack as the volts never drop low enough to bring the DC-DC on.

Richard Elliot had a similar problem with a low Aux battery and that was pulling 5-50% off the pack overnight :shock:

Hadnt heard about the fact disconnecting the 12v before removing the traction supply caused reverse to die !!!! my take on it was it could damage the DC-DC convertor as it wouldnt have a base line to work to and the voltage could run away ??
If it kills reverse even more reason to remove the Traction fuses before working on it .

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aminorjourney
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Postby aminorjourney » Thu May 31, 2007 8:17 am

Out of curiosity why does the Berlingo have a 12V battery AND a DC/DC converter?
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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Thu May 31, 2007 8:22 am

Normally you have some sort of 12v Aux battery with a DC-DC converter just to give the converter to have a base line voltage to work to, also it means you dont have to fire up all the gubbins just to have the lights on etc.
Other EV's I've seen have had much smaller 12volts aux batts but I think they left the normal size Aux 12v on the Berlingo due to lack of thought and it was cheaper and easier than putting in a specialist one......just my thought

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aminorjourney
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Postby aminorjourney » Thu May 31, 2007 8:27 am

Interesting.

See, most of the EVs I've ever encountered had either a 12V aux or a DC/DC. Guess you learn something new every day!

My City El has a constant live 36/12 DC DC converter. It's useful because the sidelights and radio and voltmeter work when the car isn't on! :)
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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Thu May 31, 2007 8:46 am

So your DC-DC is running all the time then ??? surely that must be a constant drain on the traction pack ??

ChrisB
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tim.strutt
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Postby tim.strutt » Thu May 31, 2007 11:38 am

Hadnt heard about the fact disconnecting the 12v before removing the traction supply caused reverse to die !!!! my take on it was it could damage the DC-DC convertor as it wouldnt have a base line to work to and the voltage could run away ??
If it kills reverse even more reason to remove the Traction fuses before working on it .


To reset (according to Robins Site) this is the correct procedure, and I think its in the messages somewhere warning about the loosing reverse scenario.

Although I must also admit to being at a loss as to why this would be the case. It may be an urban myth, but I'm not willing to be the one who finds out its not! Tim

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ChrisB
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Postby ChrisB » Thu May 31, 2007 9:18 pm

Does seem a bit bizzare Tim , I can understand the DC-DC losing the plot if you disconnect the 12v Aux, but not why you could lose reverse...........unless ........as the DC-DC goes on a wobbley due to lack of 12volt baseline of the Aux it damages part of the control circuit due to overvolting ???
Just a thought, I have no idea if this is correct or not ??

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arsharpe
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Postby arsharpe » Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:51 pm

What does the Eco Meter actually show ?

I thought it was current to start with, but I dont understand the following.

1) I have a symptom that I can only perceive as a 'start-start' facility, i.e. with a fixed accelerator position of 50% to 100% green sometimes the vehicle starts to accelerate smoothly and at about 10 to 20 mph, the 'turbo' cuts in :-) and the vehicle suddenly increases in acceleration.

During this change the eco meter does not vary at all. Even if this is a fault and the eco-meter does show current directly, I would have expected a change the reading.

I assume it is to stop wheel spin and it only happens say 30% of the time when you get the correct accelerator position.

2) Changing acclerator position from orange to red seems to have very little impact on the acceleration, yet the meter moves quite a way. (Yes, I try not to use the red).


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