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| I bought another car (Page 9/12) |
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gen2muchwork
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APR 24, 06:51 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by RWDPLZ:
I found this car's spiritual successor by accident on Youtube:
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That was a good watch. I didn't know much about the wheego. Thanks!
Check out the kewet eljet and the buddy, they don't seem to claim any connection with citicar, but they took a very similar approach.
https://youtu.be/_ZOZeSqDkec
My favorite is the Zagato Zele. Someone in michigan had one on craigslist last year that was mostly a shell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJxDJETc3FQ
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gen2muchwork
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MAY 01, 07:39 AM
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Ugh, Blew a main fuse yesterday and got to push citicar home 1/2 mile. It pushes fairly easy.
All was well on my way to golf, and taking off from a stop sign I heard the contactor kick on like it should, then a quick poof kind of sound. That was the end of motion. I still had a good round of golf after pushing it.
Its a LKN-400a fuse. It had been arced at some point before I got it, looked like a wrench or something similar hit it. I had been using it anyways. Perhaps that weakened it, or I have a bigger problem. I have no spares yet, but to get it back uphill to my garage I did swap a cable across the fuse, and it did move apparently fine for the 100ft I had to move it, no hot cables no stuck contactors. Mysterious.
I'll be going through all my cables and connections. Something must have gone wrong... I did have one connection that was looser than it should be at the controller. Maybe that was it. I'll have my spares on friday. I should have bought spares to begin with.
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Stubby79
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MAY 07, 03:24 AM
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Still using the contactor controller?
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gen2muchwork
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MAY 07, 08:35 AM
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For the next two weeks I still am using the contactor controller.
I've decided on an Alltrax SR-48500 to replace it. I'm going to retain the original F/R contactor. I'm losing the series/parallel contactor. I'm eating up contacts on that one, and it's not really good for my batteries to be swapping around like that. I am going to wire this like a modern cart, with a 48v main contactor, and the F/R will not be doing the main contacting any longer. It will use a new throttle input with a 0-5kohm pot for smooth acceleration. The batteries will always be in series at 48v, and the low speed resistor will be eliminated.
I'm hoping 500a should do very similar to the original acceleration, and provide a more comfortable speed control. I'll be ordering it in the next week or so.
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Stubby79
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MAY 07, 03:11 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by gen2muchwork:
For the next two weeks I still am using the contactor controller.
I've decided on an Alltrax SR-48500 to replace it. I'm going to retain the original F/R contactor. I'm losing the series/parallel contactor. I'm eating up contacts on that one, and it's not really good for my batteries to be swapping around like that. I am going to wire this like a modern cart, with a 48v main contactor, and the F/R will not be doing the main contacting any longer. It will use a new throttle input with a 0-5kohm pot for smooth acceleration. The batteries will always be in series at 48v, and the low speed resistor will be eliminated.
I'm hoping 500a should do very similar to the original acceleration, and provide a more comfortable speed control. I'll be ordering it in the next week or so. |
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That depends how much current it draws (must be insane, good thing lead acid has limits), but it will probably be better right up until the motor hits battery voltage. Maybe not for the first 10 feet, where you had no real limit, unless the low speed resistor is in play at that point...if it is, you're in for a treat by eliminating it. Be careful you don't break things!
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gen2muchwork
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MAY 09, 06:46 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by Stubby79:
That depends how much current it draws (must be insane, good thing lead acid has limits), but it will probably be better right up until the motor hits battery voltage. Maybe not for the first 10 feet, where you had no real limit, unless the low speed resistor is in play at that point...if it is, you're in for a treat by eliminating it. Be careful you don't break things! |
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That's what I liked about the alltrax vs curtis. I can program whatever I want in it easily. I can set it to not be breaking things during acceleration, while still keeping a high amp rating for hills.
As it is right now, It's up to me how terrible I want to be to it. Generally on my drives I start in 2nd speed (no resistor 24v) then around 5mph hit the 48v. If I nail it right to 48v, the contactors get angry, If I do that too much in traffic I can get my 2 gauge cables warm even. I seem to only use the resistor speed 1 in parking lots. Now, after this upgrade, the best bet for acceleration is to remove the lead acid and replace with lithium. It's already on my mind, and I know in 5 yrs my new lead acids will be old. So I'm starting to save now. Funny I've only filled my wagon with one tank since I started driving this. I am saving a ton of gas.
The city tore up the apron of my driveway to my garage for the last week, the citicar fits tires on the sidewalk and I can still get out  [This message has been edited by gen2muchwork (edited 05-09-2018).]
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LitebulbwithaFiero
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MAY 09, 10:35 AM
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Reminds me of RC cars. Started with mechanical speed control, then upgraded to electronic speed controls was a big improvement. Lithium batteries were probably the best upgrade. More punch, run time, and life from them.
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Stubby79
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JUN 05, 02:36 AM
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gen2muchwork
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JUN 07, 06:58 AM
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Nothing too exciting...
My motor has a cooling fan that turns on some temperature before the Hot light turns on. It made a bunch of noise and was embarrassing to drive when it kicks on. I pulled it last night to find another mud dauber nest in it. Unfortunately the bearings were also toast. I found that like everything on this "car" it used a part from something else. I ordered a seaflo 3" squirrel cage bilge fan for a boat to replace it. That's the first boat part i've had to buy for it, and it appears to be a direct replacement.
My brother in law is heading to a car show this weekend and really wanted me to come too. Its within my range (I hope), so I'll take the citicar to its first show this weekend. It's at the Wilson Barn in Livonia sunday june 10, for anyone in the area interested.
I have not blown another fuse since the incident... My wife has given the approval to get the alltrax, but for the last week or so they were out of the HD solenoid package that I will be adding as well, to eliminate the series/parallel contactor. Maybe next week.
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gen2muchwork
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JUN 10, 06:02 PM
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Good show!
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