Watch that space! He's running with 96 of the ThunderSky 90Ah LFPs (I see some of you perking your ears up now). The conversion was performed by JungleMotors <http://www.junglemotors.com/>.
I was all "Ohh ahh, how cool is that. Boy I wish I could see more
pictures of that build." So then I go to the Jungle Motors web site,
and there are more pictures. "Wow how cool is that... Hey, wait-a-
minute, their phone number is area code 949."
I'm area code 949! These guys are like 5 miles from me! So I'll be
heading over there next week, to talk to them about conversions and
stuff. Any questions any of you might like to have me pass on? Like
will they source L-ion, and if so how much?
Joe
They do sell ThunderSky LFPs, and they are listed in their online store ( http://shop.junglemotors.com/main.sc) but evcomponents.com sells them for less, plus seems to offer a wider selection, including Sky Energy. But yes, please do gather as much info as you can and please pass it on. One thing you might try to get from them are acceleration and range numbers for their 914 conversion. Chat them up about the Azure system, and the performance issues we've been experiencing.
A specific question you might probe them on is this issue that's been floating around this group already about using these smaller capacity LFPs. Jungle used the 90Ah, and I think Peter Thompson is seriously considering that battery. Bill Lentfer (Electro Automotive) tells me he has heard that the 90Ah are "too soft" and "we wouldn't be happy with them", and advises to consider 160Ah or above, although I'm not entirely clear as to why that would be so. This might be the best thing you could bring back from them, since they didn't respond to e-mails about that, and they have experience with them obviously.
On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 6:08 PM, joe.obrien <joe.obr...@cox.net> wrote:
> I was all "Ohh ahh, how cool is that. Boy I wish I could see more > pictures of that build." So then I go to the Jungle Motors web site, > and there are more pictures. "Wow how cool is that... Hey, wait-a- > minute, their phone number is area code 949." > I'm area code 949! These guys are like 5 miles from me! So I'll be > heading over there next week, to talk to them about conversions and > stuff. Any questions any of you might like to have me pass on? Like > will they source L-ion, and if so how much? > Joe
hi all recently 6 batteries of my 22 six volt Trojan flooded battery pack that failed. it was really my fault as i had been watching the voltage only and had neglected or did not know the importance of keeping the electrolyte specific gravity within spec. i replaced those six batteries with new ones and although the old pack was only a year old, it became very clear that i was unable to charge the pack properly. simply put, even a difference in one year only had created batteries of very different charging characteristics. the old batteries would not rise over 7.2 volts while the new ones would easily reach 8 volts. some batteries would get cooked up while others never charged 100%. it was a mess and i was forced to replace all batteries with new ones. in realizing that batteries in a long string are hard to keep healthy, i decided to go with a multiple charger set up. i could not find a decent 6 volt charger so i had to settle for 12 volt chargers so that way i can never be more than 2 batteries away from a good pack if anything went wrong. i did a lot of research and learned that boats normally have three or more batteries and they all get discharged differently, one for starting, one for trolling, one for lights etc, so they never charge them in a string like we do in our cars. i came across a multibank marine charger that seemed like a good fit from dual pro http://www.chargingchargers.com/marine-battery-chargers/pro4.html this is a four bank , 15 amp per bank charger, waterproof, zero spark, temperature compensated, reverse polarity and short protected fully automatic charger. i got three of them with a 10% off. there was a lot of new wiring to do in the car and that was time consuming. first i used an anderson multi power pole connector but that turned out to be unreliable, anderson connectors are great when single but in a bank they just cannot maintain all contacts reliably. finally i settled on an amphenol connector and doubled up on the pins for extra reliability (last thing i want is to leave the house with two batteries uncharged due to a bad connection although i have made it a habit to glance at the dual pro LED's first) it is interesting to note in watching the chargers do their thing you can see that some batteries reach full capacity sooner than others but eventually the laggards catch up (see photos attached), now i feel better knowing that all the batteries will reach full charge at their own pace. the chargers are slow, although they are rated at 15 amps i have never seen more than 13 amps and the norm is around 10, so this set up is good for overnight charges but for a fast charge or when away from home i fall back on my manzanita.
something else that was a surprise to me has to do with selling the old batteries. when i went to buy my first six new batteries i gave them back my old ones for a core credit of $8. while i was at the counter i saw that they had some chargers coming in and i asked if they sell them. "oh no he said, we just check our batteries" he said... i got curious and asked more questions but got vague answers....now i was suspicious and did some searches and found out that they actually resell their cores. as long as it can hold some charge they will sell for $50 each, i mean they were selling six year old batteries, real dogs but to whom? well i figured i still have 16 batteries and they are only a year old, so i then i listed them on ebay and craigs list for $85 each and within two weeks i had sold them all for an average price of $75 each!!! apparently there are a lot of people out there who need batteries that can hold a partial charge and that is good enough for them, i had people who have RV's or people who have a golf cart and only want to go to the grocery store or around the course once but do not want to spend the money for new batteries, so a battery that can no longer move a car still has plenty of life in it for their purposes. after this experience it sure makes it more palatable to replace my pack if needed.
i am hoping to have a longer life out of this pack now and i would love to have lithiums put in but the cost is just too high. i go to the EVASC meetings regularly and we get an inside look at the industry. good news is there are a lot of cars coming down the pipe from all manufacturers in the next two to three years with nissan being the leader, so i am going to stick to floodies for now and as much as i love my 914 and it is cute a button, i would also like to have something with range, airbags, power brakes, air etc lou
Back from Jungle Motors. Really cool! Brad (the owner) was out on
vacation this week; but I got to speak with Joe (the installer) at
some length. They do a really good job with the installation; and Joe
had a lot of real world experience that he was bringing to the
installations. One of the more interesting; was where he chose to run
the voltage lines. He liked the central column inside the cabin. I
was favoring the outside. He'd mention that a couple of time when
jacking the car up; the outside lines got compromised and sparked.
I'll have to think about that.
As far as the AC systems (they do both AC and DC conversion; whatever
the customer wants); he likes the Azure systems. But commented that
the AC24 motor is small (under-powered). He's mounted the AC55 within
the Porsche's and the only issue was the forward support had to be
fabricated. Which was no big deal for him. With the AC55 motor;
everything worked so much better (spin the tires in 3rd if you
wanted). Keep in mind that Joe is a self described hot-rodder.
So when picking a battery; the 90ah will work as well as the larger
with the AC24, since your limiting factor is the motor, not the volts
and amps available.
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