Saturday, October 26, 2013

balance

Step 34:  Watch cells balancing at night.  The battery side charging fuse is an Edison base type, 30A (it is rated for 125 volts alternating current but I've verified performance with direct current to be used plus I like its thrift - fuse holder is a ceramic flood lamp socket).  If needed I can do balancing sessions by swapping the fuse for a light bulb of chosen wattage to match the cell balancing load electronics.  A 200W light bulb limits the charge current to a little over half an amp.  My cell balancing loads are around a fifth of an amp, a 75W bulb.  A little imbalance may take a while to bleed off. 

Kits are available to increase balancing capability but I would avoid expense by manually bleeding the highest cell in the pack, and seeing how that went.

Every second the BMS communicates with the circuit board on each cell causing it to blink.  When a cell is being bled down to equalize the pack it leaves its light on.  I don't think I'll have to put up Christmas lights this year.








1 comment:

  1. Hi, Just found your blog. This looks like an exciting project and you've stuck with it for a number years. Congratulations! Just wondering, do you have any advise for someone considering converting an 02?

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