new parts

I'm taking a lot longer than expected to wire my DC DC converter and, worse of all, I'm not having any success. I'm using a TDC-IY-108-12 from a Chinese company named TC Charger (the website www.tccharger.com printed in the manual doesn't exist). I think there are similar converters branded as Elcon. It's a 1kW unit with a nominal DC input of 108V (range can vary from 72V to 162V). Do you have any suggestions?

After a mock up with cardboard, I fabricated the aluminium battery box base and screw it to the body. I do enjoy working with sheet metal and its workspace in FreeCAD. I also invested a bit in the Technical Drawing workspace to send nice instructions to the laser cut and bending guys.

It's been a while since the last update. I've been busy with other non-related stuff and also some boring stuff, namely wiring the leads for all the battery modules (to connect a manual charger/voltmeter) and a future BMS. At the same time, the DC/DC converter finally arrived, along with some more HV cable and fuses. I've gone for a chinese TCCharger unit good for 1.2kW. I've read mixed reviews about these chinese solutions but the truth is that there is not many alternatives.

I finally got some time to apply the MDF layers to the battery terminal covers.

And it was very satisfying to know that it was a very nice fit. The only exception was of a couple of extra centimeters in width, which were promptly cut away easily.

The entire cover is made of three MDF layers. The first two are 10mm thick whereas the last one is 5mm thick.

Things are slower with the new lock-down and travel restrictions. But I was able to move on with the battery terminal covers.

I'm mimicking the original Nissan ones, albeit using MDF as insulation (3D printing was too expensive) and 5mm aluminium bus bars (copper laser cutting was too expensive too).

This was the plan:

I've just assembled the full stack of battery modules on a quick visit to the shop. Here's the result.

I received the sheet metal parts for the first version of the battery box and started assembling it.

Having the battery modules on hand, I started building a structure to secure them on the Samurai, using 3mm aluminium.

While I'm searching some HV batteries, I decided to replace the front headlights, which are a bit weak, with some new LED ones.

I found a pair on ebay for around 30 euros which seem nice and also have DRL and indicators.

I just had to design a couple of metal sheets to secure the headlight to the body and gave them a black paint job to disguise them under the front grill.

While I read more about high voltage batteries but I don't commit to one yet, I'm playing with some cheaper alternatives. This time, I'm planning to use five 20V batteries from Parkside/Lidl, which are easy to get (if you're lucky with their timing), relatively cheap, can be used with a number of tools and easily charged/replaced.