Replacement parts for Enginer kits...?

Discussion in 'Prius PHEV Plug-In Modifications' started by minnesota_plugin!, Jun 19, 2010.

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  1. minnesota_plugin!

    minnesota_plugin! New Member

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    More of my Enginer kits parts have failed AGAIN and i am trying to get a hold of Jack at Automationtechinc to get repalcement parts. I cannot get a hold of him, by email or phone, AGAIN. I have an 8KWH kit that I bought on Deember 28th of 2009 and have only had a working system for about a month in this time frame of 6 months. I have had just about every part fail on mine so far(not a big issue if i can actually get replacement parts). Now i just recently had the new 5000 watt converter stop functioning after two weeks. Now i am stuck with no working kit, AGAIN. I do not mind replacing parts at all as i realize this is part of the early adoption of a product. My issue here is that i do need to actually be able to contact someone to order replacement parts and then actually receive them in a timely manner for me to actually replace them. So, by any chance, does anyone on here have a way to try to get replacement parts in a timely manner(within a week or two...). I do want to be able to actually use my kit, before my entire 2 year warranty is up.
     
    #1 minnesota_plugin!, Jun 19, 2010
  2. dan2l

    dan2l 2014 Prius v wagon

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    I am sorry for your troubles, I have had 4kwhr systems in two cars for the same 6 months with no sugnificant replacement parts needed. So my experiance is very differant than yours.

    Jack has always been very responcive, but he is getting very busy and so he cannot respond as quickly. Did you contact your installer?

    For others concidering Enginer, I would suggest that you check out your installer to see what service he gives and to see what spare parts are available at his location. It is important to have a good installer that will support you after the install.

    Thanks,
    Dan
     
    #2 dan2l, Jun 19, 2010
  3. minnesota_plugin!

    minnesota_plugin! New Member

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    Dan, Eric Powers in Wisconsin did my install but has no 5000 watt converters or balancers or new 16 cell balancers at all for replacement parts. I spoke with him a few days ago and he suggested emailing Jack after i enquired whether he had replacement parts of any tof the above types. I know he has a new kit that he could have puledl parts out of, but those are paid for by other folks and i do not know how soon the install is scheduled. But, i do not think he is real confident about receiving replacement parts in a timely manner or he could have just offered to send me some parts and just let Jack know himself either that he replaced some parts under warranty... I know if i was an installer for automationtechinc, i would want a more reliable way to get a hold of Jack, if things should arise, whatever they may be. In two times in the last few months i have had to request replacement parts 2 times,on the first occurance i waited 4 weeks for even the first email to be replied to...and right now it has been a week and counting, for even an email reply of any kind. My latest 5KWH converter lasted 13 days and just for the sake of clarity, i never touched any of the original settings it had and it was putting out 235 volts and 15.00 amps for the 13 days. I also have excellent air flow around it as i am aware heat is typically an enemy to these components. The Vo reading on the 5 KWH converter was a stable 3.95 and now it reads anything from3.95 to 26.00 or so. Any ideas on a fix for this 5 KWH converter would be appeciated or a way to get replacement parts would be great as well, from anyone...
     
    #3 minnesota_plugin!, Jun 20, 2010
  4. pbui

    pbui Member

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    please list the various failure & replacement you had. Were they batteries ? balancing problem ? heat issue etc... we are all learning. I do think heat is going to be a problem in the summer time.

    I've been thinking of upgrading to the 5kw, but may be I wait a bit. Can you confirm that the 5kw converter runs cooler ?

    Thx, Pb
     
    #4 pbui, Jun 20, 2010
  5. dan2l

    dan2l 2014 Prius v wagon

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    Hi Minnesota, 3.95 does not make sense. Vo should be 200v-245v. Remember that these Vo,Io,Vi,Ii are not calibrated. They are only for information. Did you turn the car to ready and turn the Enginer system on with a green light? These readings are not valid unless you have the system turned on.
    You need to do an Email to Jack every day until you get a response. Eric and I will also try to contact Jack on your behalf.
    I do not know what has happened in your case, but in my experience Jack is still very good at responding in to Emails in a timely fashion.

    Also did you post this on the Enginer forum?

    If you want me to futher help you with your system problems. Send me a PM so we can do it over regular Email.

    Thanks,
    Dan Lander
     
    #5 dan2l, Jun 20, 2010
  6. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Dan,
    It looks to me like Enginer is unavailable for the next two weeks.
    they are focusing on Automotive X-Prize.
    I don't expect to receive component or hear from them any sooner than two weeks.
     
    #6 ericbecky, Jun 20, 2010
  7. minnesota_plugin!

    minnesota_plugin! New Member

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    Pbui, The components i have had fail are: 3 db8 balancers out of an original 4, 3 converters-2 3000 watt and one 5000 watt, 1 charger and 2 of my cells. My batteries have been the most reliable component in my system, thus far.(knock on wood) I do not think heat is an issue as much with the 5000 watt converter, but i still keep my system with good air flow at all times. I also want to reiterate this here, I am not that concerned about needing to replace failed parts, just that i cannot get replacement parts in less than a month or longer. There is something very wrong there...
     
    #7 minnesota_plugin!, Jun 20, 2010
  8. pbui

    pbui Member

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    wow, that is a lot of parts. I am not even using those db8 balancers. I guess I count myself lucky so far, nothing fail so far (knock on wood). I did have a problem with the phone plug at the converter not making good contact. Since the switch in the front essentially just short a pin to ground back at the converter, the bad connection effective disable the converter. I cleaned it well with contact cleaner and a little scraping. It has been ok since. I am surprised that those little spring loaded fingers are surviving the high vibration of a vehicle. I would prefer a pin & socket type of connector, such as a DB9 or something equivalent.

    What are the symptoms of a failed converter ? just no output voltage ? so, does the 5kw converter run cooler than the 3kw converter ? how are you maintaining good air flow ? extra fans ?

    Thx, Pb
     
    #8 pbui, Jun 21, 2010
  9. dan2l

    dan2l 2014 Prius v wagon

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    Hi Pb,
    It is not that you are lucky. I and many others have not that significant problems. I think MinnesotaPlugin is a special case and so we will to dig through that and help to fix what ever is the cause of the current problem.

    Thanks,
    Dan
     
    #9 dan2l, Jun 21, 2010
  10. dan2l

    dan2l 2014 Prius v wagon

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    Hello Everyone,
    I Have done some research on Minnesota's system. It's current configuration is a custom install done by Jack himself. This configuration is more like a Beta test situation for the 8kwhr system. The standard 4kwhr installs are not having the issues like what Minnesota is seeing.

    Unfortunately Jack is busy with the Xprise right now. I am communicating with Minnesota privately and we will keep working on this until we figure it out and get it corrected.

    When you do not see further posts about this issue you can be confident that it is being managed.

    Thanks,
    Dan
     
    #10 dan2l, Jun 21, 2010
  11. pbui

    pbui Member

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    can you tell the details of the Xprize ? I wish Jack lots of luck and hope he get recognized.
     
    #11 pbui, Jun 21, 2010
  12. dan2l

    dan2l 2014 Prius v wagon

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    Hi Pb,
    Goto...
    Enginer | Progressive Automotive XPRIZE

    This is all the information I have on it.

    Thanks,
    Dan
     
    #12 dan2l, Jun 21, 2010
  13. rrg

    rrg Active Member

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    This looks like Jacks entry.

    progressiveautoxprize.org/teams/enginer
     
    #13 rrg, Jun 21, 2010
  14. minnesota_plugin!

    minnesota_plugin! New Member

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    Dan, My install is not custom at all. It is an 8 kwh system with one charger and one 5000kwh converter. It will have 2 new bms16's which jack said he would make work together on an 8kwh system. Is this the piece that is custom on my setup? By the way, is this thread about the x-prize or the lack of replacement parts support from Enginer/automationtech? ERIC:focus:
     
    #14 minnesota_plugin!, Jun 22, 2010
  15. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Eric,
    Yours is system is a bit custom. Linking together two kits with two 4kwh sets of batteries and only one case is custom. I think you mentioned it took 8+ hours of time with two people to move the batteries into the lower wheel well along with creating form fitting foam as well as 30+ solder connections to extend balancer wires up to the top kit. Layered on top of that is the linking together of two 16 cell balancers.
    I think most people are not getting this kind of system, hence the reason I think most people would say it is custom.
     
    #15 ericbecky, Jun 22, 2010
  16. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    minnesota_plugin!, it would be great to see the batteries install of your 8KW lower set-up with some pictures as an informative for others.
    Also you could point us to the positive and negative aspects of this kind of installation.
     
    #16 mrbigh, Jun 23, 2010
  17. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Unfortunately in the installation process, they did not take pictures, and now the spare tire wheel well batteries are not viewable because the upper case is on top of them.

    But the rest of it would be interesting to see, especially the connectors/extenders that were made for the lower set of battery leads.
     
    #17 ericbecky, Jun 23, 2010
  18. pbui

    pbui Member

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    So you are not buddy-quading the cells ? 'cause if you are, you would still need only 1 BMS. If I have a 8kw system, I'll quad-buddy the cells; effectively lower the drain on each cell at any one instant (lower CA).
     
    #18 pbui, Jun 25, 2010
  19. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    The system is buddied (2 in each buddy set), but not quad-buddy.
     
    #19 ericbecky, Jun 26, 2010
  20. minnesota_plugin!

    minnesota_plugin! New Member

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    Pbui, Jack himself made the call on using two bms16 on my system. I am not technical enough to know why. I hope there is a reason and i feel at least sort of safe in assuming there is. What i am very curious about, is if Enginer will extend my warranty, in writing, for the amount of time my system has been out of commission/waiting for parts when they are not available(which for me is 2.5 months and counting, at least)...also make my two year warranty begin on my install date and not my date of purchase, as i waited over 2.5 months for my system to just arrive here in the midwest. I am going to ask Jack about this, as this would just give an enginer owner like myself, with significant time lost on their warranties for various reasons beyond their control, back their normal two year system warranty. ERIC
     
    #20 minnesota_plugin!, Jun 26, 2010
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