Gen3 Enginer 8kWh Kit First full tank..

Thanks Chan for the 2x breaker recommendation.
Dual converter will pull ~120A and definitely trip that breaker.

My parts are on order just waiting for the delivery to start playing.

 

you will have to realize that this parts should be a "DC" rated components; not the regular AC rated ones used for common residential/light commercial
disconnect applications.

 

Thanx for the info. i do understand now. Just to let you guys know i lucked out and somehow got myself into an agree with a research / development company up northeast to help them to set up the specs for the manufacture of a prototype set of four power-generating shock absorbers with complete damping and power controller. these shocks do not use any hydraulic system. they are based on super condensed layered magnetic fields. so i was thinking of bringing in the power from the shocks to the 4Kw Enginer kit. i do not know how much total available power there will be yet. the company says it will give me a baseline in about 2 to 3 months, after finish testing of two other prototypes in progress. when i get the baseline from the company, i suppose that if anybody else would be interested we could start another thread. i have some general info on the shocks. if you would lke to check it out, shoot me an email and i'll send you the file.

Sam

 

It's not that I want to burst your bubble but, this thread is not the place for this type of commentaries, that for me it sounds like SPAM advertising.
As you said, if you want, make a relevant one in the Prius Chat's Freds House of Pancakes

 

may be you can post it; since I would like to set my 2 converter set points as well.

thanks, Paul

 

NICE!!! I can't wait. My 8kw system is on the way, I think I might get it installed early next month!

 

Hi Paul,
No, this information is not available to be posted. If you need your converters adjusted you need to contact your insaller. If you did the install yourself then you need to contact Jack.

Thanks,
Dan

 

Ok, I'll contact Jack.

I think my converter may not be charging agressive enough as it takes a long time to get another increased bar. How long would you say it should take for the Enginer kit to bring the stock pack from 2 bar to 7 bars; with the car parked and on ?

 

Hi pbui,
My guesstimate is 6 minutes per bar.

If you have a clamp on DC ammeter you can check it. You will have 10a at lower Prius SOC and then when the Prius voltages come up it will drop to 6-7a and then to 3a and at your set piont it will go to 0a. So the last bar will take a lot longer.

If the car sits with the ready light on and the Enginer system on. It should eventually get to 7 barrs but not to 8 bars. Do you get this?

You might talk to Paul at 3prongpower in Berkley. He is an installer and can check out your system for you.

Thanks,
Dan

 

Mike, you can use the ScanGuage to easily check the charge current and voltage of the converter. If you don't have one. You can borrow mine. I'm in San Jose. Just drop me a email.

 

Dan - thanks for the 3prong idea. I'll keep that in mind. I checked the converter open circuit voltage and it's at 233.8v, a little low from Jack's recommended 242v. That explains why it wasn't charging my pack much beyond the 4-5th bar.

I disassembled my pack today to do bottom balancing, I only have 2 lamps drawing 2A total, I have search back messages. I vaguely recall Chan recommending at least 10A drain, but why ? 2A should work, just takes longer ?

Pb

 

You put 32 cells in parallel to be sure that you drain them all together to exactly the same level. So 2a/32cells is only 63ma. This is way too low. You will get a much different balance point at low currents than you will get with the current draw that the system has. This is because of the normal cell to cell variation in internal resistance. For a 4kwhr system the system draw is 22-23a.

It might be good to move this discussion to the Balance at the bottom thread.

Thanks,
Dan Lander

 

I am considering getting a second converter. One thing I've wondered, will I need to run a larger gage cable to the HV battery than what is supplied by Enginer? Or is it safe to daisy chain the two converters together using existing cable?

 

Dan - good idea, I'll post in Balance at the bottom thread
thanks - Paul

 

I don't think you mean "daisy chain" in series right ? You would be paralleling them to the stock pack.

I was looking for the wire gage size between the converter and the stock pack, I couldn't find the size. With 2 converters, you'll can push up to 24A; better make sure the cable size is at least a 12 awg, 10 awg is preferred.

 

Yes, I meant they would be in parallel circuit, but what I was referring to was just having one converter's output have wires run over to the primary converter and spliced in there, rather than running two separate wires from the HV battery all the way to each converter.

 

Enginer provides HV and control splitters for the second converter which is adjusted lower voltage to prevent overcharge the OEM battery at idle but run at full throughput during driving.