My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck

[Gregski]

this next high voltage orange cable connects the onboard battery charger to the charge port where you plug the wall charger into

and it looks like the Barberians who pulled it, cut the proximity wires from the charge port, so I chased those down

[Gregski]

and lastly I divorced the 12 volt battery leads (black and red wires that simply run to the regular car battery) from the CAN control side wires which control the charger, tell it when to charge and when not to type of thing

[Gregski]

here are the minimal components to bench test that charger (think running an engine in an engine stand)

[Gregski]

I got it working and I can see amps on the high voltage orange wire going into the battery, it reads 3.5 amps which is approximately half of what I have it set to ie 8 amps, but that's because I am on only 120 volts AC

[tutone]

Don't know if you have entertained this thought or not. Lets peer into the future and let's say you pull up and there's an open charger at the Whole Foods and you plug in for a top off. Some tree hugger comes up and calls the cops and insists that you don't have the need or (right) to have your ancient old truck taking up (his or her) space.
I somehow have it in the back of my mind that you will have an uphill battle continually proving the existance of a vintage electric vehicle. Those people evidently have never heard about electric vehicles in the 1920s.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by tutone

Don't know if you have entertained this thought or not. Lets peer into the future and let's say you pull up and there's an open charger at the Whole Foods and you plug in for a top off. Some tree hugger comes up and calls the cops and insists that you don't have the need or (right) to have your ancient old truck taking up (his or her) space.
I somehow have it in the back of my mind that you will have an uphill battle continually proving the existance of a vintage electric vehicle. Those people evidently have never heard about electric vehicles in the 1920s.

highly unlikely especially since there are paths to registering these vehicles as electric in the state you are living in, will I register mine as electric, probably not, but in your scenario the party would have no merit to call the cops, I would be charging an electric vehicle

so far I have only heard of positive feedback from vintage electric car owners, everyone is like oh wow it's electric

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally Posted by Gregski

highly unlikely especially since there are paths to registering these vehicles as electric in the state you are living in, will I register mine as electric, probably not, but in your scenario the party would have no merit to call the cops, I would be charging an electric vehicle

so far I have only heard of positive feedback from vintage electric car owners, everyone is like oh wow it's electric

Good to know, I am going to install an outlet on the side of my truck so I can park close I rumble up up with my glass packs popping, hop out and plug in Oh the looks I would get.

[DoubleDubya]

Originally Posted by Mike Bradbury

Good to know, I am going to install an outlet on the side of my truck so I can park close I rumble up up with my glass packs popping, hop out and plug in Oh the looks I would get.

Great idea! And if anyone asks, you can tell them it's how you keep your beer cold while you are shopping.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by DoubleDubya

Great idea! And if anyone asks, you can tell them it's how you keep your beer cold while you are shopping.

[tutone]

Good to hear. In our area of the US, electric charging stations are few and far between. The recent push for EVs is not at all supported by the infrastructure. I guess you pretty much rely on your home charge and fight over the 2 plug ins at your local chain restaurant around here.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by tutone

Good to hear. In our area of the US, electric charging stations are few and far between. The recent push for EVs is not at all supported by the infrastructure. I guess you pretty much rely on your home charge and fight over the 2 plug ins at your local chain restaurant around here.

ah shoot that sucks, time to convert Monroe and advocate, lol

[LT7A]

Man, just got caught up here. You are way out in front on this. How did you go about acquiring the knowledge?

Small q, just curiosity, didn't you already have a charger from a Tesla and now you have another one from a Volt? Our am I misremembering?

#3, will you be touching up the purple soon? ; )

Great progress man. Cool to see.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Man, just got caught up here. You are way out in front on this. How did you go about acquiring the knowledge?

hi there my friend, glad to hear from you and thank you, as far as how I learned this, mostly from this Irish block here, his contributions to the EV community are unparalleled:

here is a direct link to the first of his videos in a short series on this very Lexus transmission, that's how it all began for me

Lexus Toyota Hybrid Transmission Project 01 : Introduction

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by Gregski

hi there my friend, glad to hear from you and thank you, as far as how I learned this, mostly from this Irish block here, his contributions to the EV community are unparalleled:

here is a direct link to the first of his videos in a short series on this very Lexus transmission, that's how it all began for me

Lexus Toyota Hybrid Transmission Project 01 : Introduction

That's pretty amazing that one guy's contributions could teach you enough for you to get this far along. Of course, that has a lot to do with your interest level and aptitude as well. This definitely interests me, but I'm still pretty well lost, through no fault of your own. I could probably make a simple diagram of charging, converting, and powering, maybe storage, but that's about it. At some point I glaze over and start thinking, metal box with wires. Bigger metal box with small wires. Little metal box with just a few wires. And hey! That looks like a transmission...with a couple of big wires... I'm not sure I have the aptitude, but I am enjoying following along.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Small q, just curiosity, didn't you already have a charger from a Tesla and now you have another one from a Volt? Our am I misremembering?

Well look who's been paying proper attention folks, nothing gets by you sir does it. Yes indeed, I started out with a Tesla Model S gen 2 charger and then went out and bought one off a Chevy Volt. That would be like starting to learn how to drive in a Lambo and then saying you know what I think I'm gonna try a C10, ha ha

after actually getting the Tesla charger to work, I decided to go out and buy a Chevy Volt (first generation charger and a matching converter) then I found out there was a second generation set so I bought those two units as well.

YouTube video: Chevy Volt Onboard HV Battery Charger & DC-DC Converter (OBCM & APM)

At this point you may attempt to sum up what I said by asking, so do you now have a total of THREE different chargers, to which I would simply respons, NO, I also went out and bought one from a Tesla Model 3, ha ha so I have a total of 4 different onboard battery chargers to choose from

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by Gregski

Well look who's been paying proper attention folks, nothing gets by you sir does it. Yes indeed, I started out with a Tesla Model S gen 2 charger and then went out and bought one off a Chevy Volt. That would be like starting to learn how to drive in a Lambo and then saying you know what I think I'm gonna try a C10, ha ha

after actually getting the Tesla charger to work, I decided to go out and buy a Chevy Volt (first generation charger and a matching converter) then I found out there was a second generation set so I bought those two units as well.

YouTube video: Chevy Volt Onboard HV Battery Charger & DC-DC Converter (OBCM & APM)

At this point you may attempt to sum up what I said by asking, so do you now have a total of THREE different chargers, to which I would simply respons, NO, I also went out and bought one from a Tesla Model 3, ha ha so I have a total of 4 different onboard battery chargers to choose from

Ok, I see... But don't you only need one? I mean, won't it be hardwired in and so that the others will just sit on the shelf? Or are you going to try each of them out and see which one works best? Or are you starting a collection? Not trying to be silly.. okay maybe a little bit.. but definitely curious why you have so many.

Ok, I can only drive one truck at a time, and that hasn't stopped me from getting... uh, more than one... so no implied criticism, just curiosity.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Ok, I see... But don't you only need one? I mean, won't it be hardwired in and so that the others will just sit on the shelf? Or are you going to try each of them out and see which one works best? Or are you starting a collection? Not trying to be silly.. okay maybe a little bit.. but definitely curious why you have so many.

Ok, I can only drive one truck at a time, and that hasn't stopped me from getting... uh, more than one... so no implied criticism, just curiosity.

excellent questions, I bought so many chargers to teach myself how they work by comparison

at first when I bought the Tesla charger I thought I could pull up in my converted electric truck to a Tesla charging station and charge, but that's not how it work's Elon Musk prevents you from doing just that, the charging station for a lack of a better term senses your car and you have to be in a genuine Tesla to use it


~ CONTROL VIA HARDWARE~
the other thing I learned is that donor EV components such as the chargers are controlled in one of two ways, either you have to lobotomize them, essentially rip out their logic board and replace it with a reverse engineered one, this is how the Tesla charger works


~CONTROL VIA SOFTWARE Type 1~
Or, you can control the charger in it's current original OEM shape without changing any of the hardware simply by learning what CAN Bus commands it needs to operate, that's how the Chevy Volt first gen charger works


~CONTROL VIA SOFTWARE Type 2~
another way to control a charger in it's OEM hardware form simply by using software is by figuring out what PWM signal to send to it, PWM aka Pulse Width Modulation, this is how the Chevy Volt second gen charger works

hope this helps

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by Gregski

excellent questions, I bought so many chargers to teach myself how they work by comparison

at first when I bought the Tesla charger I thought I could pull up in my converted electric truck to a Tesla charging station and charge, but that's not how it work's Elon Musk prevents you from doing just that, the charging station for a lack of a better term senses your car and you have to be in a genuine Tesla to use it


~ CONTROL VIA HARDWARE~
the other thing I learned is that donor EV components such as the chargers are controlled in one of two ways, either you have to lobotomize them, essentially rip out their logic board and replace it with a reverse engineered one, this is how the Tesla charger works


~CONTROL VIA SOFTWARE Type 1~
Or, you can control the charger in it's current original OEM shape without changing any of the hardware simply by learning what CAN Bus commands it needs to operate, that's how the Chevy Volt first gen charger works


~CONTROL VIA SOFTWARE Type 2~
another way to control a charger in it's OEM hardware form simply by using software is by figuring out what PWM signal to send to it, PWM aka Pulse Width Modulation, this is how the Chevy Volt second gen charger works

hope this helps

I think I sort of get it. We're definitely well beyond my technical knowledge but your explanations help. Hopefully eventually somebody can make a little plug-in that will help you lie to the charging sration. So you can make it think whatever you want it to know to accept your vehicle and give you the best its got to offer.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by LT7A

#3, will you be touching up the purple soon? ; )

ha ha, luv you bro, yes sir, just having some issues color matching it, lol

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by Gregski

ha ha, luv you bro, yes sir, just having some issues color matching it, lol

Cool! Purple FTW!














Said no one, probably since 1995. No offense to anyone who might be a fan of graphic violets.

[Gregski]

I learned a lot over the weekend, and today I had to rest my brain and do something with my hands....

Commence Operation Porcupine

[Gregski]

the idea is a modular design that will put crane operators out of business


first we load up the bottom three cell modules (each weighing in at just under 30 lbs)

[Gregski]

once those three are individually loaded and bolted up, we simply flip that batch over - right side up

[Gregski]

and now we are ready for the top batch

[Gregski]

and there we have it, "The Stack" configuration (genius I tell yah, genius!)