Join your British host Nikki Bloomfield and guest Paul Holmes as they discuss the open source EV motor controller project.
Don't just listen to the EVcast -- experience and be a part of it! Join us at 1:00pm Eastern, M-F, in our live video broadcast and chat along with us!
Nikki,
I heard about Paul's dilemma with the blown MOSFETs on his controller. This is just a guess but it sounds like Paul either didn't have snubber diodes installed in parallel with the series DC coil of the motor or the snubber circuit wasn't adequate for the job. If it wasn't a snubber problem I would be interested to know what it was that caused the chatter event.
I was very interested how Paul used MOSFETs cascaded together to achieve higher amperage handling. High power MOSFETS designed for controllers are very pricy but getting cheaper lower current handling MOSFETs are a good way to go if you can't afford the pricier high current handling MOSFETs. We use this solution in Ham Radio all the time for medium power homebrew(25 to 75 Watt power levels) transmitter gear.
Cheers,
Rick, from the oil capitol of the world, Houston, TX.
quote comment
Wonderful show!! Just the kind of DIY controller I have been looking for.
Thank you.
Tbone61032
Great interview, and a stellar project. I'm working on an EV conversion and have been looking for a controller. This is appealing on so many levels (cost, open source, pride of building, etc). Being able to build something this cheap makes the project go a whole lot faster!