Happy New Year 2013

My range test went really well.  Drive 18 miles on a single charge yesterday, with all the major hills and routes that I normally have to take.  That's perfect!  I've been constructing discharge/distance curves, and recharge/time curves, and I'm learning how this thing behaves.  



There are still some mysteries to solve, however.

I've been using a hydrometer to "truth" my voltmeter as I'm charging.  When I bought my batteries fresh, the hydrometer floated high into the green.  When I used them a couple of times, it won't float into the green, but rather stabilizes in the "fair" zone (1.225).  Yesterday, after my distance run, I added some distilled water to all the cells and recharged overnight.  Pack voltage while charging is 132.2 V (max), but the hydrometer is still in the red.

Also, there is 50 volts across my motor even while the contactor is open.  I learned that while I was repositioning my tranny-mounts and I touched those studs on the motor...(zzzap 'DAMMIT!")

I also discovered that the black rubber water pipe I've been using as an insulative terminal cover isn't really an insulator!  I get a tingle if I touch the wrong one, and one actually caught on fire as it threw a 50V arc from the armature coil to the outer metal of the motor.  

I'm glad I was standing right there to catch it.