Electric conversion: Project ForkenSwiift

[SVOboy]

When I dropped my CRX 3" I felt like I was the lowest person in the world, loved it. Need to get my shocks in so I can drop back to 2.5 or so.

[rh77]

This is completely random (as you know I tend to be), but has anyone considered a demolishion derby for vehicles like the Red Swift? Maybe it's the 4-years of living in the middle of nowhere and attending tractor pulls, but I yearn to experience a demo-derby. Big, rear-drive tanks are the norm, but what about a little maneuverable "firefly" with some un-drivable rust to buzz around the course and use the inertia to take out the opponents rad. Yeah, I have strange goals...

RH77

[JanGeo]

Hey just wondering what those FL motors draw at 12 volts no load in amps.

[MetroMPG]

good question. unfortunately, they haven't seen any juice since i pulled them out of the forklift.

and what would it tell you?

and.. while i'm in an inquisitive mood, what would i use to measure the current draw? my brother has an induction ammeter, but i think it's an AC unit. (does that matter?)

i love revealing my ignorance!

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

while i'm in an inquisitive mood, what would i use to measure the current draw? my brother has an induction ammeter, but i think it's an AC unit.

The AC ammeter wont be much help if you are measuring DC. A clamp type meter would be easiest, just make sure you clamp over only the positive or negative, not both as they will negate each other.

I have a DC clamp meter collecting dust in my junk drawer. I would be happy to send it to Canada for a vacation if you are interested.

[MetroMPG]

thanks for the offer, krousdb.

my friend is an industrial electrician, so he may have access to the meters we need. but he does AC work almost exclusively, so i'm not sure. i'll let you know.

[JanGeo]

So you are building an electric car and know nothing about electric motors - god no wonder you are trying it - if you knew what I know you wouldn't even think of getting started. This is what keeps me from becoming successful. Anyway you need to measure the amps from the battery - a clamp on meter probably will not work unless it can measure DC current - most are only for 60 hertz AC measurements. If you have a shunt from the parts the rating on it indicates the voltage that develops across it when the amps are going through it. A 50amp 50mv shunt will generate 50 millivolts across it when 50 amps is flowing through it. If you have a DMM that has a 200mv scale like the $2.99 ones from Harbor Freight the lowest DC Voltage scale will show you up to 199.9 amps on the meter when connected to the shunt. Chances are the motor will draw about 5-20 amps but it will tell you how efficient the motor is and how much no load current it will draw. Which will tell you how much power you will loose driving around that doesn't get to the wheels.

[JanGeo]

Before eCycle would sell me a motor I had to prove that I knew what I was doing. Calculate torque gearing hill climbing ability etc. with fixed single speed gearing the design is much more critical. With the tranny gearing in your Geo(s) you should do ok.

[MetroMPG]

had the flu this week, so didn't get much done on the forkenswift project (or any project).

but... as of today i've sold enough stuff from the red swift that we've made our money back on it. (and there's still a perfectly good motor - with decent compression even - that nobody seems to want.) i think it's reasonable to expect that by the time i'm done parting out the unnecessary stuff from both cars, they will be "free" or pretty close.

[SVOboy]

Sweet, that's awesome. I love when that happens for me,

A lot of stuff can be picked up for cheap and with a bit of effort parted for some reasonable money/parts you want.

This project is like, the best thing ever. You'll be the envy of the site pretty soon, Matt will have to make a chargelog,