Electric Utility Vehicle
Pargo Bar Car to Ute Conversion - Part
2 ...
Sept 2007
Part
#1 of this project covered the initial procurement and structural changes to
a Pargo Bar-Car into an Electric Utility Vehicle for use around theworkshop.ca
As
this installment is quite lengthy, I've opted to include an image of the
finished unit.
It's
so hideously ugly, it has a homely appeal that has been growing on me over the
last 24hrs.
Although
I stated earlier that I'd wait for divine intervention on the battery front, I
couldn't wait and ultimately shelled out $300 for the cheapest Group 24
Deep/Marine cells I could find.
Napa
in Renfrew...
These
batteries are 12V flooded Lead Acid batteries that are approx 55Amp/Hrs.
In an
ideal world I would have purchased qty six of a 6V Deep Cycle battery at closer
to $150 a piece though with a 100Amp/Hr capacity.
Rather
than go off on my dystopian vision of the future so early in a posting, I'm sure
that these batteries could be put to use in any number of other applications.
Included
with the Pargo was this "Lester-Matic" 36V 25Amp Charger.
It is
a "Ferro-Resonant" type unit, where the Main Transformer has a 2nd
secondary winding that is coupled to a High Voltage AC capacitor.
The
resultant LC circuit resonates specifically to keep the heavy Iron Core
saturated with EMF Flux.
It
has simple screw fuses accessible from the front of the unit, as well as a 12hr
electromechanical timer that shuts of the charger after a period of selected
time.
The
timer assembly was sprayed down with a liberal volume of WD-40, as it was noisy
and prone to becoming stuck at charge periods greater than 8hrs.
The
batteries are held in place by 2 (two) 1/4" #20 threaded rods welded to the
frame through the floor.
A
length of 1/8th" X 1" band steel (covered by a length of cut bicycle
inner tube) bolts down onto the batteries, ensuring a short-proof securing
fixture.
The
Lester-Matic is screwed into place and hard wired onto the battery bank.
The
opening slightly to the left of the meter is for the master-cylinder to the rear
brakes.
Here
the brake-lines are being bled to make the unit some-what safer when operating
in hilly terrain and fully loaded.
The
E-Ute has completed a full circuit of the farm carrying approx 500lbs of
firewood for the full 1.5Km trail that I followed. My guess is that there is a
75 to 100ft change of elevation (climb) over the entire circuit.
This
is the max distance and load I could coax out of the batteries with a full
charge.
With
the brakes bled (Marginal improvement at best), a tool box is screwed down to
hold a few lengths of steel cable, some chains, a come-along, chain-saw etc...
A
plexi-glass shield is also shown that covers the top of the batteries in case a
wrench or screw-driver is dropped by mistake.
I
don't mention this for your safety, but as a reminder to myself to take care
when working around the battery banks that are progressively getting bigger and
proportionally more dangerous.
As
I'm learning the Distance/Load to discharge rate of the unit I've fallen into
the habit of applying a charge immediately upon parking near an outlet.
Once
I hit over 12.75 to 13V on the individual batteries, I run finishing charge on
each with a digital (Supposedly "Smart Charger")
The
theory is that I never let the cells get too far out of whack relative to each
other (I believe this is referred to as "Equalizing" the batteries)
Along
with the careful charging regime, I've adopted the habit of stringing the
charger AC line through the steering wheel to ensure that I never drive off
while connected to the AC supply.
I had
to stop work on the E-Ute to deal with this shit-hole that is our septic system.
This
is hardly my favourite maintenance chore, but as I like to quote (someone???),
"If a man can't shoe his own horse, or shoot his own dog, he should have
neither!"
And
in that spirit I get face to face with the un-digested corn, toilet paper, shit,
piss, Q-tips, candy wrappers, cigarette buts and what ever else we've foolishly
flushed down over the last 18 years...
The
white "Dip" is the grey-water exit, and as you likely guessed it's
new... It's purpose is to keep solids (AKA - Shit) from leaving the tank and
clogging the weeping tiles...
This
fuckin' sucks...
But
it's done...
Getting
back to the E-Ute...
This
fiber-glass truck cap came with the Chevy S15 before the turn of the millennium,
and has been patiently waiting to be called up for service.
The
roof was cut free-hand from the truck cap and bolted to the steel framing with 6
bolts.
A
windshield is also mounted from the same plexi-glass that is mounted over the
batteries.
The
rear window is will be smoked plexi-glass that will come from this Server
Cabinet door... The Aluminum extrusions that form that door frame will be melted
down in the foundry.
Like
so many other pack-rat type personalities I occasionally curse the burden of
squirreling away such a diversity of materials, but when it actually gets used,
there is a satisfaction that settles over me.
I
needed to make a few other panels to enclose the battery compartment and the
rear window.
And I
dug-out this plasitic sheet that as once the front of a pop machine.
I
don't think I've ever heard of "Master-Choice Cola" but the stock is
close to 1/4" thick and tough as hell.
At
this point, I'm eager to move onto another project, but I can't leave the E-Ute
a mish-mash of white, black, blue and the printed image of the pop-machine.
So I
opted to break it up with a very coarse camo pattern over a base coat of green.
Initially
I'd planned to wait until I had a chance to find the proper colours ie; Olive
Drab etc... But settled on what ever I had on hand.
Between
masking and painting the different colours, I opted to wire together a series of
individual analog voltage meters to help track the relative charge left on the
batteries (even when in the field)...
All
of the parts used on this section were purchased from a liquidation house that
had crates of "Tandy/Radio Shack" parts for 25 cents ea...
A
week later they dropped the price to 5 Cents a piece.
I
think I bought $30 total between the 2 (two) separate price structures. I
concentrated on staple items like switches, solder, meters, wire and bridge
rectifiers.
For
now the E-Ute is only running with 3 batteries at 36Vdc, but a fourth meter was
installed for the future.
Each
meter is wired to a NO (normally open) momentary contact switch.
Really
the only values that I care about is 11VDC as an absolute minimum and 13Vdc
before leaving the farm yard.
Although
Voltage is not the most accurate gauge of what a batteries "State of
Charge" is, this is probably the most practical way to have a sense of how
far or how much I can carry with the E-Ute shy of checking the specific gravity
of the batteries.
Each
meter is wired to a NO (normally open) momentary contact switch.
The
wires are fastened to the batteries under the wing-nut posts.
The
meters were all tested against the Fluke digital meter and appear to be dead-on
(given that 0.25 to 0.5V is as close as is realistic)
The
meter assembly is mounts onto the top of the Lester-Matic with 4 machine screws
through it's alum lid.
If I
had to pay full retail for the parts I doubt that I'd have made this, but since
it was made for under a dollar, I'm more than happy with it.
The
roof extends several inches over the front, back and sides, but with even a
slight wind on a rainy day it tends to enter the battery compartment. The quick
dirty solution was to add a camo tarp on both sides held in place with 7 hard
disk magnets per side. The magnets are so strong that I'm sure the fabric would
rip before the magnets would let loose.
And
here is the E-Ute in all it's funkiness on the job.
Given
that the Lead Acid batteries will be near useless once the weather approaches 0
Celsius, I haven't scrapped out the S15 bush truck yet.
But
this has been a rewarding project to complete as Oil prices are settling above
the $80/barrel mark and may see $100 for any number of reasons over the next
year or two.