1/12/09 - I put a 12 v battery on the truck the DC bus, and tested for switched 12v. Found it, and found out that the truck lights... work, along with the vacuum pumps. They cut off when the pressure switch switches.
1/17/09 - I worked on the test battery pack, which coinsists of 19 gel batteries. They were first charged in parallel, as all used batteries should be. Today, I connected them in series through an albrite contactor, to a 25 amp fuse, to a shunt ammeter, capible of 70 amps, with # 10 awg stranded wire. I know, 70a is too much for # 10 wire. The 6 fuses on the right in the DC fuse box / shunt were removed. The connection to the truck was through a fused (30amp) red wire in the rear battery box. In the front shunt box, I selectively enabled the peripherals. First, I connected the DC/DC converter, through it's fuse. I got 12 volts output, with no discernible any amp draw. When I turned the headlights on, I could see the needle in the 70 ampere meter move slightly. Next I put the power steering pump fuse in. The pump worked fine, perhaps with less noise than I expected. Then I connected the 2a fuse for the amp-hour meter, and the 6 position plug in the console area. Everything worked-voltmeter, ampmeter, amp-hour gauge. I am pleased. Tomorrow I will test the ignition boards, and the controllers, to see if I get motion of the rear wheels. One controller at a time. The truck is setting on blocks.
1/18/09-I tried to get the tires to spin, with-out success. I am working on a truck, that appeared to have a battery pack voltage of 252v, as there was an extra battery box in front, located on top of a box that contained 4 batts. Rear battery pack,15,Front,6. I also heard from some X-Solectria employees, that there were some trucks that had "extended capacity battery boxes". However, I used 228 volts. I performed the tests outlined in the manual (E-10-144v Solectria Service Manual), for the ignition circuit, and the controller. On the test on the ignition board, (page 42), I could only hear one relay click. I switched boards for the one that did not click, to no avail. I wonder of there is a more through test, performed by looking at the voltages of the 25 pin connector to the controller.For the second test on the controller, I was looking for a clunk, as outlined on page 43 of the manual, when the ignition key was turned on. I could hear a relay movement, but, it was un-latching, several seconds after I removed power. I pressed on the accelerator pedal, to no avail. I opened up the controller, to see if the relay was sluggish, or if there was a voltage on the coil. No voltage listed. I am wondering if the controiller did not work because the applied voltage was 24 v shy of what I think the battery pack voltage is. (228v versus 252v)
1/21/09- Succesfully got 1 controller too clunk. But, no motion. I am going to use a DB-25 patch box to isolate the signals going to the controller. Sorry about the focus.
1/25/09 - Of the 6 controllers, 4 work. Another was making a hissing sound. I will open it up for inspection. have not been able to repeat the hissing. Learned that Battery voltage needs to be applied for 60 seconds.
1/31/09 - More testing of the one working controller and of the opposite motor and opposite ignition card. All are OK, with the one working controller. But we noticed that the speed of the tire, when the accelerator is floored is pretty anemic. (The truck is on blocks.)
2/4/09 - Success at last! The anemic response was the power control pot - it was set too low. A thumb twist fixed it.