V2.0: TTXGP @VIR and Battery testing
So a few of you know that after I quit working at EVComponents, I was contracted by both Manzanita Micro and Elithion to help them with technical questions, design, and some sales. About a month after I started, I went down to the TTXGP race at Infineon and met up with Gene and Stephen from Manzanita. I didn’t get to help much, but I know that the Manzanita chargers were everywhere. It seems like they were in every paddock. They both did a great job at helping the racers.
Well, the time has come for another TTXGP race, this time at the Virginia International Raceway, just a couple hours outside of where I spent nearly 12 years of my life (grew up in Roanoke, VA and went to Virginia Tech, and lived in Richmond, VA for a couple years). We thought it would be another great opportunity to get out and show people what these chargers and BMS can do, so I’ll be heading out there for the races (and spending a few days with my immediate family while I’m out there). Gene and I will be helping the racers with BMS and charging while we’re there and should also have a couple of the 10Ah and 16Ah Headway cells along with a discharge tester, so people can see firsthand how they perform. Manzanita is expecting their order of 800 38120S 10Ah cells and 200 40160S 16Ah cells due in their facility the first week of August.
Now what is tester? I’ve mentioned before a little about the CC400 Electronic Load before and how I plan to test my batteries under a 5-10C load to confirm each battery is going to handle the current required. Well I’ve been getting the parts I need to finish the test fixture. I’ve got the CC400, a servo driver to adjust the current level and a DI-148U Data Logger from DataQ to measure the voltage.
Here are the CC-400 Specifications:
- Current: 1A-150A for 2V-60V cells/packs, dropping to 100A max. at 0.9V.
- Voltage: 0.5V-60V
- Power: 400W continuous at 30C ambient, 500W for 15 seconds. Allows for 100A discharging of a Li cell.
- Basic Accuracy: From 1A-20A, +/-35mA, from 21A-150A, +/-1%, typically better than +/-0.6%.
The DI-148U is a USB data logger with 10 analog inputs and some digital I/O. I’ll be using only 2 of the channels (one for voltage, one for temperature). I don’t need anything with a high sample rate for what I’m doing because the tests are fairly long.
I attached it to my computer last night and configured the DataQ unit to show 0-5V on the Y axis, and time on the X axis. I hooked up a Headway 38120S cell and after calibrating, it showed the exact same voltage as my multimeter. I loaded the cell with a headlight bulb I had laying around, and could see the voltage drop a few mV. Its a pretty smooth curve. I’m just waiting on the servo driver to arrive so I can adjust the output current on the CC400 while I test. I’ll set discharger at a set current, and then the servo driver will adjust the discharge current between 0 and 100% of that setpoint. Most of the testing will be done at 100%, but this gives me the option to adjust while I’m testing.
Thats it for now! I’ll have more pictures from VIR in a few weekends. I can’t wait! I really hope Brammo makes it out there with the Empulse.
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