Rear battery box and more wiring

Post date: Aug 15, 2014 9:39:27 AM

With the motor and batteries in position, most of the heavy mechanical work is done. But the wiring and interconnection of all the components (BMS, emergency switches, charger, ...) is a huge task, especially considering safety requirements.

The throttle cable is attached to a 3-wire potbox of an electric buggy.

We also noticed that the vacuum for the brake booster did not remain for a long time, forcing the pump (Hella UP30) to restart every 15 secs or so. Initially, we suspected the one-way valve inside the reservoir to be leaky, but after submerging the vacuum reservoir in a bucket of water, many bubbles appeared from the joint between the two screw caps. Seems like PVC glue was not able to bridge the remaining gap between the two tubes. We resealed using silicone RTV.

After testing, the vacuum seems to hold for +10 minutes. There might still be a small leak somewhere, but at least the brakes are usable now.

Since some new wiring is needed for the motor controller and its contactor to respond on the iginition key, the whole dash was removed for easy access:

The wiring around the rear battery box is also complete. The Emus BMS is inside the aluminium box on the bottom right of the picture below. It drives both battery boxes' contactors when the ignition key is turned to the ACC position. Upon turning to IGN, the motor controller is enabled, which in turn closes its own contactor.

And finally, the covered rear battery box: