My dummy load is the resistive heat strips from a couple of derelict heat pumps. Since I use them at 144v rather than 240v, I split each in the middle. With all 4 (mismatched) half-elements in parallel, it uses about 100 amps at 144 volts, exactly what I was looking for. It also heats up the garage rather nicely when I'm tinkering on a cool day.
To sub for the heat pumps' air plenums, I put the elements in an old metal mailbox that had lost its door. I cut a hole in the back and added a fan from a scrapped range hood (runs on 117vac). I switch it to the test battery with an extra contactor I had lying about. I meant to add a 12v power puck to pull in the contactor when I switched on the fan, but never did, so I have to power the contactor with a 12v battery. Fortunately I have a few taking up space in the garage. I admit, it looks pretty laughable, but it's all free / recycled materials, and it works. The only problem is that the fan is gunky from years of cooking grease, so it takes a couple of minutes to really get going when I power it up. To vary the current, I suppose you could add a PWM DC controller to something like this. You might have to add some series inductance unless you were sure that you'd never need to hit controller's current limit (that is, the load was such that it would never exceed the controller's current capacity). David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
