Hi Jack, There are actually several ways a high power, high voltage DC system could kill you. That is my main point. It is easy to touch the wrong places and get electrocuted. It is also easy to get a plasma fire that can't be extinguished until the batteries die or the circuit is cut. High resistance connections can catch fire under load.
It is possible to work with high voltage DC safely, but it is also easy to make mistakes that don't seem so bad, but are serious. It really needs to be respected. I have gotten a jolt from my car when I didn't realise my frame had battery voltage because of a cable assembly error that was letting voltage leak through the shrink wrap insulation. It didn't kill me, but my system is only 150V. It might have at 400V. You are right that I wouldn't pursue your project that way, but it should be interesting to watch. Do keep us posted, and stay safe. Mike On January 16, 2016 5:23:09 PM MST, Jack Wendel <[email protected]> wrote: >Mike sent: > >I have one more bit of unsolicited advice. From the information below, >you >> are obviously very experienced with high performance gasoline >engines. I >> would bet that you worked with many other ICE projects before you >tackled >> the 1000 hp nitrous engine. >> > >Actually that's 1600 hp with the nitrous but who's counting? ;^) > > >> If you were talking to somebody that wanted to build a 650 hp >> super-charged race car as a first project with gasoline engines, what >would >> you recommend to them? Would you recommend that they start with a >smaller >> project that was less performance with less things to go wrong? That >is >> what I would recommend, personally. >> > >Ahhh, that's what's different between you and me. You want to go "the >safe >route" that thousands before you have gone. My approach is "Screw that! >In >the end it will only get me to where thousands already are. What's the >point in that?!?" > > >> The electric drive you want to build is the equivalent of that race >car >> motor. Personally, I would recommend some sort of lower performance >> project to learn on first. Make the mistakes with a 50-100 kW system >> rather than a 400-500 kW system. Either one could cause serious >damage or >> injury, but the high power system can do it a lot faster. >> > >Is it going to kill me? Not likely... what doesn't kill me makes me >stronger. What comes closest to killing me on the way gets me there >quicker. > > >> You could probably get a conversion project from someone else for a >few >> thousand dollars. Take that apart and put it together. You will >learn a >> lot. Read through the EVDL archives. There are a lot of subtle >items that >> don't seem that important, but are critical. For example, fuses and >> contactors that are suitable for AC may be completely inappropriate >to use >> on a high voltage DC system. They could be the starting point of a >plasma >> fire if something goes wrong. >> > >Personally, I'd rather contract out the whole EV thing. My goal is not >to >become an EV expert. My goal is to have an EV ONLY because it is a >marketing tool. I personally would be just as happy with an ICE because >I >can't justify the added cost of an EV. > > >> Be careful and meticulous with all your assembly. You need to take >as >> much care with assembly and torquing all your electrical connections >as you >> would be in assembling an engine. >> > >Anyone on the list want to do the EV part for me? > > >> This is an exciting project you are tackling. >> > >Well, if I have to go the "safe route" the EV option is out. I simply >do >not have the luxury of the time it would take. > >Let me explain... Tesla already has the "$100k family car EV" market, >so no >point in going there. They soon should have the $100k EV SUV market as >well. GM beat them to the punch with the "affordable 200 mile EV". >They >won;t sell a lot because $37,500 isn't really "affordable" for and ugly >EV >with only 200 miles of range when you can buy an ugly ICE with 400 >miles of >range for half of that. > >That said, I see the gap between those and above those filling very >rapidly >with EVs no later than 2 years from now. So I have LESS THAN 2 years to >get >past a prototype and into limited production. If I had an EV prototype >meeting my performance goals tomorrow it would still be difficult to >hit >that target. If I screw around for 6 months to a year playing around >with >low end EV conversions, I might as well hang up the entire project >right >now. Oh I could get a car to market with that approach, but it will be >"Too >little, too late". Besides, I'll run out of money taking that route as >well. Every penny I spend on distractions is a penny I can't send >towards >reaching my goal. > >So, if I had unlimited time and unlimited budget, the "safe route" >would >work. But I simply don't believe that I do. > >Since you asked... I would recommend someone > >1) Hire a professional to find a good used race car from someone moving >up >to the 2500 horsepower class. Used race cars are (relatively) cheap at >somewhere between $20k and $75k (it would cost 4 times that and 1 - 2 >years >to have one built). >2) Go to a drag racing school. One weekend, $8k, 5 second 1/4 mile at >240 >mph. Fastest and easiest way to get the license required to race a car >that >goes that fast. >3) Start racing the weekend after the class! > >If you find out it's not for you, sell the car and you still can say >you >drove a 5 secind 240 mph funny car and you have the license to prove >it! >Few people can say that. Value: PRICELESS!!! > >I did it the way you recommend and it took me decades. Wish I had known >then what I know now. I would have been a MUCH younger guy racing VERY >quick cars! More accurately, I'd be my age still but have DECADES more >experience racing those cars. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20160116/5c4ba60f/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
