The Charger Has Returned Home

The charger arrived back from Manzanita Micro today, safe, sound and in perfect working order. They received it last Thursday, and had it fixed and on it's way back to me by Monday. I found out that it was the AC rectifier bridge that I'd damaged. They repaired that and then fully tested the unit to make sure it was healthy in all respects. The grand total in charges... $125, and $50 of that was shipping. How great is that!? I seriously hope I never have to send it back, but if I do, I know it's in great hands.

I got it back and began re-assembling the car. I hadn't done too much to it, so it only took me an hour or so. It was with some trepidation that I threw the switch to start charging the car. But it turned out my concerns were not needed. It fired up and started working like a dream.

I would still like to install the inrush limiters, or thermistors on the DC to DC converters. I bought a little project box, meaning to do it during this week's down time. But I found out more about they way they work which forced me to change my plans. When cold, they offer high resistance to the current, which keeps the arcing to a minimum, but they quickly heat up as current flows through them and the resistance drops. It's not unusual for them to reach 200° F. Well the project box I bought was plastic, so that wouldn't do. But worse, the only place I have to mount them is against the plastic box in the trunk that holds the charger and DC to DC converters.

So, I need to re-think how I'm going to do that, and where I'm going to mount them. I'm kind of at a loss right now, but I'll figure something out eventually. I could disassemble the DC to DC converters and actually put them inside the housing, but I really don't want to do that. Regardless, tomorrow I'm back on the road with a nice big EV grin!

COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC

A friend of mine named Fred and I have launched a new blog. It is called F1-Geeks, and as you might have guessed, it's devoted to Formula 1. But that's not all! We actually intend to talk about several topics that we and others like us find particularly interesting; cars, gaming, tech gadgets, home theater stuff and EV stuff too. Check it out, and leave us a comment or two if you feel like it. Thanks!