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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Electric Tracker
| Author | Message | ||||
| cobo351 Newbie  Joined: 18/12/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 34 |
I've had thoughts of converting my older model GEO Tracker to electric. what components are needed aside from batteries and a motor? Any comments are welcome. |
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Tinker Guru  Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
More info would help lots. Nobody can read your mind and guessing what you are writing about is a waste of time. Google shows hits about a car??? There is not much activity about car conversions on this forum. Klaus |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
What the!! Is a GEO tracker????? Sometimes it just works |
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| cobo351 Newbie Joined: 18/12/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 34 |
At this time the thought of converting it to electric is not much more then an idea. I was just wondering what info members had regarding common main components used in converting any vehicle to electric. I’m sure there or other sites and/or forums were this type of conversation is discussed with a lot more activity but just thought I’d mention the idea here. |
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MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
GEO Tracker? Since Cobo351 is from the States, my guess is a GEO Tracker is the name of a Chevrolet car. Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
That explains it a bit more as i was thinking a geo tracker was some sort of manual solar tracker or the likes of. My crystal ball is broken at the moment and to lazy to go searching for something someone neglected to give details for. Sometimes it just works |
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oztules Guru Joined: 26/07/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1686 |
At it's most basic it looks like this: EV At the other end of the scale, try this:Trevs car and every where in between I guess. Mine is just motor, batteries and controller.... and a windmill... must be getting closer to 2000kms of paddock bashing with this one and without any trouble so far. For a real car, you need vacuum for your brakes, and a heater I think (as well as driving all the usual 12v stuff) .............oztules Village idiot...or... just another hack out of his depth |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Oztules, What you mean you dont have heaters in the EV?? Shame on you. Than again, you dont have much other than metal joining wheels to motor. I chuckle every time i see a pic of it. Its a classic and belongs in the hall of fame. Think next year you should enter it in the motor show as i can just her sitting there with the glimmering abundance of car wax around it. Pete. Ps. Where did you get it from, as i think i seen one out the back of Alice on a mission just like it.  Sometimes it just works |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Oztules I think maybe I should consider moving to Australia. All the pictures look like everyone's filthy rich and has nothing but free time. Trev has to have spent close to a zillion dollars so far on that truck! While on the subject of Trev, I'm hoping that end mill shown is actually a mill and not a drill press. If it is a drill press, he'll find out soon enough why I'm hoping it's an actual mill! I'm a plumbing contractor and really have no complaints. In the US, plumbers hang out at or near the top of the food chain. Still, I'm a bit envious of all you down-under folks. It all looks so easy going from here! Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| cobo351 Newbie Joined: 18/12/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 34 |
Sorry guys for being a dumb ass. I now understand where I lacked providing information. A GEO Tracker is a 4-wheel drive vehicle assembled by GM to sell in the US. Made with Suzuki Sidekick parts. Similar to a scaled down land rover. |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Cobo351 I will get howls of derision by saying my piece here but here goes. An EV isnt a viable machine at present unless you spemd all your time within 50 miles of home to get further than that you need a hybred mschine with a onboard generator untill battery development becomes more user friendly and cost effective, When the weight of your batteries is greater than the weight of your car you have enough power to get home. I built a small hybrid car 30 years ago based on a morris minor GOOGLE THAT ONE 1955 model with a one liter engine that weighed as much as a chevy alloy 350 I tossed that out and fitted a 15 hp 48 volt fork lift motor coupled to the origional gearbox a not very efficient controller and regerative brake system based on components available removed the fuel tank from the trunk and fitted 8 X 12 volt 250amp hr batteries giving 500 ah at 48 volt nominal capacity we drove it to town and back 15 mile trip no worries and charged with a wind mill so life was good however the range was about 40 miles useable not enough, At an army disposal sale I picked up a small generator set all alloy 3 hp diesel with internal alternator 38 volts it was light enough to lift with ome arm so that was tricked up to produce 60 volts by a bit more exciting, It had electric start built into the flywheel so that was a plus I then put it under the bonnet helped to balance the weight of the batteries. it would run for 8 hours on its 1.5 gallon distilate tank that modification gave us a range of 200 miles plus on flat terrain at 60 mph the little motor put about 50 amps into the batteries as required. When you stop it keeps running to recharge the batteries for the next stint, fuel economy about 200 mpg and I did run it on sunflower oil for a while but it gummed up the injector and was a little bit down on power. That was thirty or more years ago and batteries havent got any lighter except for LIPO calls and that is a very high cost exercise with other cell ballance issues yet to be fully resolved. the electric motors available now are much lighter than my old fork lift motor save 100 lbs and save another 100 lb on the batteries power controllers are available of the shelf now at better than 90% efficiency mine was a 75% unit with a mechanical PWM. The car was 220 lbs heavier tha origional and I had to fit bigger brakes on the front to stop it. I have never been able to pick up another little generator like the one I had before, if I could I would build another one but not four wheel drive as friction losses are to great and batteries dont like hills as they are heavy to drag up hills but regen braking is good on the down hill side, recover about 20 percent of what it took to get up the same hill. In conclusion it can be done on a budget if you can scrounge up all the parts or most any way and it will pay for its self in the long run as long as you are battery concious otherwise you will end up with a lead sled. do not discharge pba batteries below 50% as they are not deep cycle batteries, Deepcycle batteries are much heavier and expensive Lipo is good but not cost effective yet. The battery pack that come out of the forklift reserected ok and I used it for years as a power source for the shed but it weighed more than the car needed a crane to shift it around in the forklift it was also used for ballast, My origional batteries where shedule replacement Cat 500 kw power packs, used to power the quarry I did maintainence on, only 2 years old and I fitted a desulphator to the pack and used them for another five years, they lasted for another 3 years for the guy I sold it to. He then restored the car to origional as a vintage car and sold it for a good price. Have a go and have some fun doing it but find a light buzz box to play with. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
PS If you put your controller inside the car you wont need a heater, but be able to relocate it during summer. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Pehaps you could fit some peltic cells to the controller and recover some of that heat into energy, As i understand they work in reverse?? Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Pete You have given me an Idea there I have a few plates left over from another project I will give it a try I had a look on ebay and there are some 150 watt ones available so if there only was a 25% return of energy a 1.2 meter sq alloy plate underglass would give one KW Metal temp under glass here in the summer is 130+ deg and use ground water as cooler side at delivery temp 25 deg that would give more than enough temperature differential may be enough to fry a picaxe, all it would need is a reasonable tracker and on that size not a problem. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
I had seen a study done by i think the swedish goverment on using peltic cells attached to heating stoves to recover energy. I never seen the final report on the outcome, weather it was viable or not. I had also considered them for a dump load ( hungry little buggers) but the reliability is not good enough. They be good, as heating in winter and reverse the wiring for cooling in summer. I be interested in the results of your experiment. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Pete I will keep you posted,I have a couple here in the parts bin from a food warmer cooler tray I was playing with for my sister. Never managed to let the smoke out of one but not very efficient in that application gave that up as a bad joke. I will google them to see what I can find. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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