Early September I created a second design of the front battery box.
Since it is very close to fit it in between the hood, motor and DC-DC converter I build a wooden mockup to be able to test fit easily.
As expected with the new design, the high voltage DC-DC connector does not fit anymore.
The mockup also allows me to test fit the shunt, contactors and 35 mm2 shielded cable.
I decided to move the shunt and thus the contactors a little more towards the center.
That allows more room for the cable. The fuse and it’s holder do fit indeed.
In the engine bay
So far I positioned the box using some pieces of wood on top of the motor. Time to build a support.
I could reuse the bolt for the brake line distribution block which will be repositioned anyway. For the lower one I used a rivet nut. First a test.
And afterwards in the car.
And almost ready.
Removed DC-DC support V1
Next step was to remove the DC-DC converter support that I had build earlier.
To lower it both at the bottom and in the top to reinstall it at a different angle.
Allowing enough clearance for the high voltage connector.
To finish the welding and add the sides to create an enclosure again.
Only after that I found out there would be no space to install the heater at the inside.
So I removed the mount for the second time.
Different place for the DC-DC?
The question was, could I find another position for the DC-DC converter? For example next to the motor.
But I don’t know the P rating and I’m not sure it’s completely dry up there. Furthermore it’s not ideal in terms of routing of the hoses and wiring.
In the front perhaps?
Would be tricky in terms of cooling connections, in the way for the original headlight wiring and less desirable in terms of weight distribution.
So perhaps just give it a thought and some time…
Installing LED panels
Recently we switched to Qurrent as a sustainable energy provider and installed a Q-box to get realtime insights into our energy consumption. I was shocked by the amount of energy used by my TL lighting in my garage. TL used to be economical one day, but having 6 double fittings is 12 x 58W which is around 700W.
After some research I have chosen LED panelen of 3400 lumens for 29W with 6400K white daylight for only 30 euro’s each. The first three have been replaced.
It’s nice and bright and works very convenient. The difference with my old TL is huge. The light distribution is much better as well.
Idea: DC-DC and heater positioning
After moving the different parts around I got the idea to put the DC-DC converter below the heater. I that case the high voltage cable will be in the passenger compartment which I wanted to prevent, but for the heater there’s one already anyway.
Let’s see whether I can reuse and original Volvo Amazon heater as a basis. To be continued….
