Drove to work and BACK!!!

Started at 155v, arrived at the office with pack reading 149v (or about 75% DOD)

Plugged into the newly installed charger point – big thank you to Cisco (my employer) for that.

Charged in about 3hrs. Here is the StealthBus charging at the office!

Average speed 55mph for about 4 miles (300A or so at peak). There was a “hot-electrical” smell.

Ordered new e-brake cables, backing plates and H4 conversion kit for headlights.

Intermitant issue with the right hand rear blinker – loose contact in the light cluster I think.

Refitted the controller panel, added 3 mounting bolts (3/8″) to firmly hold the panel in place.

E-brake is holding but not as well as I would like, the cable is stretched and will need replacing.

Also I found out that rear brakes are uneven in application, which most likely a bend backing plate.

Low beams are not working, full test of the wiring reveals that lamps themselves are the issue, H4 conversion time!

So I learned something new today… contactors are marked A1 and A2 – I thought that was very nice… what I didn’t know is that A1 is the positive and A2 is the negative, and should be connected thus so the magnetic blowouts work… mmm… looking at my old contactors one was correct and the other was incorrect (happily – for once) the broken one is the one that was reversed… never happens 🙂

Replaced amber lamps for LED bulbs – no more “fried eggs” – very reasonably priced ($6 on ebay shipped direct from Hong Kong!) – only problem was the flasher ran double speed because the clever electronic flasher “thinks” the lamp is blown because the current draw is too low.

Brought a new flasher relay from the “Zone of Auto” and with a small modification now blinks at the regular rate… I modified the R/C circuit with a pot so switch back and forth (if required). You can buy special LED flashers (for more money of course) – but five minutes and a soldering iron also works.

Found out the issue with the nearside running light – rotten fuse in S2 position, brought at a complete replacement set, the others are a bit crispy.

Replaced rear brake drums – need to adjust E-brake (not holding on steep hills…eeee)

Replaced all shock absorbers – much nicer ride now.

Added a aux output under the dash, to enable using 12v accessories.

Ordered two new contactors from evcomponents

These are the ~EV200 from Tyco, not the ~LEV200. There are several differences but the main one is the coil holding current only 125mA verses 1A for the LEV version.

It also includes a built in coil suppression diode.

New brake drums arrived, hopefully this will improve the E-brake situation 🙂

New shocks all around, the old one where creaking and not very happy.

Brought some Euro-style clear lens indicators, now I just need the stealth bulbs !

Also found some original VW smoked rear lens for the brake/reverse/indicator lens.

Spoke with site management at my office, and they are investigating power outlet so I can recharge at work!

Received certification from GEFA, so the Stealthbus is officially a ZEV and qualifies for the state and federal tax credits as well as for an AF (Alternative Fuel) tag.

Zero emission inspection… met with James Udi from GEFA.

Vacuum pump wired up – only temporary wiring will clean up and do it nicely.

Found major air leak from hose connected to the servo, replaced and now it sucks correctly and stops very well!

Disaster! – While tightening the nuts on the Main Contactor the stud twisted off, M8 is big, but copper is soft… and I guess I’m stronger than I think!

Good news – I designed my system with a certain degree of redundancy in this regard, I added the second contactor for protection and so in an emergency I could bypass or swap the defective contactor and still drive it. So thats what I did. Bypassed it.

First major outing, took StealthBus from Cumming, GA to Lawrenceville, GA – 26 miles in total.

Starting pack voltage 154v, finish 143v (pretty close to 80% DOD).

Plugged in for full charge, 5hrs at 13A from wall plug the pack back up to 160v – cutoff set at 172.8v (per specs).

Need to hook up a 30A 220V circuit to the garage, so I can charge faster, but 115A/15A ok for now.