openinverter forum

mtrehy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 11:49 am What caused the contractors to open? Did you replace the entire inverter or just the burnt phase?

mane2 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 2:52 pm I had max charging rate on Orion BMS set to 200A (I think default value) and tested strong regen. As regen amps exceeded max set to Orion, it lifted contactors.

To fix this issue I of course upped the max amps but also added a relay so that Orion can only control main contractors when car is not driving.

I changed inverter from another motor, but I couldn’t make it water tight. So we changed the other motor completely, which leaked from motor side and now on the inverter side too So I bought a third motor, from newer car and it has been working now almost a year. No leaks or problems.

mtrehy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 7:24 pm Your Orion BMS controls the contactors? I have Orion BMS but don't use that for contactors - I wasn't actually aware it could

mane2 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 7:46 pm My LDU controls contactors but Orion has priority over LDU to open them if something bad is about to happen. After modifications it can only open them in charging or idle mode.

mtrehy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:14 pm What Orion are you using? I'm interested in how you have configured it to control the contactors

muehlpower wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 1:39 pm Does it make sense to connect a capacitor in parallel to each of the main contactor coils? With a resistor for charging and two diodes. According to my estimate, a 10000uF capacitor should keep the contactor closed for 1s after switching off.

Kondensator.png

phillipschip wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2024 4:55 am Has anyone tried this? This seems like a good solution. I am wanting to add some type of inertia switch. I have watched the video but having the contactors stay shut would not protect the vehicle or responders from high voltage in case of accident.

jrbe wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2024 11:15 am I added a capacitor footprint to the gen3 leaf board kind of like this but in the mosfet gate drive circuit. I don't believe it has been tested.

If you do decide to try this you will likely need a capacitor with a rated voltage 8? times higher than the coil voltage to handle the inductive spike at turn off.
Also, the capacitor has the potential to delay the turn on depending on available coil current / wiring. Just something to watch for.

muehlpower wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2024 6:57 pm I'll do it like this, close to the Contactors. It maintains the high voltage for a second even when the ignition is switched off while driving. The capacitors of the power supply on the OI control board should be empty more quickly. The diodes and the resistor limit the inrush current and prevent the current from flowing back to terminal 15. Unlike digital or timer-based solutions, it switches off safely after one second.
Contactor delay.png

uhi22 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 6:03 am I understood the capacitor approach addresses the use case "ignition off while driving kills the inverter".

uhi22 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 6:03 am I understood the capacitor approach addresses the use case "ignition off while driving kills the inverter".

phillipschip wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:47 am Would something like this do the trick?

barracuda816 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 12:56 pm Not sure I get the idea either. If you shut off the 12v supply to the inverter (i.e Oi board or Zombie) then the motor cannot keep running under power so surely it makes more sense for an E-stop to cut the 12v power to the board and keep the contactors on latched?

Or am I missing your point?

jrbe wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 10:18 am That old style Ford inertia switch is one of the problematic ones I mentioned. It used to be funny to kick the front bumper of one of these cars and this switch would open. Car wouldn't start and the owner wouldn't know why. There might be a newer revision that's less sensitive though. I believe hitting a small to medium size animal would also open the switch possibly rendering your drive exploded. I believe these were added because of the lack of a fuel pump safety circuit in these models.

I'm not seeing what you guys are with this extra one second of contactor on time. If you're going highway speeds and the inverter is shut off, I only see this as giving you 1 second to turn the ignition back on before the contactors open / inverter fails.
It might buy you a little in the speed above which the inverter fails if contactors are opened - allowing generated regen power to flow into the battery. But this would likely go full regen during the inverter off, contactors still closed time, likely causing loss of control.

All of the emergency stop tests I've seen are stationary. But I think this should still be thought through.

OI has an e-stop loop in at least some inverters. Doesn't opening this set the inverter into like a neutral mode, a no regen / no acceleration mode to allow coasting safely to a stop?

It seems like what you guys are after is more of a vehicle computer that's watching for vehicle speed or crash info to cut the contactors when safe or in an emergency but I might be mistaken.

jrbe wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 10:18 am

I'm not seeing what you guys are with this extra one second of contactor on time. If you're going highway speeds and the inverter is shut off, I only see this as giving you 1 second to turn the ignition back on before the contactors open / inverter fails.
It might buy you a little in the speed above which the inverter fails if contactors are opened - allowing generated regen power to flow into the battery. But this would likely go full regen during the inverter off, contactors still closed time, likely causing loss of control.

phillipschip wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 6:02 pm If regen was turned off...