Outlander Rear <-> Zombie wiring requirements

[Scrappyjoe]

Hello,

I have been making use of the wiki and forum posts to wire up my Outlander Rear inverter to the zombieverter. I have made good progress with precharge and the throttle, but I am unable to get my InvUDC to go above 0V, or to get my InvStat to go On.

I would like to confirm that I have met the minimum requirements to make get InvStat = On and InvUDC ~ udc3. If I have met the minimum requirements, then my assumption is that my Inverter connector is broken and I need to make a new one. I have two inverters and neither work which is why I want a sense check.

Here is the detail of my current setup. I have also attached params.json and cmd.json.

The inverter is connected to my Zombie and to 12v+ and ground. The inverter is NOT connected to the motor, via either the 3 phase HV lines or the signal cable.

Zombie stats:
- Using Version 2.17a
- Ignition, start and precharge are working.
- Opmode is run.
- Throttle is calibrated.
- I am using CAN1 for all CAN. Currently IVT shunt and inverter are the only things connected to it, and IVT Shunt is working fine - so the can network is working. Shunt and Zombie are the two terminal resistors.

I think I have wired the inverter relay correctly. At any rate, when the ignition is off, no 12v is flowing to the inverter. When the ignition turns on, 12v is flowing to the inverter. I have checked all lines for continuity from their origin to the inverter socket.

Here are ALL the wires that are connected to the inverter:

1. HV + and - from contactor box to inverter
2. 12v relay feed to 12v in on inverter side
3. Ground directly from my 12v battery to the ground wire on the inverter side
4. Ground directly from my 12v battery to the remcu shut down signal line
5. Ground from battery to the case of the inverter for good measure
6. CAN H to CAN H
7. CAN L to CAN L


So, finally, my question. Is there anything I might have missed in my setup thus far? As far as I can tell, as long as I can get into run mode, I'm supplying 12v to the inverter, and the can lines are connected I should be getting comms.

[tom91]

The outlander inverter only reports voltage at the start then the values change.

No inverter beyond the ones mentioned use invStat https://openinverter.org/wiki/Zombiever ... pot_Values

Check that tmphs and tmpm are updating for inverter and motor temp.

[Scrappyjoe]

Hi tom!

Ok, so absence of data on those two does not signify absence of life in my inverter. Thanks for clearing that up.

tmphs = 0 and tmpm = 0 in run mode.

But, the inverter is not connected to the motor, and there is no water cooling connected, so perhaps that's not unexpected. I will connect up the motor and see if I can make it spin.

[tom91]

You have CAN comms not happening. there should be data on the spot values.

You follow this diagram? https://openinverter.org/wiki/images/a/ ... del%29.png

Be useful to get a CAN log of what is happening on your bus to check if the inverter is talking as it should.

[Scrappyjoe]

Yes, I followed that diagram. Definitely no CAN comms from inverter.

It is possible that the pins are broken in the socket. I'll open it up, strip the connector and connect to the wires directly.

[Scrappyjoe]

Well, tom91, I just managed to get this working this afternoon while avoiding my day job. There were several issues which I will mention here as a possible help to others.

Mainly, this was an issue of user error, with a bit of undocumented 'earlier owner modification' sprinkled over.

To get my user error out of the way, you will notice that the Inverter <-> Zombie comms diagram has an arrow above it that says 'Inverter Top'. It turns out that the harness I got with my inverter was simply plugged in upside down. Or, rather, the top row female connector was in the bottom row and vice versa.

The more subtle issue, which I took a really long time to sort out, was that my entire CAN network wasn't working. And that was because it turns out my Zombieverter has no terminating resistors in it - even though it says 'CAN 1 and 2 terminated by default' printed on the PCB. I bought all my stuff secondhand so perhaps the seller desoldered them to incorporate it into an existing network. This took quite a while to detect because it turns out that my IVT Shunt works just fine when there is only one resistor (inside the shunt) and only one other device (the Zombie). The CAN network only broke down when I added another device.

Anyway, flipping the connector plus adding a terminating resistor sorted me out.

With the inverter connected to the CAN network, and no motor attached, I get readings for -

INVudc, tmphs, tmppm

Interestingly, INVudc is a weird number (my battery is 295V and it reads 9512) and my tmpm reads 215. tmphs reads 25, which sounds more reasonable. But I definitely see signs of life so I can consider this issue closed. I will now proceed with connecting the motor

[tom91]

INVudc is a weird number (my battery is 295V and it reads 9512)

INVudc is only real until you send a torque command and then it becomes another feedback value and should be ignored.

CANbus wiring issues are annoying to trace out, always good to do the power everything off and check the bus resistance check.

[J0hannes]

INVudc is only real until you send a torque command and then it becomes another feedback value and should be ignored.

CANbus wiring issues are annoying to trace out, always good to do the power everything off and check the bus resistance check.

Just to reiterate, in case it is not clear for anyone else who stumbles upon this thread with similar issues.

"Correct number" of terminations (TWO ) are present in a said CAN bus, when you measure approx 60 Ohm resistance between CAN H and CAN L from any end point on the bus. Termination resistors 120 Ohm should preferrably be in the two nodes which are furthest apart from each other in the bus chain. You can dip your toes deeper into the wonderful mysteries of CAN bus for example here

In the link above things are explained further, but GND for the CAN bus devices should be common. You can pull a shared ground wire from CAN device to device and earth it in a single point in the car body. This eliminates (reduces A LOT) of source for possible problems related to bus not functioning properly.