My boat conversion from diesel to el.

[Bikemad]

Hi Björn,

Could it be that the controller and/or the motor is getting hot and this is automatically reducing the power?

Have you checked to see if either of them are getting excessively warm after continuous use?

Alan

[BjornO]

Hi Alan,

They do not become very hot. I will measure the temperature next time. It occures after just a couple of minutes at moderate speed.

It is strange that the speed is resumed when I move the trottle lever a bit towards higher speed.  Maybe it is the throttle potentiometer, I will try a multi-position switch with a resistor ladder later.

Björn

[Bikemad]

If you're able to easily measure the throttle voltages it would be interesting to see if the +5V and/or the throttle signal voltages drop slightly when the motor speed decreases.

Alan
 

[BjornO]

OK, I will try to measure the voltages. I just need to take the throttle apart to access them.

Björn

[BjornO]

I have been running today with high load, measuring temperatures and voltages. The speed was stable, so the previous speed change is still to be investigated.
The 5V voltage is stable at 4.5-4.6V.
The throttle voltage was 2V when standing still, 3.2V at normal speed, 3.5V at max speed and 1.9V at normal reverse speed.
The motor temperature went up to 45?C, and the controller 90?C. The ambient temperature was 28?C at start, but went up to over 30?C during the test.
I will test with a throttle consisting of a 12 position switch and fixed resistors instead of the potentiometer, as this will be more stable.

[BjornO]

Hi, another year has passed, and I an working on some upgrades.
The rotary switch with fixed resistors works fine, so the problem was probably the potentiometer and the salty environment.
I have 5 positions forward and 3 backwards. I have set the acceleration/decceleration to 600.
When I go from a forward or reverse position to neutral, the boat does not stop, and the prop will continue rotating so with a normal diesel I use the reverse to brake. When docking, I need to be able to switch more quickly between forward and reverse.
How low can the acceleration/decceleration be set? Does the controller brake the movement or just freewheel?

[Bikemad]

Hi Björn,

The motor will continue to rotate (if the water is moving fast enough through the propeller blades) when the throttle is placed in the "Neutral" position while the boat is still moving unless the brake is also activated when the throttle is in the Neutral position. However, this would still produce the annoying 15 beep error code when in Neutral.

As I don't have any way of testing the different functions I can see in the programming software, I'm not sure how they are supposed to work, but it might be worth setting the Enable EBS Auto-Mode to 1:Enable and then set the EBS Auto_Mode Speed (rpm) to your maximum motor RPM and then see if there is any braking effect from the prop when the throttle is reduced while the boat is moving.
Unfortunately, I don't know whether the Auto EBS (regenerative braking effect) would be activated instantly or whether there would be a noticeable delay.

I would also set the Acceleration (rpm/s) and Deceleration (rpm/s) as high as possible to see if you can achieve a faster motor response when changing direction.
The acceptable range indicated in the software is 50~1200, but I’m not sure if the controller will actually accept a setting of 1200.

If your rotary switch contacts are "break before make" type, I don't know what voltage the throttle signal wire defaults to when the contacts are open between throttle setting changes. If the throttle voltage momentarily goes outside the working throttle range, I'm wondering whether it may cause a delay. 

Ideally the throttle signal voltage should default to ~2V if the circuit is momentarily disconnected between the different throttle setting positions on your rotary switch with your particular throttle setup. You should be able to use a 10k trimpot wired in parallel with your throttle and then adjust it to give the required ~2V default throttle signal voltage:

Once correctly adjusted, this could be completely sealed with silicone or epoxy to protect against salt water ingress.

Please let me know if enabling the Auto EBS slows the boat as hoped when the throttle is moved to Neutral.

Alan
 

[BjornO]

Hi Alan and thank you for the answer,

Unfortunately I can not test new settings until launch in may, but I have fetched the controller from the boat to be able to set the parameters at home.

I have tried out various values, and set the maximum values that are accepted by the controller. These are the new settings:
Acceleration: 800
Deceleration: 800
EBS Auto_Mode: 1:Enable
EBS Auto_Mode Speed: 1000

The rotary switch is ”make before break”, so the voltage should not go outside the range.

After launch I will test the new settings. Maybe I have to momentarily activate the brake signal when going between forward and reverse.

Björn

[BjornO]

These are all my settings. Maybe someone has any suggestions on changes.

[BjornO]

Now I am working with version 3 of my throttle. The first version failed as the switch is break before make. I will use a parallel circuit with two resistors, 120k to the 5V supply and 100k to GND, giving me 2,2V between the steps. I will also try diodes instead of resistors between the steps, giving me 0,7V space.

[Bikemad]

As the working throttle voltage range is only 2V in total (1.2 to 3.2V) I don't think diodes will give you many speed options.
I suggest you use resistors as shown below:



According to my calculations, this should give the following signal voltages and corresponding throttle percentages:

Switch Position    Signal Voltage     Throttle Percent
     Neutral                2.20V                        0%
         F1                   2.42V              20% Forward
         F2                   2.62V              41% Forward
         F3                   2.83V              61% Forward
         F4                   3.03V              82% Forward
         F5                   3.24V            100% Forward
         R1                   1.85V              36% Reverse
         R2                   1.49V              73% Reverse
         R3                   1.12V            100% Reverse

The 200k trimpot (TP3) should be preset to give a resistance of approximately 103,000 Ohms between pins 1 & 2, and then readjusted when finally installed to read 2.20V between pins 1 & 2 with the rotary switch disconnected or held between 2 poles with contact open.
The 5k trimpots will need to be set as follows:
Preset TP1 to 3,150 Ohms between pins 1 & 2 (Pin 3 is not used)
Preset TP2 to 2,800 Ohms between pins 1 & 2 (Pin 3 is not used)
If necessary, readjust TP1 with the switch in the Neutral position until the Signal Voltage reads 2.20V relative to the Ground (0V) Wire.

I'm not sure how much the 200k trimpot will affect the Throttle Signal Voltage when the rotary switch is operated, hopefully it won't make much difference and the throttle will work just as expected.
Check that you have a signal voltage of just over 3.2V with the switch in the F5 position, and just below 1.2V with the switch in the R3 position.
You may have to readjust TP1 and TP2 if the Signal Voltage is too low in the F5 position or too high in the R3 position whilst also ensuring that the Signal Voltage in Neutral is still ~2.2V.

Hopefully you'll be able to make it all work as hoped.

Alan
 

[BjornO]

I will use this. The brake signal is to make sure the motor does not move when in neutral. I have prepared it so that I can use it with or without separate reverse switch.

[BjornO]

Now I have tested it and it works. When switched on it beeps, as it is in neutral and the brake signal is active. Rotating clockwise, speed is inreased forward, and counter clockwise reverse.
However, sometimes the beeping does not stop and the motor does not run, when I turn the throttle. Maybe the voltage on the throttle input is outside the limits. I will add the TP3 potentiometer to be able to fine tune the neutral position, but connect it to the N connector instead of the output.