Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter's S-10 Blazer conversion Electric Vehicle (EV)
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(Page is a chronological record of my Electric S-10 Blazer - EV conversion)

09/02

I turned my PFC-20 loaner in for the PFC-50 which was made for me. Tremendous power ability:. on 204 VAC at 30amp AC into the PFC-50 I was getting 36.6 amps DC into my pack at 150VDC. 30 amps AC i s the most one should draw from the AVCON charging units. Mre than that will trip the host's breaker (not a good thing to do!).

But at an RV park 220VAC 50 amp outlet, you can crank the PFC-50 all the way up to its maximum output. My pack was only 30 amp hours out of 100 down. I was getting 72 amps into my pack at 150VDC while drawing the maximum of 50 amps 220 VAC. The pack charged so fast the pack voltage rose to above 153 VDC and the PFC-50 started to taper its output current. Truely this is a high powered charger.

04/02
I receieved a PFC-20 loaner to use while the PFC-50 is being developed. I have tested it throughly on 120VAC and 208 to 240VAC. It is a rock solid design, and has many features that make it well worth the price. It is for all practical purposes two chargers in one. It can charge from 90 to 240VAC. It has a knob to let you dial in what charging current your want. Other chargers do not let you do this, and this feature is very usefull when sharing an outlet with another load or desiring a slow charge.
The PFC-20 limits your output to 20 amps. I get 21 on a totally depleated pack at 130 VDC. But as the pack surface voltage rises to 150VDC the output current tapers to 20.

The power factor correction (ergo the model name PFC) is superior. A fluke 40 reading has it at 97.5% This is excellent and it puts the power to the pack rather than wasting half on heat, like a bad-boy, K&W BC-20, or Zivan charger.

The power factor correction also let you use this charger with the public AVCON charging heads. Currently the evi ics-200 AVCON charging units are what is installed at these locations. You can 'only' use a power factor correct charger with these units, else the units will wrror out and shut power down. But the PFC-20 works fine!

01/02
I have sold my sold my Solectria BC1600, K&W BC20, and one of my Zivan K2 120 VAC chargers. I now have a Zivan NG5 220 VAC, two Zivan K2 220 VAC, and two Zivan K2 120 VAC chargers that are fed AC from the front grill. I have put my $2500 down as a deposit for a http://manzanitamicro.com PFC-50 charger. I will changing out my 22 T145 Trojan batteries for 22 US145 batteries. I still use my AVCON adapter to charge from available public AVCON charging sites.

I now live in a motorhome and have moved from Sunnyvale to Redwood City. I put a tow bar on my blazer, and have towed my blazer to Sacramento for the EVAA ETI conference. I have charged my Blazer off my motorhome's on board 5.2 kw LP fueled Generac generator. Generators are typically over rated by 50%, and this was confirmed by using the rented generator at the various NEDRA Electric Drag Races, and now off my on board generator. Instead of 10 amps going into my pack, I only got 5 amp when charging off my LP 5.2 kw Generac connected to my Zivan K2 120 VAC charger.

03/01
The NG5 & two K2 220 VAC Zivan are mounted in the rear where the tank was. Mike Slomonski routed two 120 VAC power cords and SB50 pack connections to the top of the rear battery pack. I will have 120 VAC charger access from top and use built in 220 VAC charging from underneath. From the front grill, the AC inlets are:


(5-15) (5-15) (5-15) -chevy logo- (6-15) (6-15) (6-15)

-battery warmers and rear duplex receptacle
-right rear inline receptacle (top rear)
-left rear inline receptacle (top rear)
-NG5 220 VAC charger (bottom rear)
-K2 220 VAC charger (bottom rear)
-K2 220 VAC charger (bottom rear)

 
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