Back in Action

After having the last couple weeks of my life stolen by first illness, then jury duty, I’m finally back in control and ready to get the stuff that needs to get done done to make the projects that need to happen happen- like the car and the kart. I didn’t shave until I was booted from the jury selection- It’s probably just superstition but hey, it can’t hurt to cultivate a “you don’t want me on your jury” look. What a relief to get out- the trial presentation for those selected will likely stretch into August. A real messy attempted murder case.

So, what’s up now? I’m making plans to get the electric MX-5 down to Monterey on Sunday for the Refuel expo/trackday/event at Laguna Seca. I’ve installed a set of MK3 Rudman Regulators to replace my home-built balancer setup as I discussed before. I’ve given the car a couple of test cycles to try to figure out what is really working and what’s not- the new regs look promising but need to be dialed in. There appears to be one really weak battery that is limiting the performance of the whole pack. And the brand new Belktronix DC/DC has something going on that I need to figure out. It’s blown a couple of HV fuses now (where do I recognize this scenario from?) If I can’t get it working it won’t ruin the weekend however, the aux. 12v battery seems to be up to the task of running the car. I got about 15 miles of driving today with heavy vacuum pump and headlight use before the aux battery ran hit the Zilla’s cutout point, and it wasn’t fully charged when I started.

It’s the little things that stack up and become seriously frustrating. The cycle analyst reports wildly varying and totally wrong current readings while charging the car, while seeming about correct under discharge. Even my Fluke 337 current clamp meter is acting sketchy and not entirely trustworthy, particularly for voltage or resistance measurements. There’s definitely something wrong with it.

So, like usual with the practice of trying to get stuff to work there is the sweet and the sour- some things go right the first time, more often things need more attention. Patience and perseverance.

I’m really looking forward to the event on Sunday, I know some people I want to see will be there and I expect plenty of people I will enjoy seeing but haven’t thought of will show up as well. Hopefully the Miata performs OK. Looks like my friends and I will also have the electric recliner in tow. After reworking the battery box today it is even more solid, and stealthy than before. Good stuff. Sadly we didn’t get a chance to set up the remote-controlled auto-recline feature. Another day.