Battery Vehicle Society

If you can't find a manual rack and the suspension geometry hasn't been designed around power assist (some cars are almost impossible to steer without assist) then you can sometimes get away with simply fitting the rack with a bypass hose so the fluid just re-circulates.

I have been looking for a vertical mount Electric Hydraulic pump, rather than the horizontal for my Berlingo Multispace project.
I have just got a 2007 Astra H pump. It would appear that they use a solenoid based system to control the fluid bypass and hence the pressure and power used. It seems that a Pulsed width modulation circuit is the order of the day.
Does anyone have any simple circuits? I would be happy to have a couple of settings, or even consider a way of tapping into the speedo drive to attempt to have some speed relation to the power.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

Grumpy-b

qdos wrote:
Synic errr yes but I ask you how many needed Air Con this summer for example or how many got lost because they didn't have a SatNav?

Interestingly I recently went for a drive in a G-Wiz ...........with Air Con and I can say it was a god send as the day was wet and horrible and the little G-wiz steamed up instantly BUT with the AC fired up the screen cleared within seconds

So sometimes just you dont actually need a good summer for AC to be useful

ChrisB

EVguru wrote:If you can't find a manual rack and the suspension geometry hasn't been designed around power assist (some cars are almost impossible to steer without assist) then you can sometimes get away with simply fitting the rack with a bypass hose so the fluid just re-circulates.

Thats a good tip, hadnt thought of doing that Paul , nice one I'll remember that tip

ChrisB

Of course theres always the Berlingo Electrique as that uses a electric pump and power steering rack.

ChrisB

ok ive just converted a daewoo matiz and as far as i know all uk cars had power steering driven from the engine.so i couldnt retrofit a manual rack although cars from aussie land had them.next is the mot problem.it states that if your car has powersteering fitted then it must work so by- passing with a hose loop will not pass the mot.as this is what i done at the start.i went down the mk3 mr2 route and the wiring diagram is available from www.diyelectriccar.com.my worry was getting new powersteering hoses but i found a company called pirtek who will make new hoses.pirtek are in most cities in the uk.im happy with the new electric power steering.good luck.

Pirtek are good, have used them a few times for my own stuff.

ChrisB

I've just got an markII MR2 pump working in the Supra conversion.

My local Pirtek centre did a great job making a hose & finding the right
adaptors to suit the MR2 pump.

At idle (no moving of the steering wheel), it takes around 20 amps
This seems a bit high, others have reported lower currents around 10 to 15 amps.

Under heavy load (full lock, or while the car is still and the tyres are scrubbing) it draws nearer 70 amps!

So make sure you use a heavy-duty relay to turn it on & off.

The mark3 version of this pump would be more compact, and it will
reduce the power to the pump when it's not needed.

Richard (electricmini)
Electric Supra project
http://www.supralectrix.com/ElectricSupra.html

Sorry for the threadnap but the Supra's coming on nicely Richard

Still on a Autobox though the mini last time was auto wasnt it ? you seem to like electric powered autos, you dont find their losses to bad ?

ChrisB

Well, I like auto's !

Actually the Mini wasn't really an auto - it was fixed ratio, so it could
go as fast backwards as forwards


As for the Supra, it's not going anywhere until I find the right propshaft...
...somehow I grabbed the wrong one when I collected the autobox.

I have made good progress on the front battery frame - no way are those batteries moving!

Richard
Electric Supra project
http://www.supralectrix.com/ElectricSupra.html