Phantom FTS Electric Supercharger Owners Thread

[l0aded]

Ughh. Still having problems with my ESC battery setup. Been getting better but still not there yet. The timline is as follows:

- System started "shutting down" on full throttle after ~1.5 years, concluded the dump batteries were the issues due to not enough energy.
- Got new dump batteries and they worked fine for some time.
- Problem came back but not as severe as the first time around, this time I assumed it was the starter battery not able to charge the dump batteries sufficiently.
- Replaced the started battery which helped minimally. I am able to full throttle for about 2-3 seconds before the voltage meter reads below 18 and eventually gives up.

Right now I am at a loss at where to investigate next. Some possibilities..
- Remove the Procede and go back to WOT switch to remove that variable.
- Trickle charge the dump batteries and see if that temporarily fixes it, if yes then the charging system is at fault?
- Get an Aux charger? How does one buy the Aux charger?

Any ideas?

[Sojhinn]

Originally Posted by l0aded

Ughh. Still having problems with my ESC battery setup. Been getting better but still not there yet. The timline is as follows:

- System started "shutting down" on full throttle after ~1.5 years, concluded the dump batteries were the issues due to not enough energy.
- Got new dump batteries and they worked fine for some time.
- Problem came back but not as severe as the first time around, this time I assumed it was the starter battery not able to charge the dump batteries sufficiently.
- Replaced the started battery which helped minimally. I am able to full throttle for about 2-3 seconds before the voltage meter reads below 18 and eventually gives up.

Right now I am at a loss at where to investigate next. Some possibilities..
- Remove the Procede and go back to WOT switch to remove that variable.
- Trickle charge the dump batteries and see if that temporarily fixes it, if yes then the charging system is at fault?
- Get an Aux charger? How does one buy the Aux charger?

Any ideas?

Try switch see if it fixes it.

[fenton]

Originally Posted by l0aded

Ughh. Still having problems with my ESC battery setup. Been getting better but still not there yet. The timline is as follows:

- System started "shutting down" on full throttle after ~1.5 years, concluded the dump batteries were the issues due to not enough energy.
- Got new dump batteries and they worked fine for some time.
- Problem came back but not as severe as the first time around, this time I assumed it was the starter battery not able to charge the dump batteries sufficiently.
- Replaced the started battery which helped minimally. I am able to full throttle for about 2-3 seconds before the voltage meter reads below 18 and eventually gives up.

Right now I am at a loss at where to investigate next. Some possibilities..
- Remove the Procede and go back to WOT switch to remove that variable.
- Trickle charge the dump batteries and see if that temporarily fixes it, if yes then the charging system is at fault?
- Get an Aux charger? How does one buy the Aux charger?

Any ideas?

If you are going down to 18's something is not hooked up correctly. You are not using the dump packs if its down to 18 in 3 seconds. Check all wiring specifically between the Dump's and the controller.

Once when we were on the DYNO this happened and it was found the main DUMP cable was disconnected because we were making some battery changes.

Let us know what you find.

[keen as]

I have to re-install Procede User Software. I downloaded it from the Openflashtablet.com site. The help file is empty. Does anyone have the read me about setting up the Com connection?

[Sojhinn]

Originally Posted by keen as

I have to re-install Procede User Software. I downloaded it from the Openflashtablet.com site. The help file is empty. Does anyone have the read me about setting up the Com connection?

I can walk you through what's the issue?

[keen as]

Originally Posted by Sojhinn

I can walk you through what's the issue?

No big issue. Just different laptop need set up, so I can change procede map. I'm not in front of laptop at the moment. Thanks for your help. Can you instruct me via forum post, PM or read me file?

[Sojhinn]

Originally Posted by keen as

No big issue. Just different laptop need set up, so I can change procede map. I'm not in front of laptop at the moment. Thanks for your help. Can you instruct me via forum post, PM or read me file?

Just check what com port your USB to serial adapter is using. Then in the procede software choose communication and change the com port.

[l0aded]

Originally Posted by fenton

If you are going down to 18's something is not hooked up correctly. You are not using the dump packs if its down to 18 in 3 seconds. Check all wiring specifically between the Dump's and the controller.

Once when we were on the DYNO this happened and it was found the main DUMP cable was disconnected because we were making some battery changes.

Let us know what you find.

Can you elaborate on this? The failure mode sounds the same as mine.
I tightened all the nuts and connections to the battery which were all very loose. Seemed seemed to help but only slightly.

Can you check my understanding of the ESC controller?
The ESC is connected to the starter battery terminals with 2 connectors. These connections, I assume, draw energy from the starter battery and feed it into to the 2 Dump batteries (when ESC is not active). This feeding to dump battery is done through the thick gauge wires with heavy duty connections which also draw energy from the dump pack batteries to feed to the blower.

The voltmeter reads the voltage on the 12V dump batteries, which wired in series result in 28.3V when charged. Wouldn't the ESC fail to read the 28.X voltage and not function at all if it wasn't using the 2 dump batteries? The failure I am experience seems like the dump batteries are only being charged to a certain point and stopping which is resulting in only a few seconds of WOT before voltage dropping too. Was this what you experienced on the dyno?

Do you think an aux charger would help? How do I order one?

The metal connections on the thick gauge wire seem offset and pretty worn, could this be an issue? Picture attached.

I will try slow charging the batteries to bring them back to 100% and see if that helps. Maybe they have been low too long and the controller isn't charging them past a point.

Thanks in advance.

[WNDSRFR]

I think you misunderstood the wiring principles. Here is a schematic of the wiring taken from the Phantom website.
The two systems (12V) and (24V) are completely independent of each other.
The starter battery is used only to start the car. It is charged by the car's alternator just like the oem battery.
The dump batteries are charged by the charger/controller and powered by the car's alternator. The blower is powered by the charger/controller from the dump batteries and controlled by either the activation switch or the Procede Controller.

At least that's my interpretation of how things work.

[WNDSRFR]

Here's the schematic.

[l0aded]

Sorry I may have worded incorrectly but I think our interpretations are the same.

1) Starter battery is powered by alternator
2) Controller is powered by the starter battery.
3) Controller draws energy from the starter battery and transfers to dump batteries.
4) When ESC is activated, controller draws energy from dump batteries to power ESC blower.

So while the 24V and 12V systems are not directly connected, the controller feeds and draws from both of them correct.

If this is all true, I am confused at the root cause of the issue. My ESC blower seems to work fine (so the controller drawing from the dump batteries is OK). The issue is the dump batteries seem to run out of juice prematurely so the transfer of energy from starter battery -> controller -> dump battery might be the reason?

Also this issue was temporarily fixed when I replaced both dump batteries with new ones. It came back a few weeks later though which adds to my theory .

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by l0aded

Sorry I may have worded incorrectly but I think our interpretations are the same.

1) Starter battery is powered by alternator
2) Controller is powered by the starter battery.
3) Controller draws energy from the starter battery and transfers to dump batteries.
4) When ESC is activated, controller draws energy from dump batteries to power ESC blower.

So while the 24V and 12V systems are not directly connected, the controller feeds and draws from both of them correct.

If this is all true, I am confused at the root cause of the issue. My ESC blower seems to work fine (so the controller drawing from the dump batteries is OK). The issue is the dump batteries seem to run out of juice prematurely so the transfer of energy from starter battery -> controller -> dump battery might be the reason?

Also this issue was temporarily fixed when I replaced both dump batteries with new ones. It came back a few weeks later though which adds to my theory .

yeah try taking out dump batteries and charge them with battery tender and do test again.
I don't know but it might be in your head gut feeling is different than before.

[WNDSRFR]

i

Originally Posted by l0aded

Sorry I may have worded incorrectly but I think our interpretations are the same.

1) Starter battery is powered by alternator
2) Controller is powered by the starter battery.
3) Controller draws energy from the starter battery and transfers to dump batteries.
4) When ESC is activated, controller draws energy from dump batteries to power ESC blower.

So while the 24V and 12V systems are not directly connected, the controller feeds and draws from both of them correct.

If this is all true, I am confused at the root cause of the issue. My ESC blower seems to work fine (so the controller drawing from the dump batteries is OK). The issue is the dump batteries seem to run out of juice prematurely so the transfer of energy from starter battery -> controller -> dump battery might be the reason?

Also this issue was temporarily fixed when I replaced both dump batteries with new ones. It came back a few weeks later though which adds to my theory .

I think you're a little confused about the role of the starter battery. It does what it says it does. It starts the car. It powers the starter motor and supplies the field current for the alternator. And that's about it. The power for everything else comes from the alternator. Once the car is running, you could take out the starter battery and everything would be just fine. In fact if not for the alternator field current, you wouldn't need a starter battery at all.
You could just push start the car.
If you look at the original wires going to the positive terminal of the starter battery, you'll see 3 original wires in addition to the wire added going to the charger/controller. I believe the largest wire comes from the alternator. The other wires have fusable links on them. I'm guessing one goes to the starter and the other goes to the fusebox. Everything happens to tie together at the positive terminal of the starter battery but the battery itself doesn't come into play (except to start the car).

Again this is MY interpretation of the situation. I may be completely wrong.

[WNDSRFR]

I see I left out a wire to the positive starter battery terminal. The one that is labeled 12V from alternator should say 12V to starter and another wire needs to be added labeled 12V from alternator.
WOOPS