From the monthly archives:

July 2013

Going Solar for EVs, Part 2

July 30, 2013

When I got home from work last night, I was happy to see that my MC-4 cable had arrived in the mail! The one thing I was missing from hooking up the solar panel to directly charge an electric vehicle is that fancy little cable. This morning, I pulled out my assorted pile of parts, […]

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Going Solar for EVs and more!

July 26, 2013

About a month ago, I was at the MREA – the Midwest Renewable Energy Association Fair – where I was showing off my electric motorcycle and giving presentations of DIY Clean Transportation. But probably my favorite thing of that weekend was my cobbled together Vehicle to Grid display! Ahead of time, I had talked to […]

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SuperTruck: Steering

July 21, 2013

So how DO you steer a DIY hybrid pickup truck without the engine on? That’s just one of the many challenges to figure out while working on a DIY project. In general, most cars nowadays use power steering. Power steering uses a hydraulic pump to assist turning the wheels, and that pump runs from a […]

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SuperTruck: Water Pump

July 21, 2013

Last week, my buddy Steve stopped by, and we were able to get the diesel running. The bad news was that the water pump was seized-up, and the priming pump leaked. So, I ordered a new water pump, which arrived by mail the other day. I’ve never done anything with a water pump before, but […]

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New favorite online car videos

July 20, 2013

I was taking a look through online videos to find a little basic instruction on installing a water pump, when I cam across this one: I like this guy’s style. Fun, but straight to the point. I took a look at another video or two of his. For any future car work, I might have […]

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SuperTruck: Firing up the Diesel

July 16, 2013

A few days ago, my friend Steve stopped over to help lend a hand on the DIY Open Source Plug-In Hybrid “SUPERTRUCK” project. At the heart of the project are two things, a diesel engine, and a big forklift motor. And while I’ve learned a thing or two about DC motors the last few years, […]

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Pirated DVDs!

July 9, 2013

I just found out that my BUILD YOUR OWN ELECTRIC CAR instructional DVDs are being PIRATED!!!! The DVD chapters are appearing as whole videos on YouTube! People won’t pay me money for them anymore when they can just watch on the web for free! I should know. As you might guess from the photo, I’m […]

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E15 Motor Rebuild

July 7, 2013

After looking over the Elec-Trak E15, I saw that one of the blade motors didn’t spin very freely. I went about removing the motor from the deck to see about opening it up, finding out the problem, and rebuilding as needed. Unfortunately, I got stuck on NOT being able to remove the hub that the […]

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