SERIE / PARALLEL SWITCH for High current & high voltage

Doctorbass

100 GW
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Apr 8, 2007
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Quebec, Canada East
I am building a very tough ON/OFF/Serie/Parallel switch for my ebike.

Here is what i'm building :twisted: .. NO MORE PLASMA !! NO MORE VOLT LOOSE!
 

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Nicely done!

Hope you going to make very sure that they don't all come on together . . . .
 
Patrick said:
Nicely done!

Hope you going to make very sure that they don't all come on together . . . .


That's the part i'm working on. it is clear that i can not just comand them using a dpst switch cause if i switch it too fast the activated contactor may react faster and the releasing contactor may stick in place.. so .. it may make a plasma again!..

But i used 2 x 25A paralleled fuse on each positive of every of my battery pack.. in case where a malfonction could occur..

I am thinking to a circuit that delay the switching from one state to the other state and that would protect against both activation in same time...

What i like with these contactors is that they can cary up to 900VDC... so no more problem with DC voltage limited switch to 12V, 36V 48V or 84V... I can now use my 100.8V without any problem of welding!

I have search for one month for a DPDT switch or a DPDT relay that can switch AT LEAST 100VDC and that can cary 50A and that is nott as big as a brick... and that dont cost 500$ and i had not found.. it's like the majority of DC contactor or relay are most in the 12 to 48V range... higher than that is very complicated to find!


The Tyco contactor are the cheapest contactor in ratio with the max volt and current they can cary
and they are AEROSPACE GRADE and are SCEALED... AND JUST NEED 1.7W TO HOLD THE ENERGIZED POSITION!

Doc

Doc
 
DrBass,

I'm probably being too elementary, but wouldn't a 3 way switch do the trick. Position 1 = parallel, position center = both off, position 2 = series. Wouldn't the center position OFF give you the sufficient delay that you need?

John
 
John in CR said:
DrBass,

I'm probably being too elementary, but wouldn't a 3 way switch do the trick. Position 1 = parallel, position center = both off, position 2 = series. Wouldn't the center position OFF give you the sufficient delay that you need?

John

I already had a 4PDT switch ON-OFF-ON with off positioin on the middle. What i can say is that it's too easy to switch from ON to ON position.. too fast too.. The Contactor i bought take 13ms to brake contact and 11 to make it... it's very short and a switch that can be accidentally moved too fast could create a brief moment where all 3 contactor still activated...

I have no real idea on how i will built that delay.. maybe with some electronic circuits...

Doc
 
Would something like this work?

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=701-S+MINI&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

2460202c_1_2.gif
 
That's not a bad idea - bit clunky, though. Those kilovac contactors are sweet - we use them on 275 volt prius packs.
 
Doctorbass said:
John in CR said:
DrBass,

I'm probably being too elementary, but wouldn't a 3 way switch do the trick. Position 1 = parallel, position center = both off, position 2 = series. Wouldn't the center position OFF give you the sufficient delay that you need?

John

I already had a 4PDT switch ON-OFF-ON with off positioin on the middle. What i can say is that it's too easy to switch from ON to ON position.. too fast too.. The Contactor i bought take 13ms to brake contact and 11 to make it... it's very short and a switch that can be accidentally moved too fast could create a brief moment where all 3 contactor still activated...

I have no real idea on how i will built that delay.. maybe with some electronic circuits...

Doc

Okay then, how about a pair of the on-off-on switches oriented so you can't flip them both at the same time and wired so both must be in position 1 for parallel and both in position 2 for series. Shouldn't the time it takes to move your finger from 1 switch to the other be sufficient delay without intentionally trying to beat it using 2 hands?

John
 
John in CR said:
Doctorbass said:
John in CR said:
DrBass,

I'm probably being too elementary, but wouldn't a 3 way switch do the trick. Position 1 = parallel, position center = both off, position 2 = series. Wouldn't the center position OFF give you the sufficient delay that you need?

John

I already had a 4PDT switch ON-OFF-ON with off positioin on the middle. What i can say is that it's too easy to switch from ON to ON position.. too fast too.. The Contactor i bought take 13ms to brake contact and 11 to make it... it's very short and a switch that can be accidentally moved too fast could create a brief moment where all 3 contactor still activated...

I have no real idea on how i will built that delay.. maybe with some electronic circuits...

Doc

Okay then, how about a pair of the on-off-on switches oriented so you can't flip them both at the same time and wired so both must be in position 1 for parallel and both in position 2 for series. Shouldn't the time it takes to move your finger from 1 switch to the other be sufficient delay without intentionally trying to beat it using 2 hands?

John


John, can you just draw a little schematic of your idea, I guess it would solve the problem, but i dont see exactly what your mean...

Doc
 
TylerDurden said:
Would a simple R-C delay work... You want them to open fast and delay before closing, yes?

Exactly, but i want something that garranty that the closing is never at the same time than opening. and with a garanted delay.. maybe some logic circuit like cmos 4000 serie... and cap and resistor...

maybe this one could work:

Doc
 

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I'm not sure electronics alone will guarantee safety.

A relay that locks-out the S coils if the P coils are energized (and viceversa) might be worth exploring.
 
Doctorbass said:
John in CR said:
Okay then, how about a pair of the on-off-on switches oriented so you can't flip them both at the same time and wired so both must be in position 1 for parallel and both in position 2 for series. Shouldn't the time it takes to move your finger from 1 switch to the other be sufficient delay without intentionally trying to beat it using 2 hands?

John

John, can you just draw a little schematic of your idea, I guess it would solve the problem, but i dont see exactly what your mean...

Doc

Doc,

I don't know the first thing about drawing schematics, but I believe it's straight forward. Use two 3way switches and don't put them side by side (too easy to flip them both without delay). Only 2 combinations would complete the 2 circuits. eg Both in the "up" ON position completes the circuit for parallel, and both in the "down" ON position completes the circuit for parallel. Any other combination creates an incomplete circuit. If you arrange them one above the other instead of side by side, then it would take a conscious effort to switch them both in less than the 20ms or so that you need. If switching between the 2 settings is something you plan to do infrequently, then the other switch could be hidden somewhere else.

John
 
Unless you need something that will switch on-the-fly, I think a simple mechanical solution would be the most efficient.

Just make a simple jumper made of two plugs, that in one position gives you series. Take them out and plug them into another pair of recepticals for parallel. Anderson connectors would be perfect for this.

.
 
2 SPDT
2 up activate serial
2 down activate parallel
1 up and 1 down = OFF


............................up1-------serial contactor------up2
Positive on(common1)............................................(common2)on Negative.
.........................down1---- parallel contactors--down2
 
That sounds to me like 3 votes for KISS with a mechanical and seemingly foolproof solution of your choice. I kind of like having the clear OFF position, but Takemehome's solution is the most simple.

John
 
Doc,

There should be some DPDT switches available that require two pushes to change ON states (my Citicar uses one to activate the FWD/REV contactors).

They stop at the OFF (center) position and the user must release pressure, then re-apply pressure to push the lever to the next ON position.
 
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