Feb 13, 2022
I recently decided to make the switch to LiFeP04 for the second battery in the cruiser and eventually settled on a Victron Orion-tr Smart 12/12-18 to charge it.
While capacity testing the new battery on the bench I used a mess of random wire I had sitting around. Queue disaster. With my thinking obscured by the fog of a bad headache, I reversed the polarity when reconnecting the setup. The protection on the BMS kicked in, but not before the Victron was damaged.
May 17, 2020
The Samlex SEC-1235M is a well priced and performing switchmode power supply. Two things have been bugging me though - the lack of Anderson Powerpole output and the loud fan.
AD5X wrote a comprehensive review of the power supply[1], in which he addressed the fan issue by including a 100 ohm resistor in the fan circuit. I performed the same modification and now the fan is not audible over the ambient noise. A bit of time with a multitool to cut out an opening for a panel mount Powerpole housing and it’s good to go.
Jan 19, 2020
July 2019 I went up to Silverton, CO for Hundreds in the Hills 9. Trail selection had been done months earlier, and whilst some of the best driving was still closed due to the snow (most notably Black Bear Pass), there was still some great trails to run.
Day two saw me heading up Imogene Pass. Along the way I kept hearing a clicking noise, but after stopping a couple times to check found nothing and continued to the top. After a quick lunch I was still unhappy not having located the source of the noise and did another check. Pretty quickly I found the problem -