Wiring Things Up and Testing

Much of my time was spent wiring up the controller, charger and integrator box from the Belktronix kit.


I had to unbolt the charger in order to get access to the fast-on connectors on the side of the main motor controller.


The Belktronix instructions come with a checklist of things to do before powering up the system. I had my handy Fluke meter out to find any problems.


Here's a top-down look at the vehicle integrator module all wired up. I've just turned on the ignition key and all the proper LEDs have lit in the integrator module.


Another sign of success is that the fan on the controller (near top of picture) is now spinning.


I wired the DC-DC converter right into the alternator input connection, again leveraging the existing main fuse in the under-hood fuse box. The voltage is about 13.8, which shows that the DC-DC working. Note that the potbox sitting on the headlight, still not routed into the passenger compartment.

At this point I felt that EV urge to try spinning the motor.


Yay! The hub spins and the controller didn't blow up. This means I actually got several things right. Okay, time to clean up this spaghetti wiring.


Here is the cable for the potbox routed through one of the rubber plugs in the firewall on the passenger side.


The cable from the potbox wasn't long enough to extend all the way into the engine compartment, so I found some shielded 4-wire cable and made an extension cord by using red male and female fast-on connectors. This is a picture of the passenger footwell. The potbox is to the left in the driver footwell and the cable goes forward, through the rubber plug in the prior picture to the driver components.


Her is some of the wiring after a bit of cleanup. I drilled several 1/8" holes in the front edge of the plastic mounting board and used these for tie-wrap holes to bundle the cables together.


Here is a closeup of the bundled cables nearer to the integrator module. It's not pretty, but I think it'll work. Note the BatMon board below, connected to the IsoBatMon circuit with its 7.5A blade fuse. In the lower-left of the photo, you can see the blue male/female fast-on connectors I used to connect the charger to the orange cable going to the charging socket on the outside of the car.