Always interesting and informative. I think back to my youth, where I could only learn about cars by going to the library and hoping they had a Motor's Manual. Your presentations offer thousands a incredible audio/visual learning experience. Thank you for sharing.
Professor - I drive a Chevy Volt for work and impressed by the Voltec propulsion system. During this Holiday break I look forward to spending time on your videos. I wish I could take your classes in person. Great job.
many teachers and educators will pass through our lives without remembrance.Yet a special few will leave a lasting impression. Thank you for being one of the special educators who will live on forever in the minds and hearts of the students whose lives you have touched.
Installing an HF setup in the Volt I was able to figure out the most noisy module in the car is the transaxle fluid pump control module. It's throwing crap all over 26-28mhz whenever the transaxle gets warm. Plenty of 3/4" #31 chokes helped here especially on the battery lines and the cables that lead to the Onboard battery charger. This module could probably use more capacitive bypassing at the DC inputs, like how the main drive unit has with the massive capacitor back at the bottom. It is nice to have a good look at the annoying thing that almost cost more in RF chokes than my radio. The drive inverter itself for MG A/B isn't really that noisy. Thank you and very informative.
I really want to say thank..You for that enormous help of understanding how Volt work.. I worked as car mechanic and go to college to study Electric engineering graduate in year 1986 Denver Co.. I tell You people ? That man saved me two months of reading manual ..
@@WeberAuto Thanks You ! I did that easy part watch .You did all that hard works Thanks again was really helpful. Just Volt manual good one cost around 700 dollars .Watching cost nothing and is much better ...
That is easy on Chevy Volt. My 07 Prius damage inverter/converter unit didn’t cooperated but I was determine to see what’s inside. Doing a good job for a lot us curious beings, Professor.
Thank you Professor. An interesting option, to remove the build process. The process of dismantling removes curiosity, what is there inside. And the assembly process teaches how to properly and competently collect everything in the working view. Many manuals to learn to disassemble, and the assembly is limited to the phrase-collect everything in the reverse order. A good idea is to shoot the assembly pointing out some little things. This is very important. Thanks again.
Thank you for a superb presentation of a beautiful piece of automotive technology - almost aerospace construction. I've just got a Vauxhall Ampera (UK Chevy Volt) and just hope nothing ever goes wrong with that module as I'd hate to think how much a replacement would cost!
I drive a 2012 chevy volt. This was amazing, very interesting and educative. Thanks for doing the teardown and the detailed explanation. Now I get to understand the 1st gen chevy volt a little bit more. I appreciate the time and effort put into making this video.
HEllo! I am building a dual motor inverter out of the chevy volt inverter. You tremendously helped me understanding the internal structure and wiring of the inverter. Thank you!
good video as always and very informative.After watching these videos though and having 2 Volts I always get concerned of failure when I see how many integral parts these vehicles have. Did find it amusing when working on a battery/charging system that you said you were "shocked" ( in this case meaning surprised) when you opened the one module.
I have never seen like this: taking apart such a compact engineering masterpiece and explaining bit-by-bit the role of the components together with their voltage/current data - extremely useful! As the IGBTs rated at 600v 1000A, does it mean that the regen current generated by the electric motor can also reach 200-300 Amps? Can the smoothing capacitors also handle such current? Best regards.
Thank you, the capacitor can handle the high voltage and current. I do not know if the current reaches the same rating as the motor kW rating. I suspect it can get very close.
I am blown away from this video, I am now a subscriber! Your knowledge is priceless and I get it for free! Finally someone who knows more than just connect the red to the r terminal and w to the white and so on lol. Theory is great!
Thank you for an amazing job of explaining the Volt inverter . Only one thing that always bothers me about GM engineering is why so many different type of fasteners . Why not just use the same fasteners in every location , has to be less expensive to build and much easier to assemble
Thank you! I do not know that answer, but cost is probably part of the answer. I do know that the high current connections/bolts are coated with Nickel or some alloy.
Great channel Prof. Kelly! Thanks for sharing these video's on RU-vid, eternal students like myself are in your debt sir! On a point of order though (no criticism intended), I have noted your erroneous use of the term "high voltage". H.V. is internationally defined as greater than 1000V AC or 1500V DC. Below these thresholds is low voltage and below that, extra low voltage. In my (near 30 years) experience working with all of the above I can attest to the potential for injury or death at any of these voltage levels! Again, great channel and thanks for sharing :)
Thank you! It is confusing when there are several standards organizations involved defining the same topic. I understand the standardized "high voltage" definition you are referring to in your profession. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) defines voltage levels in the automotive world differently. 0-50V is low voltage, above 50 volts is high voltage. I can only assume it is because the typical automobile has run on 12-15 volts for a long time. Any voltage higher than that is cause for concern during service. Thanks again for your feedback.
How did I only find your channel now? This is gold. Thank you for taking the time to explain everything in great detail. The EE in me was very satisfied to see the inside of that igbt power module! Offcourse I subscribed. Greetings from Belgium.
All of your videos are so well done Clear language, great detail lighting and camera work ! Have you put together any on line or correspondence training program for Ev's ?
Just wanted to watch this video again to understand more. at ~ 35:09 you mention that the HPCM2 is under the drivers seat. In my 2011 Volt I am sure that mine is under the passenger side seat. Just looking for clarification. Thank you for all you do Prof. Kelly!
Amazing work as usual, Big fan here. It would be awesome if you can make a video of working of inverter board and how it actuates IGBTs. Have been watching IGBT and MOSFET workings now with bunch of Model 3 inverter reverse engineering video but still clueless when I see most inverters modules inside. So man electrical & electronics in there almost feels alien.
Really interesting video! You mentioned that you were looking at a spec sheet for this, is that something that is published publicly? Sounds like it would be interesting to look through
Thanks for the awesome vids keep up the great work! This vid has helped a lot of understanding what it will take to replace the inverter with a custom one. Seems I have my work cut out for me.
I am wondering how many design use SiC transistors instead of IGBT nowadays. In this video, he makes it sound as if none do, but it was 5 years ago already. Curious to hear about the specific issues that arise from the faster switching and higher bus voltage. Bearing currents would be higher and destroy motor bearings faster and old school wire wound stator coils would tend to cause partial discharge and insulation failures. Are there 3 phases output filters to mitigate common mode noise? Do new motors all use busbar windings already? Or some other improvements?
46:52 I believe that connector has two sets of wires coming off of it, yes one goes to the battery but you did not mention where the other one goes to, does it run to the onboard battery charger?
You might want to get some good flux and solder wick to make any desoldering easier in the future (if you aren't using a modern soldering station with temperature control they are available quite cheaply now). And, if you'll forgive me, a bit of cleanup of that board would be nice, it's not up to your usual perfection.
I like your videos and I thank you for them. Your demonstrations how the individual components of the Toyota and Chevrolet inverters/converters fit together provide a lot of useful mechanical information. However, unlike your demonstrations of actively functioning and spinning mechanical components inside hybrid transaxles, the demonstrations of the inverters/converters are very passive and do not provide much insight into their internal activities. This is of course because these components are predominantly electronic components and mechanical analysis does not do them justice. To see how they operate electronically, we'd need to see some screenshots from an oscilloscope of: - signals from transaxle resolvers (excitation and output signals before and after amplification) - the gate voltage waveforms of the IGBTs (at least 2-channels to judge their dead-time) - the emitter-collector voltage waveforms of the IGBTs (during acceleration and regenerative braking) - the collector current waveforms of the IGBTs' current sensors (during acceleration and regenerative braking) - the boost converter waveforms. Also, it would be nice to have a discussion how the HV ECU is a part of the inverter/converter assembly in some models and how it is a separate subassembly in other models...and what signals they use to communicate with each other, where the clock generators are, etc... e.g. Without this info, I was very surprised to discover raw high-frequency PWM signals going into the inverter/converter assembly in one of the early models of Toyota Prius.
Thanks for your feedback. I am working on videos showing the electrical operation, but it is very time consuming and difficult to access certain components and circuits in a live vehicle.
I know. Besides bypassing all the interlocks that protect your health and life, the scope is at risk of being damaged by HV and by different potentials at the ground clips. If I were you, I'd use an isolation transformer for powering the scope and a x100 probe for probing the collector-emitter voltages as well as the step-up inductor node,.. or, if you can afford it, this probe: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7qgzPE31-YI.html
I have my 2018 Volt at the transmission shop to replace the transmission. I got the transmission from an auto recycler. Apparently, the replacement transmission must be reprogrammed, but they tried for 3 hours and it won't accept the reprogram. The tech told me the inverter won't accept the reprogram, but the inverter from the previous transmission that was removed is operable. I am told that the transmission has to be be removed and the inverter from the previous transmission has to be installed. I am concerned that this will not resolve the problem. Any advice?
Is this the box that is behind the bumper on the passenger side of the car? My dealer told me that they can’t communicate with the charge control module is what they called it and they suggested I replace the plug-in piece and the charger module. Is there anyway to test it before I buy one?
Have you ever had a look at the Renault Zoe electric Powertrain? I understand they use the inverter guts as the charger also, a wide range ac charger that will work on single phase from 3kw up to 43kw 3 phase... clever stuff
That cap is not for smoothing the voltage during braking, or decelarating. It acts as a low impendance source during the switching of power devices, it clamps the inductive parasitic loads from the switching devices and wires to that cap. Without it the wires from the battery to the inverter will also have and inductance, and the voltage spikes from the switching cannot be clamped locally. So all the high current during commutation is taken from those, and also is pushed back in them during clamping.
What do you mean, "it is not fot"? Of course it is. You meely added another function...did that make you feel good, denigrating what the Professor said? Saying "is not for" makes you an idiot vs the genius you think you are.
@@vidznstuff1 At 14:30 you will hear the description/purpose of that capacitor. Unfortunately you are only a tesla coil fan boy with no knowledge in high switching power applications. Maybe try to google search the therm of "snubber capacitor DC rail". In other point of view that capacitor is used during each switching cycle, it cannot store enough energy to be relevant in context of acceleration or regenerative braking. Also second tradeoff is related to the capacitor buss-bar, they have a low inductive construction (wide, close together and many in parallel ). Hope I enlighten the idiot. ;)
Really appreciate your videos! Was wondering if the cap has a voltage rating of 600V and the resistor is 440 ohms shouldn't the bleeder resistor be rated at approx. 818 Watts to allow for the initial surge of current?
Great Job. Hi Professor John Kelly, can you please make a RU-vid video on how to remove the area (expose) between the drive seat and the passenger seat (around the the hi voltage fuse and the transmission stick area). on a Volt 2017 or 2018 (I know you have the 2018). Show all the close up details on how to remove this Vinyl / leather covered area without causing any damage. I am curious to see any electrical components / modules underneath this cover. On my first generation Volt (2012) I was able to expose everything in about half an hour to remove the crash module underneath the cover. In this one (2017) I am having a hard time trying to figure where to start. Thank you Nat Shain
Hi John, Great video! Question: I had to replace the charging unit that is behind the front bumper on the passenger side. I removed the orange plug in the center console. I heard you mention in another one of your videos that you shouldn't remove that plug while the 12v battery is attached. OOpps too late. Do you know how to reset the alarm codes that are preventing the car to go into gear?
It is my understanding that he only way is with a GM Scan tool at a dealership. I assume you have tried disconnecting the battery with no change in operation?
Haven't disconnected the battery yet to try that. I bought an OBD2 reader that was able to reset the codes, but that didn't seem to do much. I had a small fender bender on the right front bumper. Right where they mounted the charger. No protection at all, grrrr The only damage to the charger was the two wire input connector that I believe goes directly to the battery. I fixed the connector and hooked it back up, but it doesn't work. I'm not sure if it isn't working, of if the car is just locking it out. The car was drive able until I plugged it in to charge, then the computer locked up the drive system. I don't think the charger is damaged. I opened the box up and everything looks new. Know any way to test it? Seems like the car need a Ctel Alt Delete button!
An OBD2 reader is not the same thing as a GM scan tool. The charger may actually need to be programed to match the vehicle as well. You will need to take it to a Chevrolet dealership. Best wishes!
Hi professor, I often watch your videos, I have a chevy volt 2012, I have a question: the volt has a 16kw battery, and consumes only 10 kW. Is it possible to leave a margin of 2 kW and spend 14 kW?
Just wondering since my 2012 160,000 mile Chevy Volt coded POAC4 (hybrid battery pack current sensor high), What is most likely the cause of this code. Also the dashboard predicted about 40 mile electric range, it only went 30 miles on the charge that's driving easy. Does recharging a few mile in mountain mode while driving cause this type of code?
Fair enough, excellent videos! some of my favorite on RU-vid. My Dad is a GM mechanic for over 50 years i'll have to send him the link to your channel.
Question guys, the three phase cables coming out of the transmission two sets Motor A & B are they both positive (have voltage) or is one positive & one negative??? Having trouble with my volt one set is grounded to ground when I do continuity test. Can anyone help??
If we charge 10 iPhones one by one, we need a whole day. If we charge 10 iPhones together at 10 sockets, we don't need a whole day. If each of the cells is so small and how the cells are connected can be switched from tandem to parallel upon charging, we don't need high voltage chargers, just really thick cables.
It seems that hybrids and EVs are often more reliable than vehicles with regular power trains. Just look at the Prius, for starters. A quarter million miles is no big deal on those things. Electric motors and power electronics can take a LOT of abuse and last forever, if designed properly. There’s no clutches to wear out, no torque converter to boil the ATF, etc. There’s a reason why train locomotives use electric traction motors, even if they’re powered by a diesel generator.
thank You so much for video. Maybe You help me, i need to know battery connector +- input impedance. In my Power Inverter Module it's 80 ohm. I not sure if it ok. My volt have dead MSD fuse and blocked in on possition two panasonic 120A HV contactors on hv battery.
Its look like have Smoothing capacitor direct connection and impedance measured is incorrect? I opened two HV panasonic Contactors and YES contacts are welded inside, not so strong but with melting.
After watching most Kelly video, I am amazed and afraid of the complexity of my prius prime. I really wish you could make a video on Tesla cars. They are very different. However, it seems to be hard to find any information on them since Tesla seems to want to keep all the part and maintenance of their vehicles in house, driving the repair price to the stratosphere. Which is the primary reason I decided to not buy one.
I have tested hundreds of TIM thermalinterface medium grease or silicone mat your comment on both paste don't laugh I tested Colgate worked perfectly even in a pump test for 10000 hours stress test smelled however minty, yes you can use toothpaste it fills the voids between 2 flat plates perfectly with quartz sand particles , I bet you did not expect that one did you?
Does everyone see American EV is designed with none repairable units being high cost if ever repair is needed, feedback I have from the industry shows a low mtbf meaning the customer is milked right left and centerthe boar that fails the most id the right driver board the now with 40 odd solder joints . This is not the case with the EV Porsche or the id3 from Europe
