MickComp's red Blade Electron

Technical discussion for the Blade
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mickcomp
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Real Name: Mick Comp

MickComp's red Blade Electron

Post by mickcomp »

Hi All,

I am about to pickup a Blade EV from a friend. like most other it's not running. I plan on getting it going again as a small town run about and potential first car for my kids. Does anyone here still have a copy of the manual?
antiscab
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Real Name: Matthew Lacey
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Re: MickComp's red Blade Electron

Post by antiscab »

Hi Mick,

Welcome to the forum

What version of the electron do you have?
each one was a bit unique (different), but you do have the one with large format cells and azure drive train? or the one with lots of little cells welded together and the TM4 drive train?
Matt
2023 BYD Atto 3 - 21k km
2017 Renault zoe - 147'000km
2012 Leaf - 101'000km - soon to be trialing a booster battery
2007 Vectrix - 197'000km (retired)
2007 Vectrix - 50k km
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Bryce
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Real Name: Bryce Gaton
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Re: MickComp's red Blade Electron

Post by Bryce »

Hi Mick, PM me with an email address and I can forward you the Mk 5 elec drawings.
Cheers
B
Current EV drive: 2019 Kona electric, 2010 iMiEV
Also in family: 2019 Renault Zoe
Past drives: 2011 Blade Getz, 2011 Leaf, 2001 Citroen Berlingo conversion
Past Conversions: DC Berlingo, AC Berlingo, AC Sprinter
mickcomp
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Re: MickComp's red Blade Electron

Post by mickcomp »

antiscab wrote: Fri, 22 Jul 2022, 10:55 Hi Mick,

Welcome to the forum

What version of the electron do you have?
each one was a bit unique (different), but you do have the one with large format cells and azure drive train? or the one with lots of little cells welded together and the TM4 drive train?
Thanks!

It has the large format cells from what i can tell for pictures. Looks to be a 2011/12 model Getz so i am thinking one of the last to be made. I am going to pick it up this weekend and will have a better look.

Mick
mickcomp
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Re: THE BLADE ELECTRON MANUAL PDF

Post by mickcomp »

Pickup the blade yesterday, overall the car is in pretty good condition and not missing any parts. Unfortunately there is no angry pixies left in the cells :(

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T1 Terry
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Re: MickComp's red Blade Electron

Post by T1 Terry »

Before you do any further damage to the cells, remove all the balance boards and let the cells sit for a few hrs and see if any gain a bit of voltage ..... that will tell you which cell top modules have failed.
Next, starting at milli amps, charge each cell till it reaches 3v, then let it sit for a few hrs and see what the voltage is, if it has dropped back to zero volts, every chance that cell has lost its electrolyte .... put it aside because I'm in the process of trying to get a supply of electrolyte for the Winston LFP and LYP cells .... wish me luck :lol:
Any cells that will not hold any voltage, even while charging, put those aside and mark them for later testing. They may be an internal short or they may need a ripple charge/discharge to get them back from the dead.
Any that you can get to hold 3v for even an hr, and any that actually hold any voltage and can be recharged using the same process to hold 3v for an hr, you can start to recharge at 10 amps, till they reach 3.6v, let them sit over night, then measure the cell voltage and charge them to 3.8v at the same 10 amp rate.
It sounds like a lot of hassle, but if you connect them up is 4 cells in series and charge them with a 12v battery charger, you will see which cells respond fairly quickly.
I recovered 6 8 yr old 160Ah cells that were all under 1v initially to return full capacity @ the factory 0.5CA load test, discharged over 2 hrs and still holding 2.5v while under load, the other 2 cells were past the point of recovery because they had suffered reverse current flow.

T1 Terry
Green but want to learn
mickcomp
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Re: MickComp's red Blade Electron

Post by mickcomp »

T1 Terry wrote: Mon, 08 Aug 2022, 10:23 Before you do any further damage to the cells, remove all the balance boards and let the cells sit for a few hrs and see if any gain a bit of voltage ..... that will tell you which cell top modules have failed.
Next, starting at milli amps, charge each cell till it reaches 3v, then let it sit for a few hrs and see what the voltage is, if it has dropped back to zero volts, every chance that cell has lost its electrolyte .... put it aside because I'm in the process of trying to get a supply of electrolyte for the Winston LFP and LYP cells .... wish me luck :lol:
Any cells that will not hold any voltage, even while charging, put those aside and mark them for later testing. They may be an internal short or they may need a ripple charge/discharge to get them back from the dead.
Any that you can get to hold 3v for even an hr, and any that actually hold any voltage and can be recharged using the same process to hold 3v for an hr, you can start to recharge at 10 amps, till they reach 3.6v, let them sit over night, then measure the cell voltage and charge them to 3.8v at the same 10 amp rate.
It sounds like a lot of hassle, but if you connect them up is 4 cells in series and charge them with a 12v battery charger, you will see which cells respond fairly quickly.
I recovered 6 8 yr old 160Ah cells that were all under 1v initially to return full capacity @ the factory 0.5CA load test, discharged over 2 hrs and still holding 2.5v while under load, the other 2 cells were past the point of recovery because they had suffered reverse current flow.

T1 Terry
Thanks for the tips Terry. What's the pro tip for getting the caps of the cells without damaging them?
T1 Terry
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Real Name: Terry Covill
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Re: MickComp's red Blade Electron

Post by T1 Terry »

Those white caps I guess you mean, a paint scraper or a fine edged screw driver under the edge of the cap and twist. The cap has a lip on the edge that goes over a lip on the metal washer bolted to the terminal, the cap just flicks up one side and lifts off.

Getting the cells out from under the electrics enclosure in the boot is quite a challenge eh :lol: All those little nuts on the long threaded rods that are welded to the bottom of the battery box means each string has to separated from the next to get them out.
Took me a while to work out the electrics box just hinges at the the mounting point behind the rear seats and folds up and out of the way ..... I'd unbolted the whole thing before the light-bulb moment hit

T1 Terry
Green but want to learn
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