Freelander 1 Freelander EV

Alibro said:

Feeding them through the conduit was a mare of a job but a little brake clean squirted down the conduit helped.

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Well done for finding something that worked.

Alibro said:

My back was kinda sore so I didn't mess about too much but tonight I went to chop a log for the fire and suddenly felt a twinge in my lower back.
Looks like I'm going to be sore for a few days.
Getting older has nothing to recommend it.

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Hopefully it sorts itself out soon.

Back in the summer I "tweaked" my right elbow changing the rear axle on the eldest daughter's Fiat 500.
It still hurts now, several months on, particularly if I'm hammering for some reason.
Wisdom comes with getting older, but so do the aches and pains.
I'm 54 years young on Saturday, but sometimes my body feels 84.

Nodge68 said:

Well done for finding something that worked.



Hopefully it sorts itself out soon.

Back in the summer I "tweaked" my right elbow changing the rear axle on the eldest daughter's Fiat 500.
It still hurts now, several months on, particularly if I'm hammering for some reason.
Wisdom comes with getting older, but so do the aches and pains.
I'm 54 years young on Saturday, but sometimes my body feels 84.

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LOL, somehow different parts of my body seem to be different ages with the youngest part seemingly the brain - it's still a teenager where the rest of me is a pensioner.

As for brake clean you'd be amazed how it makes rubber slippery. Next time your struggling with an exhaust hanger try it.
For things like bicycle handlebar handles you want them to slip on easily but stick after so spray paint works a treat.

I'm "only" 40, but my hands look like they are at least 80.

Bit late now but a trick we use is a ball of paper just smaller than the conduit string tied on use a hoover on the other end sucks the ball thru tie string to cable pull thru conduit simple

Denboy said:

Bit late now but a trick we use is a ball of paper just smaller than the conduit string tied on use a hoover on the other end sucks the ball thru tie string to cable pull thru conduit simple

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I've used compressed air to blow string through conduit in the past but it only works when pulling through light weight wires. 50mm2 isn't going to be easy to pull through using string. Maybe I could have used the string to pull through rope but it still wouldn't have been much easier.

Alibro said:

LOL, somehow different parts of my body seem to be different ages with the youngest part seemingly the brain - it's still a teenager where the rest of me is a pensioner.

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I know exactly what you mean Ali, sometimes my body does feel 30 years older than my brain.
Although I think my brain's memory modules aren't what they use to be, even though the processor is still performing perfectly.

Alibro said:

I've used compressed air to blow string through conduit in the past but it only works when pulling through light weight wires. 50mm2 isn't going to be easy to pull through using string.

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You'd really struggle to get 50mm2 cable through a tight conduit using string, pushing it through would be a better choice.

At work over the summer holidays I ran a LAN cable for a POE camera though an underground pipe (it was buried years ago for electric cables), between a school Elliot hut and the new outside learning area 50 metres away.
I used a small polystyrene ball (from the school craft cupboard), tied to some 5lb fishing line (from the same cupboard), then used my wet n dry vacuum to suck the ball from one end of the pipe to the other pulling the fishing line behind it.
I then use the fishing line to pull a stronger nylon rope back through the other way.
The nylon rope was use to pull the LAN cable though, ready for the IT guy to do his thing to get the camera working.

Ingenuity is one of my strongest assets.

Nodge68 said:

You'd really struggle to get 50mm2 cable through a tight conduit using string, pushing it through would be a better choice.

At work over the summer holidays I ran a LAN cable for a POE camera though an underground pipe (it was buried years ago for electric cables), between a school Elliot hut and the new outside learning area 50 metres away.
I used a small polystyrene ball (from the school craft cupboard), tied to some 5lb fishing line (from the same cupboard), then used my wet n dry vacuum to suck the ball from one end of the pipe to the other pulling the fishing line behind it.
I then use the fishing line to pull a stronger nylon rope back through the other way.
The nylon rope was use to pull the LAN cable though, ready for the IT guy to do his thing to get the camera working.

Ingenuity is one of my strongest assets.

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Your're right mate, pushing the cable through worked well once I added some lube which would have been required to pull it through anyway. It's the sort of job would take 1/4 as long with a helper.

Back in the day I worked installing burglar alarms so fishing cables was a daily occurrence but that was thirty odd years ago.

Latest vid

I can tell you've never owned a V6 FL. You'd be well used to bolts that you can't get to if you had!

bukko said:

I can tell you've never owned a V6 FL. You'd be well used to bolts that you can't get to if you had!

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LOL, no never had a V6 but did have a MGF.

So I managed to do a few more thing's the last week or so.
The rear battery box is almost completely connected with only a few link wires remaining so it is a bit safer. I managed to find a switched 12V supply that only goes live with the ignition on and hooked it up via a miniature relay to the two contactors.


The relay is temporarily in the box on the right to keep it safe. The reason for the the relay is I'm using the anti-tamper connection in the HV connector to kill the power to the contactors, and I was concerned it may not be suitable to handle the 0.5A or so that the contactors will draw continuously. The relay only draws 70mA so it should be fine, Nodge suggested I use it and so far it's working well so thanks Nodge. I've also wrapped all the HV wires in orange tape as that is the universal signal for HV and it helps them stand out better than black.

I also temporarily cable tied the HV cables from the rear battery box to the front.


I also spent ages connecting and bolting up the battery modules in the front so the leads will go straight up into the HV junction box.

I know you've said the cable ties are only temporary, but for the permanent solution, for that weight of cable, I'd suggest going with cable tie anchors that use a metal mechanical fastener to affix the anchor to the body rather than a plastic trimclip "firtree". Basically a small pilot hole, with a big stainless self tapper holding the anchor, and ruddy big cable ties are about as strong as it gets.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253512206062

I know you're wary about drilling extra holes in the body, but once these have a cable on them, the examiner won't be able to see the screws.

Jayridium said:

I know you're wary about drilling extra holes in the body, but once these have a cable on them, the examiner won't be able to see the screws.

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Or use rivnuts as a more permanent solution to self tapping screws.

Jayridium said:

I know you've said the cable ties are only temporary, but for the permanent solution, for that weight of cable, I'd suggest going with cable tie anchors that use a metal mechanical fastener to affix the anchor to the body rather than a plastic trimclip "firtree". Basically a small pilot hole, with a big stainless self tapper holding the anchor, and ruddy big cable ties are about as strong as it gets.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253512206062

I know you're wary about drilling extra holes in the body, but once these have a cable on them, the examiner won't be able to see the screws.

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Nodge68 said:

Or use rivnuts as a more permanent solution to self tapping screws.

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There are already holes along the length of the chassis that were previously used for securing the fuel pipes so I can drill them out a little and use M6 Rivnuts along with home made P clips or whatever you call P Clips doubled.

Rivnuts are great, I'd recommended them before, but didn't suggest them this time to try and keep the number/size of new holes constrained. If you're going with rivnuts, and those anchors, I'd suggest cap screws rather than hex headed conventional bolts, as I don't think there'd be a lot of room for a socket around the head of the fastener within the well on the anchors.

Jayridium said:

Rivnuts are great, I'd recommended them before, but didn't suggest them this time to try and keep the number/size of new holes constrained. If you're going with rivnuts, and those anchors, I'd suggest cap screws rather than hex headed conventional bolts, as I don't think there'd be a lot of room for a socket around the head of the fastener within the well on the anchors.

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Good point, I have plenty of M6 Allen head screws so should be OK but I still need to figure out how I'll route the BMS cables from the front two packs. I need to feed 40 wires from the front as there are 10 modules with 4 cells each. These cables although light will be at full battery voltage so need to be handled very carefully and fed through the same orange plastic conduit so I have another 2 lengths of conduit to feed.
This evening I spent another couple of hours working out the route for the pos cable from the rear to the front pack and trying to finalise the connections there. When I videoed the first drive everything was very temporary and nothing was properly secured.

Alibro said:

I can drill them out a little and use M6 Rivnuts along with home made P clips or whatever you call P Clips doubled

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Have you thought about using plastic trunking Ali? I must admit I'd be weary of the HV wires being exposed on the chassis, and would prefer to put them inside some cheap plastic trunking, which could be painted black.

I know what you mean, but the wires would be double insulated, individually insulated, then insulated again as they go through their plastic conduit?

Jayridium said:

I know what you mean, but the wires would be double insulated, individually insulated, then insulated again as they go through their plastic conduit?

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I know they're insulated well, but a lump of road debris could potentially flick up and cut into the insulation. Putting them inside a plastic trunking gives an extra layer of protection.