Electric Elan

[LotusElon]

GREAT STUFF guys - thanks for posting - my next (winter project)

Please share/ link to more details of the 'Elon' conversions

[LotusElon]

Hi
I have converter my heater box to be powered from the traction battery:
I found a pair of 1kW 110V PTC heater modules which will fit in the space left by the old heat exchangers. These are quite clever in that the resistance increases as they get hotter which limits the max temperature. They also have over temperature thermostats fitted which I will experiment to get a safe max operating temperature. This means they only draw enough power to maintain temperature so the max drawn power is proportional to the blower fan speed. Here you can see the fan and a rough idea of where the PTC heaters will be mounted.

I have also found some high temperature adhesive foam to fill the gap between the heater and the box lid from Advanced Seals and Gaskets Limited called EDPM which is rated to 150°C which gives a nice safety margin as I plan to run the heater at around 100°C - close to the original engine coolant temperature.

I was a bit worried about repositioning the dropper resistor as it was not in the direct airflow, but it worked fine. Here you can see the fan warming up using a thermal imaging camera
HTH!

GREAT stuff - I want to do the same .. (can you let me know the specs and where you got the PTC heater elements - saves a lot of trial and error,

Love the thermal images !!!
Cheers

mark

[Spunagain]

OK hope this works!
Amazon link to one of the ones I got (the other was from another much cheaper Ebay supplier who only had one!)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09YRKBW87/ref=pe_27063361_485629781_TE_item

Specs:
Voltage: 110V
Power: 1000W
Hole pitch: 210 x 42.5 mm
Installation hole: 8x4 mm
Size: 230 x 50.5 x 26mm (with ripple length of 186mm) (I think he means heat exchanger length)
Colour:Black+silver
Material:Aluminium+Plastic+Ceramic PTC

I had to trim the black insulating mounts either end to fit into the Smiths box with a file and Dremel.

Good luck!

[LotusElon]

Thank you - order placed
Perfect as already have HV wiring relay etc from abandoned wet system. Only thing I’ll miss is preheating the battery to charge in winter .

[Spunagain]

Fab. Did you control pre heating manually or via thermostat or BMS?

It is a plan for future Spunagain. I am adding the wiring to the loom and planning to use thermostat switches.

[LotusElon]

Fab. Did you control pre heating manually or via thermostat or BMS?

It is a plan for future Spunagain. I am adding the wiring to the loom and planning to use thermostat switches.

manually - as all the heating cooling system.

I've currently got a simpler manual water system (pretending to be Tesla's awesome 'octovalve' )

FLOW PATH
Water coolant Pump > Inverter chill plate > [dead HV water heater - maybe a new HV battery preheater in future] > [ Elan Heater soon to be out of circuit and Electric as @spunagain has well done ! ] > manual valves via unused 'choke' cable' to switch in and out [A Tesla modules water circuit] And [B lightweight formula Ford radiator and fan ] > reservoir > back to pump !!

[LotusElon]

Chuffed Autocar 'Letter of the week'

[The Veg]

Well said Mark!

[LotusElon]

Any Elan Owner or , dare I say Electric Elan Curious
has GOT to see this fantastic complete rebuild by @spunagain

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/top ... 983651&i=0

well done Phil !!

[LotusElon]

The heater box, ‘like a virgin’ untouched for 53years (sorry Madonna )…. And was a proper nest.
Now adding some PTC heating elements 2 x 750w 110v to run off the 'good stuff' and airflow temperature is perfect (I'll save the 'water heater towers' incase in another 50years time we go back to burning stuff to move cars).
Lesson learned: PCT's easier and better than wet systems for EV's with thanks to Phil @spunagain !
Before

After

[Spunagain]

Nice, that is a better engineering solution than mine! Are you getting a new fan for it too?

[LotusElon]

Thanks, But Dont look too close
I found the fan is fine - it did have a dodgy wire to earth ... like all elan wiring 'check the earth'