Augh! E10 Petrol...

[Gadgetman]

They're making ready to roll out this abomination here in Norway...    

And I checked the list...  

https://www.acea.auto/files/E10_petrol_f...update.pdf     

PSA Peugeot lists 'Jan. 1st 2000'. 
No car models or engine models, even a 'from engine code xxxxx' 

And the Tu3 engine in my car is pretty much unchanged from 1996 until it was phased out in 2008. 
(It got a belt tensioner in 2000, but other than that? )   

Can I dare run it on E10 95 Octane, or will I have to buy the more expensive E5 98 Octane?

[Gadgetman]

Also, found this on a Stellantis site:

* E10 petrol is also not compatible with the EW10D (2.0 HPi) petrol engine Citroën C5 models manufactured between 2001 and 2003, owners of these vehicles should continue to use E5 Super Unleaded petrol.

https://www.media.stellantis.com/uk-en/c...e10-petrol

[Mark604]

I've bitten the bullet in that I pay the extra and get E5 95 Octane (in most of Europe).
The reason being even in my 2019 K9 petrol, which is supposed to accept the E10 without problem, it twice left me at the side of the road misfiring badly. Once the plugs were cleaned it ran ok again. Both times it was sorted out by a Citroen dealer/garage and both times they told me to use E5 and every five or so fill ups, to put 98 or 100 in.

[Gadgetman]

The only E5 I could find here in Norway was overpriced 98 Octane. And only at ONE place 'locally'(near work. I don't usually drive to work)

And can confirm that even half a tank of E10 95 causes massive bouts of misfiring on the 1.4i....
Ran through a whole tank of E5 98 without much improvement(boy was that expensive), and with the other issues in my car...
(pooped out front brake disks, gremlins in the electrics, the sun roof doesn't work! The front windshield is mostly a collection of scratches, and a horror in sunlicght. Only ONE working door lock, the central remote died years ago... Even the passenger side window lift failed... The window is held in place by a clamp and a piece of wood right now, Even the indicator stalk is giving me gyp when I try to signal a righthand turn... )

I'm sad to announce the demise of the Red Danger-mobile...

It will be remembered with fondness and maybe a touch of PTSD?

The replacement is Shirelle!
Named after the group The Shirelles, and particularly this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V1J6rZ6bOE

Shirelle is a dark gray Citroën ë-Berlingo 2014 3seater van.
She's only got the 22KW battery pack, so her run time is even shorter than the Shirelles peak of popularity...

Bought her in Trondheim yesterday afternoon, then hit up IKEA and tried the chargers there. Yeah, that worked well... NOT!
Didn't get even as much power as if you rubbed a cat with a balloon... and almost as painful.
3 charging stations and a missed ferry(which is on a hourly shedule at night... ) and I was home safe and sound at some time after 3am.

3 large cans of 'energy drink' probably energised me more than the leftower charge in the batteries...
There's STILL NO CUP HOLDER!

I started thinking about how I've been using my car the last 5 years or so...
Only 1 long trip (over 150Km), never had more than 1 passenger in it, ever!
(I can get to work and back easily. I can visit my parents, and with a small top-up I can even get back home. My sister lives at the end of one-way range, she wants me to help with something, she'll have to let me plug in. )

Oh, the user manual... The car came with one for a ICE-type C4...
I've sometimes not just folded down the rear seats, but actually REMOVED them from the car in order to fit something. Usually not even my own stuff. Driving with something that's so long that I even had to move the front passenger seat as far forward as possible, and the seat back angled as far forwards as possible... and barely being able to shift because there's a freaking big locker taking up the space? Not again!
There's a WALL blocking THAT!
It's registered as a VAN, I'm not legally allowed to mess with that wall!

[Sol]

Nice @Gadgetman, I am actually jealous. I would love an e-berlingo. Can't charge one at home currently, I'm in a top floor apartment but one day I'll be back in a detached house again.

So much you can do to improve that beastie, being as it's just batteries and an electric motor!. Also, carry a little 3kw emergency generator in the back just in case you get stranded without charge! Genius no?

[Gadgetman]

Checked the 3Kw generators for sale. The affordable ones have 'not suited to recharge electric cars' in the listing. The good ones are 3x the cost at £700 and up.

I found that it has the same mounting points for inside roof rails as my old M49, so those have been transferred. Got to have some place to stow my fishing rods...
The last trip I did with my M49 was out to the Atlantic Ocean Road, actually. Caught 8 fine mackerels.
The bridges on that road is such a popular fishing spot that they built walkbridges next to some of them, so that the hobbyfishers could be safe.

As it's a van I'm thinking of putting up some plywood shelving along one side in the back. To store the inevitable clutter a bit better.
(spare can of window washer liquid, emergency charge cable, hand cleaner, paper towels, rubbish bin, esbit-type stove and pellets for it, teabags, sugar, water... the essentials)

I may transfer the old 150W 12V DC to 230V AC inverter I had in the old car, but haven't quite decided, yet.
It's not that I used it that often, exactly...
I definitely need to get a 12V outlet in the back, though. Large coolers are noisy.
(I don't believe in small ones.)

I don't really have electricity in my garage, either, so for now I've been using fast charging here and there. I'll be looking for a slow charging point in town, though, since those are much cheaper.
There is power in my garage... 10A by the use of a long extension cord from my 'shed' at the side of the apartment building. It's nicely connected to a fuse box in the garage, and from there it's all Romex type cabling to lights and outlets. It's almost up to code... when you ignore the extension cord, at least.
I'll need to get a certified sparkie in to install 16A the right way, and hopefully he won't be too angry at my handiwork. (I actually had a year of schooling on this, so it's not too bad. But it's still pretty much werboten)
I can only use the outlet in the shed for charging if I park my car directly in front of the stairs up to my apartment, and that area is 'park only as long as necessary for loading and unloading, washing the car or similar'. Not that anyone would call a tow truck on me, it's just not polite to block the walkway for everyone.
(It's a small 8 apartment co-op, we try to be civil because the alternative is full out war )
I can't really park in front of my garage, either. It'll make it difficult for some of the others to get their cars in and out of their garages.

Inside?
Yeah, right...
Just need to unbolt the lathe and push it into the far corner, throw out my bicycles, sort and store all my tools and materials...

Anyone need a spare roll-up 'parcel shelf' for an M49(don't know if it fits the M59 also) or two?
Or Hubcaps?
I may have a Thule roof rack fitted with mounts for M49, too. Keys for the locks? Lost ages ago. Yeah, old square tube system.
(Got an aerodynamic profile set with the new van)
A pair of unused shocks for the rear suspension, new in box?
I'll throw in an oil filter(metal can, with Citroën logo) for free. Fits 1.4i.
The old car has wind deflectors. Anyone wants those? A new set costs around 500NOK+shipping, if you can find them online.

It can all be collected for free within the next 2 weeks. Then it goes to the scrappers.

I'm cleaning out some of the junk in the garage.

[Sol]

Do you get enough sunshine to use a solar panel to trickle charge?

You still need a battery and inverter to 230v (or what ever they use in Norway)

Even a domestic socket is fine to charge a vehicle battery pack, the 16A one just gives more current and takes less time. Actually rapid charging shortens the battery pack life from heating the cells up to much and softening the metals inside.

So although they "say" a generator isn't suitable for ev charging, if the car has a smart charger on board then it only draws what is available. 13A, 16A or 20A etc. It can tell what is feeding it and sip accordingly when required.

[Gadgetman]

The difference between cheap and expensive generators is the 'shape' of the voltager and current. If you hook an Oscilloscope up to a socket in your home you'll find a pretty good Sinus curve. Nice and smooth.
On a cheap generator, though, it can be pretty bad. Square pulse bad.

Sunshine...
I have a 30W panel on the wall, to keep a 12V 'motorcycle battery' in the attic charged.(It's used for the LED lighting in the attic. I figued it was cheaper than having a Sparkie around to pull 230V up there and install regular lighting) I'm also looking into building a micro-camper to pull with my bicycle, and was going to mount a 100 - 150W panel on that.

I could place a 150W panel in the cabin, and use that to charge a 12V/60Ah 'leisure' deep cycle battery(I have one for my Trolling motor)
That's only 660Wh, though, and the inverter draws a lot of juice for itself, so maybe a full charge would get me an extra 0.4KWh.
Maybe some extra electrickery and relays and possibly an Arduino to switch the inverter on and off, I could have it slowly recharge the battery over days or a week.
Something to think about at least.

But I think I'll aim for getting a proper charger installed in my garage first. I've needed to clear out some junk and reorganise it anyways...
I guess I could get a 150W panel and place that inside the front windshield when parked, and use that to fill a 12V/60Ah 'leisure battery'(I have one for my trolling motor)

[Sol]

I have a degree in electrical and electronic engineering and have worked in the industry for 40 years. How can you not get a sine wave from a motor generator? Impossible. If the alternator is directly producing the single phase or even 3 phase voltage. An alternator or motor generator cannot fail to produce a sine wave. Where do you think the mains sine wave comes from?

Also your vehicle has an AC to DC Inverter on board, to charge the DC battery pack. It does not care if the AC sinewave is pure or not. That is irrelevant to an inverter.

[Gadgetman]

Yeah, I'm frankly not certain how they can be that bad myself.
But to get a proper sine wave directly from an alternator doesn't it have to rotate at the same frequency as the desired frequency? (50/60Hz )
That is, 3000 or 3600RPM, and stay on that speed independently of the power draw?

Isn't it more likely that they rectify the AC generated and push that through a rather poor excuse for a Switch-mode circuit to generate the desired output?