Power Assist

Well, It's been ages since I have tried to undertake some input. I guess a photo is always a good place to start. Let's see if I can still remember how to find one.

Here's a shot of the front of the AW with the motor in place. I replaced the hood at the same time I was installing the PA kit, so it was easy to get at the inside parts. The motor works great. I've used it to go up what would likely be impossible hills . It's kind of addictive. Anything that is steep enough to slow you down just melts away. It makes pulling the trailer a breeze. The range is not quite what I had hoped. A couple more batteries would help. (The kit came with four.) Going to work (23 miles) there is plenty of juice to assist on every incline, and accellerate quickly in traffic. (There isn't too much traffic at 10:30 PM anyway....but like I said, it's addictive.) Coming home I have to be a little more conservative, as there is alot more climbing. I have only used it back and forth to work a couple times, and was able to recharge there both times. More often it is used for running errands. On short trips you can run the motor just about all the time. Without the speed cut-off it gets up to about 28MPH on the flats with my meager physical contribution. You still get a workout, you just go faster.
Here's a picture of the battery compartment before the explosion. ( I'll get to that.) I moved the fuse outside the box, and ran the charger and temp. sensor leads through rubber grommets as well. The batteries are wired together in paralel , and charge simultaneously. The "smart charger" plugs into a sensor to prevent overcharging. Two of the batteries were equipped with the mating plug. One of them still is. the other one.....well, you'll see. But not today. I have to get some sleep.