Dishwasher Water Pump & ODrive in an Electric Car

Hi, I am still getting on with my CNC conversion using the ODrive system (creating Part 5 for that one soon), although I have been slightly delayed due to my dishwasher failing…

It was the heater element.

Right, so where am I going with this?

I had an epiphany… The dishwashers pump is a BLDC motor and has a temperature sensor built in-to the heater jacket. It’s the heater element that failed.

Why does all this matter?

Well, I am converting an MGF to a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) using a power unit I knocked up in CAD. The 24 x RC BLDC boat motors (3kW each) are water-cooled, therefore I need a strong closed-loop flow-controlled pump to react rapidly to changing water temperatures. I was after a high flow pump that could handle the high temperature and couldn’t find one anywhere to suit my budget. So…

I am going to try the dishwasher pump with the ODrive (sensorless control) to do just that, where I don’t need the heater at all. I will test the voltage from the dishwasher circuit, where I believe these to be low voltage, so ideal for the ODrive.

Has anyone tried this for pumping water?

Here is my MGF BEV project for reference: -

I am also considering the possibility of using ODrive’s to run every motor on the MGF power unit, as I am very impressed with the level of control and feedback from them and would be able to actively synchronise the gears during motor disconnection/meshing whilst driving.

I hope all this makes sense.

Happy ODriving,

Kind Regards,

Neil.

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