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Enginer Plan B

Discussion in 'Prius PHEV Plug-In Modifications' started by cproaudio, Apr 9, 2011.

  1. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    Thanks Floyd.

    The entire kit and parts can be bought directly from Shanghai Fountainhead Electronics Co. Lye. Their website is

    Shanghai Fountainhead Electronics Co.,Ltd

    The website shows a price list. Note that the so called 5kw DC converter is only a 4 kw DC converter with a continuous rating of 3.6kw. Has Jack Chen been false advertising the incorrect rating of 5kw.
     
  2. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    Thanks Floyd.

    The entire kit and parts can be bought directly from Shanghai Fountainhead Electronics Co. Ltd. Their website is

    Shanghai Fountainhead Electronics Co.,Ltd

    Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

    The website shows a price list. Note that the so called 5kw DC converter is only a 4 kw DC converter with a continuous rating of 3.6kw. Has Jack Chen been false advertising the incorrect rating of 5kw.
     
  3. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    Great find Lopez. Could this be the new company that makes the Enginer kit? Jack went to Shanghai back in May to oversee production on a new company. Shanghai Fountainhead Electronics Co is located in Shanghai. That's an unbranded Enginer kit.
    It's funny that the guy in 5th picture is Jack himself.
    Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle
     
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  4. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    Shanghai Fountainhead is the original and probably still the existing Parent Chinese company which Jack uses to purchase the existing 4KW Enginer kit and brand it with the Enginer label. The other brand you can see is Maximum Durability Technology.
     
  5. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    Mr Fang at Shanghai Fountainhead has just informed me that he stopped supplying PHEV kits and spare parts to Jack Chen about 6 months ago. I guess that maybe Jack found a new supplier.
     
  6. Agape

    Agape Member

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    Nice find.
     
  7. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    The prices including bulk discounts are included in the attachment. Note that the delivery of the kit is done by sea. You will need to find a receiving agent to pay for all sort of import fees including delivery from your nearest port to your home. You could easily add US $1500 extra on top.

    If you just want a spare part you can have it delivered by airmail which is cheaper and quicker - except maybe for the battery packs.
     
  8. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    2995 a kit? that's not any cheaper than what you can get on eBay.
     
  9. dan2l

    dan2l 2014 Prius v wagon

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    Looks like a BMS16D, but it describes 32 cells in parallel/series. So that would be MottCells.

    The price on the cells looks to be good. The other prices are reasonable if you need parts and can not get them from Enginer.

    If anyone actually tries a buy from these Guys, Let us know how it goes.

    Thanks,
    Dan
     
  10. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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  11. dan2l

    dan2l 2014 Prius v wagon

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    It appears that Fountainhead is the original company that made all the systems with poor Quality. Enginer reports no current relationship with Fountainhead and says that Fountainhead is violating Intellectual property agreements.

    I expect that these kits and parts may be spares and refurbished parts that were left over or returned as warranty returns. The Chinese tend to try to resell thing that should be scrapped.

    Be very careful if you deal with these guys.

    Thanks,
    Dan
     
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  12. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    Hi Dan,

    I have dealt with Mr Fang in the past when I had problems with the BMS16D and he sent me a new one under warranty as instructed by Jack before Jack changed suppliers. So last week Mr Fang mailed me a letter with a full colour brochure and price list etc and had it delivered to me by TNT Express to Australia. I expect that he would have sent this brochure to all the customers who bought a kit from Enginer when Fountainhead Electronics was the supplier. As I have dealt with Mr Fang in the past I would still expect that he would honor any purchase that is made. Mr Fang would have to rebadge the Enginer labels with MD-TECH labels including the PCB markings and apply his own copyright markings. In business terms one would call it piracy. In the arena of international law and agreements are all worthless unless they can be enforced. Legalistically maybe both companies have intellectual property rights.

    Some of these poor quality Enginer kits are still running after six months. You cannot blame Enginer problems just on poor qualiity. I am certain that a lack of good electronic engineering design has a lot more to do with problems that Enginer has, rather than blaming it on poor quality.

    I have not seen a RFE Enginer kit from the new supplier to determine if they have improved the design. I have noticed design improvements in the Enginer kits since the first RFE Enginer kits came off the production line from Fountainhead Electronics, since mine was one of the first design it was being sold at a special intro price of aprox. US$2500 on Ebay.

    I guess that buying the first RFE Enginer design of the kit at a cheaper price does not always pay in the long run, at the start of the new production of the RFE Enginer Kits they had so much promise and to me it was a total let down. For other users the kits are still running.
     
  13. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    Hi Dan,

    I have made a purchase with Mr Fang. I will soon let you know whether he is selling the parts as new or if he is selling repaired warranty return parts. The delivery is currently on the way via TNT Express at Shanghai airport according to the TNT website.

    I have informed Mr Fang that Enginer is selling the BMS16D for US$170 compared to his price US390. I have asked him to consider matching the price offered by Enginer. I also do not know which version of BMS16D he is selling.
     
  14. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    I thought you're using MiniBMS. What happened with that?
     
  15. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    I have not been able to use my kit for the last four weeks. Jack has sent me a new DC Converter. I am planning on using a brand new BMS16D latest version to go with it as he now claims that he has fixed all the bugs and will not balance unless it has been enabled by changing a jumper switch. My old BMS16D is probably faulty also, I do not want to take any chances.
     
  16. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    So is Mr Fang shipping things direct with TNT (no stupid "sea" freight)?

    If so, i may be interested in some more batteries....
     
  17. 3prongpaul

    3prongpaul Hybrid Shop Owner, worked on 100's of Prius's

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    These guys copied Jack Chens (Enginer USA) old design. The old design had quite a few problems, so you will be buying old technology with no guarantee of support...from a company that outright stole Enginer plans in violation of their manufacturing agreement with Enginer. If anyone buys from this copycat vendor please share your experiences...but IMHO you will be throwing your money away. There is no way to get your money back with a wire transfer unless vendor agrees to a refund. At least with PayPal / Credit Cards you have someone to assist you if things go wrong.
     
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  18. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    Hi Flan,

    I had to pay extra for TNT express (4 day delivery from China to Australia) US$170 for my new DC converter.

    I am waiting for my new DC converter from Mr Fang, it should arrive today according to the tracking number on the TNT website, it has been released from customs at Sydney airport.
     
  19. lopezjm2001

    lopezjm2001 Senior Member

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    I have just received my new DC Converter from Mr Fang.

    I can now confirm that Mr Fang is selling rebadged Enginer DC Converters. Despite the DC converter lid being labeled "MD Technology" the printed circuit board is marked "Copyright Enginer .INC 2010 REV6.0" same markings as my last DC Converter that became faulty except there are changes.

    I will report tomorrow whether the DC Converter actually works.

    I have found the following changes or improvements:

    1. The pots for making adjustments have been glued down so they cannot be bent.

    2. L1 and L2 have been replaced with 4 large inductors wound around a ferrite core. This may reduce noise emissions, see photo. They should have been anchored down with silicon sealant but they were not.

    3. The lid label has a honest rating of the DC Converter.

    4. The two blade fuses on each leg of the DC input are marked at 30 amps each.

    5. The 8 transformers have been replaced, marked ER53. The new ones appear to be different and bulkier than the old ones.
     
  20. Floyd2

    Floyd2 progressio per sententia

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    I also received the brochures from Fountainhead Electronics a while ago. Didn't you get them Flaninacupboard? You would expect they were sent to all overseas customers.

    I'm not quite sure about that Paul, it is unclear who owns the intellectual property rights of this system. But I fully agree with you it would be much safer to order something via Paypal or using your creditcard.

    This converter seems more robust, I'm curious what John's experiences with this one will be.