MMC4000 EV Fluid Heater

This MMC design was initially conceived as replacement of mediocre RM3 / RM4 fluid heaters whic was the product of Swiss manufacturer MED-DEA. The idea was to make not only more reliable heater, but expand its flexibility: high voltage model worked a up to 800 VDC, and it can be controlled 5 ways: O/OFF, over CAN, by PWM, by analog voltage and by external potentiometer. "4000" in the heater model represents maximum power output - 4000 W, or 4 kW. The design started circa 2013 and the prototype produced by 2015 worked well, but as with many such projects mechanical aspects of the design were the stopping point: machinned and injection-molded parts required significant initial investment that could only be paid off by secured demnand, which was never there. It could not be there because no significant marketing was done other than advertizing it on MMC website, and spending money on advertizing and marketing without realistic prospects or at least initial interest of the industry didn't make sense just like investing in mechanical parts. Classic catch 22.

Since then most EV heaters for ground up EVs were designed by most companies as ceramic type, while fluid based ones only made sense for conversion vehicles being retrofitted to EVs as they already heat exchanger core, plumbing and duct work in place, so lacking only heat source once engine was removed. (for instance, I will make one-off for my Audi A6 EV conversion). However as time went by, EV industry finally woke up and conversion market subsequently went away. And so the need for fluid type EV heater...

Anyway, the design is presented here pretty much only as an example of my electrical engineering skills. If someone will ever be inte4rested to buy the design (the software), I'm willing to part with it. My email is at the bottom of this page.

Here is a photo of the first prototype made specifically for the software developer.

First version assembled.

Second version. Bottom - SMT assembled, middle - TH stuffed (except for IGBTs), top - ready for debugging.

Machined heat exchange chamber.

Bolted to a heat exchanger - high voltage wet test.

3D printed mock up of the enclosure.

Proposed label. Never made it to production though...

Working schematic screen capture.

PCB layout screen capture.

Fluid heater's MMC4000 Flyer

Fluid heater's MMC4000 Preliminary User Manual