Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Dabrowski 2000
Roger, from my testing, the 350MA can stay there for hours once the cells are topped off, and that is required for the first full charge just to make sure that all cells get filled.
This is why I recommend having the a fan running.
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I could see regular top-offs being useful in winter just before a drive to get the pack to warm up some, and have not read of anyone having problems from frequently topped-off batteries, but wonder if that could lead to oversize crystal formation (it typically takes only 2 - 4 hrs for my charger power to hit peak, even if 350mA is considered a mere trickle charge). Having a sufficiently low voltage setting would help minimize essentially heating of the outdoors, although the more fully the pack is charged and balanced the less fuel gets burned later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Dabrowski 2000
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When the charger open circuit voltage is set to say 175 or so, the pack will never reach that voltage, and the AC current draw will stay the same throughout.
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That matches what happens, usually a max charged pack indicated voltage of about 172V (I need to check on its open-circuit output and the accuracy of the console-mounted remote meter; I thought it had originally been 167V but that wouldn't lead to 172V pack readings.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Dabrowski 2000
IMHO A simple timer to stop the whole charge process may be the easier solution if you want to stop the charge if you forget.
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Well, yes, that would be much simpler. I need to find/make one that doesn't start the countdown until power is applied, doesn't forget the timer count setting when power is removed, and is of course relay-based so it doesn't weird-out the AC waveform to the charger.
Being able to set a switch in the car to either "simple recharge" or "full balancing top-off" would be nice, having it know when to shut itself off in either case... That actually could be simply done with an additional adjustable voltage supply replacing via a 4PDT (or possibly only DPDT) switch an original one, with one set to max voltage and the other to minimum. The difference might be just enough to bridge the gap, with the power supply charge current and consumption ramping down as the pack dictates in the "simple recharge" mode. With the eBay guy unloading all those little MeanWell supplies, that's easily enough done.
Roger
