grid charger/balancer

[MN Driver]

Originally Posted by uhtrinity

I jumped on 2X of the 4 ea deal this weekend. I'm not exactly sure how I will implement them yet. One consideration is one charger per pack, current limited using the LM317HVs like with my variac charger. Just unsure if I will use 3 or 4 of the ebay special power supplies or if I will use 3 and a third current limit supply like Mike suggests.

Btw, quickly approaching the 2 year mark on plugin charging. That will make ~600 full cycles and no issues to date. Mpgs will also be going up as I am moving and will have a 30 mile daily commute vs my current 2 mile commute.

Either I've missed the thread or I've forgotten, but if you are just buying a set of these now, how have you been charging your parallel pack setup before?

[uhtrinity]

Originally Posted by MN Driver

Either I've missed the thread or I've forgotten, but if you are just buying a set of these now, how have you been charging your parallel pack setup before?

Variac + current limiting lm317hv circuit.

[JuiceMcGoose]

Originally Posted by uhtrinity

Variac + current limiting lm317hv circuit.

At 600 full charges I guess you are the test example. How many amps does this circuit charge at?

[randerson0248]

He is probably wondering why they suddenly are popular.

When I bought from him, he had two auctions for the "SR-25-48" running at the same time, one showing 8 available (4x and another showing 10 available (4x10).

[JuiceMcGoose]

Originally Posted by randerson0248

I ordered from TRC Electronis. It was about $30 with shipping. $16.57 plus $5 handling plus $8.50 shipping.

Randerson, thanks for the tip on the e-Bay power supplies and TRC. For some reason TRC decided to charge me more, but at least I got one. Copied from e-mail:

LPC-20-350 1 1 16.5700 16.57
Constant Current Mode
IP67, 350mA LED Power Supply
LED or General Applications
HANDLING FEE 5.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal 21.57
Freight 15.83
Total 37.40

Just to let people know...freight was lowest available ground UPS.

[randerson0248]

You were robbed.

LPC-20-350 1 1 16.5700 16.57

Constant Current Mode
IP67, 350mA LED Power Supply
LED or General Applications

HANDLING FEE 5.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal 21.57
Freight 8.52
Total 30.09

[uhtrinity]

Originally Posted by JuiceMcGoose

At 600 full charges I guess you are the test example. How many amps does this circuit charge at?

I'm charging 2 battery packs, so my numbers will be a little higher. The beginning portion of the charge starts near 1 amp, but quickly drops to ~600mA ... end charge is near 200 - 300 mA. This is based strictly on voltage of the pack vs voltage of the charger. The cooler months aren't an issue, I can actually leave it plugged in all day. In the summer I need to watch it more closely or the packs can get hot even with the fans running.

[JimIsbell]

I just got the 4 power supplies. I didnt realize how small they were. I just bought 8 more of them. Those are one hell of a bargain at $5 each. I can use them for all sorts of things. 5 of them in series will give me the HV for a 100 watt Ham transmitter!!!

[buzzkill]

Originally Posted by JimIsbell

I just got the 4 power supplies. I didnt realize how small they were. I just bought 8 more of them. Those are one hell of a bargain at $5 each. I can use them for all sorts of things. 5 of them in series will give me the HV for a 100 watt Ham transmitter!!!

can i have a direct link to the auction you used.

[JimIsbell]

Originally Posted by buzzkill

can i have a direct link to the auction you used.

as Randerson2408 said, just do a search on "SR-25-48"