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NinerBikes's avatar
NinerBikes
Explorer
Aug 21, 2015

Assimilation has occurred, The Borg Exists.

Through the miracles of primitive battery acid chemistry the past 70 or 90 years, it was recently discovered in a tropical jungle leafy area of Mexico that necessity was the Mother of Invention.

Brought to you by "Dave's Not Here", he's down there in Mexico, wandering.






It's my understanding this is so simple, it's like that car insurance commercial by Geico, even a caveman could use it, or was it Rumsfeld saying an ape could use it, bonehead simple.


mexicowander quoted below on features:

A list of the features of THE BORG including those found on the front panel which pictures I hope to send to you tonight or tomorrow. VIA telephone imagery.

Front and rear panels are 1/4" aluminum for strength
Front panel has several lights and gauges listed below.
Green pilot at bottom is LED and is on when line voltage sensed.
Red & Green large LED pilot lights tell which Megawatt is in use. When spring-wound timer on rear runs out red lamp fails and green lamp continues indicating float or whatever #2 Mega task is underway.
Analog gauge is for ergonomics. Position of needle is like position of sun - no necessity to read numbers
Middle gauge is dual volt amp. Volt gauge is marginal 3 digit.
Bottom gauge is 4.5 digit. Accurate voltage for establishing fill of AGM battery. Least significant digit is to be ignored.
Top of charger not seen
5 position dual pole rotary switch. Select #1, #2, both or off Megawatts. Dual pole is to kill both hot and neutral Mexican hotel wire job.
One Klixon 20-amp 120-vac pushbutton breaker on rear.
Two integral 50 amp DC auto reset breakers inside
Buzzers wired across DC breakers to announce interruptions
(2) 10-turn 500 ohm Bourns metal/metal long life pots
one 100 count dial locks on pots
4,000 joule protection with multiple transient voltage suppressors 170V, 20 mm MOVS, 170 volt, and 3 -terminal Bourns gas discharge tube devices 180-volts
All but GDT protected with 2-amp pico fuses.
One liquid type silent high CFM fan to admit outside air.
6-hour Spring wound timer on rear which controls only one of the 2 Megawatt power supplies.
Voltage can be adjusted from 11.6 volts to 14.9 volts.
If I want higher voltage a 25-amp booster is available to boost output to sixty volts, and it has an incredibly fine amperage limiter built-in.
It's doesn't do 3-cell batteries, floors, or windows.
This was created for hobby fun. I didn't like what "The Market" offered, so I-rolled-my-own.

89 Replies

  • Should be fun cramming everything inside with a zillion wires going everywhere.

    The Borg's shell exists, the parts have been accumulated.

    I have a neighbor with many such projects in the same stage.
    Eventually I get asked to help relocate the components elsewhere as he needs to make room for the next project he will start, and then give up on in favor of the next project that he has already ordered all the parts for.

    Eventually he will revisit a forgotten project, and cannot find any of the components.

    So when will those pretty LEDs be powered, and that ammeter pegged?

    Chop Chop.
  • A COUNTERFEIT FRAUD!





    • NO RACK HANDLES
    • NO CABLES
    • WHERE'S THE RED LED?:AND NO GAUGES
    • DO NOT BE DECEIVED





    And that image of Jeri Ryan is ummmm, distracting to an extreme!
  • Yeah boy with her resistance would be impossible. "He did not comply". The BORG cannot be used as a jumper for cars. One position of the rotary dial on the switch turns the unit into a simple voltage limited battery charger. 42-amps. The timer acts as a safety and voltage limiting acts as a safety backup.

    Running through the dual 400-amp Schottky rectifier for isolation the ten turn pots will allow close synchronization of voltages when both Megas are online. Around eighty or so amperes. Spun back to 13.2 in this 35c weather the Lifeline never needs to come out of float voltage. But set at @ 14.2 volts for no 1 and 13.2 for number 2 Mega time is the factor so a simple twist of the timer does the work. When an outage is interrupted by an accidental 2-hours of electrical power service I can gang one and two for 84-amps voltage limited to 14.2. With the wild swings in wintertime temperarure the lifeline will most probably be set at 14.7 or 14.8 absorbsion with 13.7 volts float. The Megas have a good reputation among the HAMsters as being durable. I'll simply let both share a high load. And I can easily see what this battery charger is doing by glancing at the gauges.

    This is a fun project.
  • newman fulltimer wrote:
    :h


    It's no more complex than running a nuclear reactor.


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