Charging Battery More Efficiently

pnichols wrote:

smkettner wrote:
If the 30 amp supply actually does 40 amps.... yes the Honda 1000 will struggle and possibly overload in certain conditions.

No one answered my inquiry above relating to this issue, but .... why can't one just turn the power supply output voltage down slightly (to reduce current acceptance by the battery slightly) such that the little Honda can keep going?

That seems like a no-brainer way to use a small generator to supply as much as it can at all times to bring just about any size battery bank back up to full charge.

Of course that works. Would not call it a no-brainer as some thinking, adjustment and attention is needed.

30 amp IOTA is a more plug and play solution. Start the generator and walk away.

smkettner wrote:
If the 30 amp supply actually does 40 amps.... yes the Honda 1000 will struggle and possibly overload in certain conditions.

No one answered my inquiry above relating to this issue, but .... why can't one just turn the power supply output voltage down slightly (to reduce current acceptance by the battery slightly) such that the little Honda can keep going?

That seems like a no-brainer way to use a small generator to supply as much as it can at all times to bring just about any size batttery bank back up to full charge. The smaller the generator the longer it will take of course, but at least with an adjustable output voltage power supply acting as a charger, the charging can be optimized to be the best it can be using existing equipment. I'm just about 100% certain this technique will work with the various Meanwell and Megawatt adjustable power supplies in conjunction with a small generator.

The Mega the Meanwell, and the Cheapo all survived doing all of the above. Don't know what the thermistor issue is with your unit except possibly your unit is way more powerful and current hungry.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Fer cryan out loud power up the caps in the power supply first THEN connect it to the battery.

I think that is one way I blew the in-rush thermistor in my 100amper because of not clamping on first and then turning the unit on. I think (not sure!) the power turned on, with the unit not loaded, does not create much in-rush, but it does warm up the thermistor, then when the load is added the big inrush hits a warm thermistor instead of a cold one.

The other way to blow the thermistor is if you turn it on even with it being clamped onto the batteries first, then shut it down and right away turn it back on. In-rush on a warmed up thermistor--oops! I call that a "hot restart" and don't do that anymore :(

If the 30 amp supply actually does 40 amps.... yes the Honda 1000 will struggle and possibly overload in certain conditions.

True 30 amp limited such as IOTA should be good in all conditions.

Ramping up the voltage works like a charm by the way. An external 500 ohm pot is the hot setup.

Fer cryan out loud power up the caps in the power supply first THEN connect it to the battery.

Is E10 new to the West part of the country? Here, in MN, we've had it for years. Folks here don't think about derating engines because of E10, it's what we all use. Also, most folks are not *****ing about the alcohol. If anything, they want to use E85 or like one of my buds, a blend of E10 and E85 in the tank to save fuel cost.

No ides how the small Honda's handle the power supplies. My experience is that some gensets just don't get along well with certain devices. Makes 'em cranky.

smkettner wrote:
I doubt even 16 volts from any 30 amp supply will overload the Honda 1000.

I can tell you that 10% ethanol at 7500 feet and 14.8V with that MegaWatt 30 amp alongside the Madison River in Montana on a 17F morning on 9-11-14 had the meanwell at first on a warm motor sucking 40 amps and in 15 seconds, it was down to 33 and in another 15 seconds it was down to 29 amps, and there was one heavily taxed and loud barking EU1000i pumping all the beans in the tank for 30 seconds before the throttle on Eco mode just barely subsided. I do not know the PFC correction for the Power supply unit, but that generator is rated 1000 watts at sea level. 7 x .036 = 25%, that's 25% loss due to elevation, if you corrected the jets for elevation. You can throw away another 5% easily with cr@ppy 10% methanol in your gas too. So now you are talking maybe 700 to 750 watts, peak, from losses camping high up and with cut fuel.

At start up, on a 60% SOC battery, it will pull 40 amps, probably at 13.1V at the battery, it will be 14.8 at the PSU. That's 600 watts. That's very close to the limit, where I was. I saw the red light flickering as the amps maxed, and dissappeared in about 7 or 8 seconds as the intial amps surge dropped off.

It's pretty close, a lot like a Iota 30 amp at 14.8V being hard on an Eu1000i under less than perfect conditions.

I doubt even 16 volts from any 30 amp supply will overload the Honda 1000.