This thread has gone all frazzled. Each person here has different intentions on how they would employ such a power supply.
I've never bad mouthed the cheapowatt. The thing burst a nut providing 538 watts when it was rated for 350. I think it is admirable it lasted that long. I knew the buzzing I heard was a sign. I pushed it anyway just to see how far it could go. Now we know. Sorry if this information offends the desire to have cheap chinese products work flawlessly and justify one's "frugality"
Not understanding the desire for constant current in the bulk Phase or the logic behind this desire? Can't help you there. Plenty of threads about converters not going into 'boost' and unhappy converter owners out there. Wahhhh m y PD 9260 only does 50 amps for 20 minutes or my Wfco never goes into boost. Seems the only happy converter owners are the ones who never test specific gravity, or who never use the generator to charge, or just travel from pedestal to pedestal.
Yes I want constant current within the device's capabilities until my set Absorption voltage, I don't want to have to fiddle with a voltage pot 12 times during the bulk phases, nor half a dozen times afterward absv is reached to hold constant voltage. This is what the cheapowatt required. Constant human intervention to keep it from smoking itself on a thirsty battery
If plugging in this cheapowatt to a depleted battery, dialed in the voltage pot to just below buzzing level and never touched the trim pot again, the voltage probably would have stopped rising in the low 13's and amps tapering to very little very quickly. I did not get a chance to test this because I moved onto the stress test which smoked it. I can say that the trim pot was still below half, initially, to keep the buzzing at bay.
The stress test was setting the desired end voltage before hooking it to the battery, and letting it go. With no self protection, the cheapowatt burst at the 17 minute mark exceeding its rating by a huge amount. Instead of a thanks for exploring the limits of this unit, a get derided for expecting too much. Kiss me where I poo.
Now the other power supplies available, still made in Asia By the way, which are more expensive do incorporate some type of self protection in overload. The hiccup mode supposedly shuts off the unit until the overload is removed. Niner has said something about documentation that describes this hiccup mode about the Megawatt, yet hiccup mode is not what the website claims occurs at overload. They say the 30 amp supply will do 33 amps for 30 minutes, roll back to 30 amps to cool down for 3 minutes then ramp back upto 33 amps.
Niner's one report about starting in cold temps at 40 amps and quickly tapering to 20 amps does not really follow Megawatt's claims as to function. Niner has offered to allow me to test/datalog his unit in my system, but we are too distant. I'd like to thank him publicly for the offer.
The behavior he described sounds more like roll back current limiting which to me is more desirable than a true Hiccup mode which just shuts down the power supply.
But the Third option is the current limiting mode on overload that Mean Well claims to employ on some of their models. This would seemingly do what I want a power supply to do, in my usage. I want to set an absorption voltage, set a timer and walk away. The battery can obviously accept more amperage than the unit can safely provide, so I want the unit to employ a safe maximum for itself. I'd like this maximum be 30+ amps as my AGM responds to this very well.
I'll Spend what I have to spend to get this, and If I could have 6 cheapowatts delivered for that price, So be it.
