First Top Charge
I finally got my volt/amp meter wired in to my Mega Watt and started my first Top Charge. Initial battery voltage was 13.2v. Mega Watt was set to 15v. Turn-on voltage was 14.8v @ 33a. It quickly went ...
Forum Discussion
sjturbo,
Like with all things electrical, big amps cost big bucks. This includes buck and boost converters. It gets to a point where the buck/booster gets as expensive as another charger.
I had recommended a bucker for getting V down to 8v for EQ'ing individual 6v batts. But for top charging the full bank, you may be better off boosting that PD 9270's output? See Mex's 'Playing with dc-dc Boosters' thread.
But you'd still be into a fairly high amperage booster, so it will get costly. Notice the one Mex links to is limited to 12a max output; perfect for a 220Ah bank. This is where bank splitting comes in. It eliminates the need for such high amperages (12a vs. 24a, in your case) But, of course, it all depends on how accessible your bank is, and how much time you want to spend re'and re'ing wires.
I went with a 60a adjustable 13.6-18v power supply, so that I can do regular top charging without overtaxing it's duty cycle. But it still doesn't compare to the versatility of the cps1620.
But it still doesn't deal with the constant current issue. It's one thing to supply power to a constant load, such as a string of led lights, it's a whole other thing when dealing with an ever decreasing load, such as a battery that's being charged. I'm still trying to figure what would best solve this issue. How does one maintain that 5% rate throughout, without continually raising the voltage?
Like with all things electrical, big amps cost big bucks. This includes buck and boost converters. It gets to a point where the buck/booster gets as expensive as another charger.
I had recommended a bucker for getting V down to 8v for EQ'ing individual 6v batts. But for top charging the full bank, you may be better off boosting that PD 9270's output? See Mex's 'Playing with dc-dc Boosters' thread.
But you'd still be into a fairly high amperage booster, so it will get costly. Notice the one Mex links to is limited to 12a max output; perfect for a 220Ah bank. This is where bank splitting comes in. It eliminates the need for such high amperages (12a vs. 24a, in your case) But, of course, it all depends on how accessible your bank is, and how much time you want to spend re'and re'ing wires.
I went with a 60a adjustable 13.6-18v power supply, so that I can do regular top charging without overtaxing it's duty cycle. But it still doesn't compare to the versatility of the cps1620.
But it still doesn't deal with the constant current issue. It's one thing to supply power to a constant load, such as a string of led lights, it's a whole other thing when dealing with an ever decreasing load, such as a battery that's being charged. I'm still trying to figure what would best solve this issue. How does one maintain that 5% rate throughout, without continually raising the voltage?
