BFL13 wrote:
My problem is the definition of "output voltage"
You have the battery voltage at 12.2v and the charger is set to 14.8v. connect them. Voltage at the charger is now 13.5v and at the battery it is 13.3v with 75 amps on the wires between them.
As this goes on, battery voltage rises with its SOC. So later you see 14.2 at the charger and 14.0 at the battery. You happen to be at the end of Bulk and amps start to taper.
Voltage at the charger a bit later is 14.4 and at the battery it is 14.3 with 45 amps being accepted. (fewer amps so less voltage drop)
Eventually, you are at 14.8 at the charger and at the battery with no amps flowing. all done.
So what do you use for "output voltage" during the Bulk Stage, which is what I care about. ( Once amps taper for the Absorption stage I am home free because VA required from the gen drops off and no more red flashing light)
At the start of bulk, the converter's output voltage is 13.5V in this example. At the end, it's 14.2V. It rises as the battery charges, and the power output (but not the current output) of this hypothetical converter increases gradually over that time. Whether the current actually remains constant or not is, of course, a different question; some converters are not capable of supplying max current at the max voltage (nor do their specifications necessarily claim that).
