Cheap 15A Portable Charger?

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
No, but thistle dew nicely...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEAN-WELL-AC-DC-Power-Supply-S-150-15-Single-Output-15-Volt-10A-150W-Switching-/181056476851?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a27ce96b3

CLICKY

Those Meanwell's work muy excelente! I have a 30 amp 15.5V version that I use for floating. Works all day in 110F/43C temps where my supposedly good Iota converter chokes up it's lungs at 104F/40C.

I have the out of production SC2500a that does a 2/12/25 amp recharge rate.

It will do voltages upto 16 volts, when it decides to do so, and for this reason should likely not be used to charge a battery which is still connected to the vehicle.

I hear other Schumacher chargers will do the same thing.

One weird thing about my Schumacher is the 12 awg cables going to the alligator clamps are junk. The copper inside the wiring is black, it heats up greatly at 25 amps, and removing most of this junk wire has allowed this charger to perform better in my system.

I do like the high voltage capability. I do not like that I cannot choose when it does this. It will go right past 14.8v at 12+ amps and climb upto 15.8v and really just blast the battery with 10 to 12 amps at this point.

I don't mind the 15.8v. I'll program my solar on occasion for 16v, after a "full" charge and it will take 6 amps to get there. i don't like how the schumacher just rockets past 14.8 and takes it upto 15.8v feeding 10 to 15 amps. It seems like a violent way to charge a battery and perhaps why this particular charger was taken off the market after a short time.

No, but thistle dew nicely...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEAN-WELL-AC-DC-Power-Supply-S-150-15-Single-Output-15-Volt-10A-150W-Switching-/181056476851?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a27ce96b3

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEAN-WELL-AC-DC-Power-Supply-S-150-15-Single-Output-15-Volt-10A-150W-Switching-/181056476851?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a27ce96b3

greenrvgreen wrote:
http://www.powerhouse-products.com/products-recreational/

That IS a cute little genny!!!

Louder at all it's speeds, though, than my 650 watter is at it's single speed ... but it is WAY LIGHTER than mine.

My RV's AGM batteries require a float voltage in the 13.5V to 13.8V range, so I float them using the RV's stock 13.8V Parallax converter. They also charge fairly well from this voltage range too, due to the low internal resistance of AGM batteries.

For faster charging of my AGMs using the quiet (54dB) 650 watt Honda non-inverter generator, I use a Sears 2/10/50 amp charger powered by the generator - at the same time and along with the RV's 13.8V converter being powered by the generator. The "50 amp" setting of the Sears charger is for "emergency starting" of an engine and should not be used continuously for too many minutes for starting in order to prevent burning up of the charger. However, I set it to it's 50 amp "starting" range and hook it up to the AGMs and run it in parallel with the 13.8V converter. This adds just enough more voltage to the AGM batteries's terminals so they draw about 50% more charging current from the little generator than with just the converter by itself.

Using the 2/10/50 charger this way on it's 50 amp setting for long periods does not harm the charger because it's actually supplying far less than 50 amps when hooked up in parallel with the converter. The little Honda generator will run 5-6 hours on 0.51 gallons of gas and can get the AGM batteries up to maybe around 90% charge using this converter-charger combination. Of course this procedure works in all weather and light conditions and creates about the same sound abosolute level as an idling small Honda inverter generator - this setup is actually less noticable on sound because our little Honda's "noise" is a very low muffled pitch that is different than that of an inverter Honda generator's.

I put together the idea to use this inexpensive and effective charging method by combining various suggestions made in the past by a couple of other popular posters in the forums: "MEXICOWANDERER" and "pianotuna". :)

greenrvgreen wrote:
You talkin bout this, Mex:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-IN-BOX-Meanwell-RS-50-15-15-Volt-3-4-amp-enclosed-power-supply-/220925352430

If so, how doth I tweaketh it? It looks darn untweakable in that pic. Certainly the price is right. And you're right, I don't want a "smart" charger, I want a dumb charge source that I can sit there monitoring.

Er, I'm going to have to smarten up about how not to overcharge AGMs.

ETC:

I fully realize I'm doing it backwards, but I have need of overnight power (fan) and often have constraints on my morning gennie usage.

Regarding larger gennie, every pound counts, as well as every dollar. The 10 extra pounds on the Honda (and 700 extra dollars) is that much more weight I have to pack and possibly drag in a snow sled, although I haven't gotten to that point yet.

Nope, that's 3.4 amps output.... you want 15 amps output, at 15V, and yes there should be a tiny screw, yellow in color, a potentiometer screw, to adjust voltage on the unit.

Understand you can't leave this unit exposed outside to the elements like rain, snow, etc. It needs to be in an enclosed area, away from the elements.

Something like this is closer.... , needs to be closer to having 15.0V capability, so you can back it off and adjust it down to 14.4V for your AGM battery.

15V 15Amp

You talkin bout this, Mex:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-IN-BOX-Meanwell-RS-50-15-15-Volt-3-4-amp-enclosed-power-supply-/220925352430

If so, how doth I tweaketh it? It looks darn untweakable in that pic. Certainly the price is right. And you're right, I don't want a "smart" charger, I want a dumb charge source that I can sit there monitoring.

Er, I'm going to have to smarten up about how not to overcharge AGMs.

ETC:

I fully realize I'm doing it backwards, but I have need of overnight power (fan) and often have constraints on my morning gennie usage.

Regarding larger gennie, every pound counts, as well as every dollar. The 10 extra pounds on the Honda (and 700 extra dollars) is that much more weight I have to pack and possibly drag in a snow sled, although I haven't gotten to that point yet.

MEANWELL 15 amp 15 volt power supply. You TWEAK your own output voltage DOWN to where you want it. Totally insensitive to generator waveform and voltage. Very small. Shop for best price. Like a thousand times better product than an overpriced "smart" charger. 15 amps worth of charging cable and clips is pretty small stuff. Recommend set voltage to 14.4 then go have fun.

greenrvgreen wrote:
I need a 15 amp portable charger that I can run from my 450 watt inverter gennie. Battery bank will be right around 100 ah, AGM batteries. Here are some possibilities I found on Amazon:

This:

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SSC-1500A-CA-SpeedCharge-Charger-Battery/dp/B000H961YI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406678767&sr=8-1&keywords=15+amp+battery+charger

Also this:

http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-D15A-AMP-Battery-Charger/dp/B000U0O6BE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406678767&sr=8-2&keywords=15+amp+battery+charger

And this too:

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-BC1509-Automatic-Battery-Charger/dp/B001U04MSU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1406678767&sr=8-3&keywords=15+amp+battery+charger

Oh, and this expensive and heavy one that I've already got in a 45 amp:

http://www.bestconverter.com/DLS-15-15-Amp-Power-Converter_p_316.html

I'd love to go with a larger charger but I'm constrained by the 450 watt streaming capacity of my little gennie (Powerhouse). Ideas? Thanks!

I think your approach is a little bit backwards thinking. Most of the experienced folks here don't top off the battery in the evening, that's a job for a solar panel system. A generator and charging batteries is best done first thing in the morning, when the batteries are low in charge, where a generator and battery charger do the most benefit to the battery, in the least amount of time on the least amount of fuel.

Most prefer to top off charge a battery with a solar panel.

You've placed some severe limits on your ability to recharge efficiently by buying such a low capacity generator with only 3.75 amps at 120v output. A 1000 watt generator would have been better, as well as an inexpensive 30 amp 12v power supply, like the Mega Watt or Mean Well units.

Quote:
, but I am asking about maximizing my gennie-fed top-off charge in the evening--currently it is 60 watts or 4 amps for a 100ah bank.
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The sad part is, if you are just wanting to "top off", that means your battery is 80% charged, and that means there is no 12-15 amp charger in the world is going to put out more than 3-4 amps, which is not even worth starting the generator. There is a reason why no one "tops off" from a generator.