As I've learned that lead-acid batteries like to be charged as soon as possible after use, I've contrived a way to charge while I am at work. I mounted four Husky/Vector chargers on the back of my Emax. Thankfully I can park at a covered motorcycle area that has an outdoor plug (it doesn't get any better than that).
They are mounted on a wooden board in the upside-down top of a plastic crate for protection against the weather.
I mounted a power strip down the middle to power the chargers so that I only have one plug to plug into the electrical outlet. I am using powerpole connectors to connect each charger to an individual battery (which also means I can rotate chargers to batteries). One set of powerpole connectors are tucked into the frame over the rear wheel (held there by a rectractable key chain) and the others are attached to each charger.
This setup seems to be working well for me, so I thought I would share it.
Looks good & functional. I'm sure you could downsize it some, but this keeps it an easy 'plug & play' situation. So you carry this charging setup back & forth to work? If you had one at work & one at home, i could see this being ok.. but if you're carrying it around, i think i'd downsize it.
I know that means taking the vectors apart & putting them in something, but the savings in space & cords would be a lot! I think someone here (John?) disassembled them & put them in a fishing tackle box.
The main advantage of yours is the units stay intact, which keeps the warranty intact. Once we start cutting up the chargers, i'm sure black & decker won't warranty them. But i don't think your charger setup is very practical for most people as a portable unit. I'll probably stay with the factory string charger for portability, & use my bank chargers at home.
Thanks for posting.. we all get ideas & new directions from what others do before us, even if it doesn't suit us, personally.
scotty, Sedona, Az
xm-3000 60v, 38ah silicones, since 7/08
quazar 48v, 12x12ah, since '05
5- vector 2/6/10 bank chargers
I think we agree on nearly all of your points. They could indeed be downsized, and I tried to crack one of them open, but it was difficult, and no one on the forum seemed to be able to offer any advice on how to do it safely. Having said that, I was happy enough to keep them all whole for a while so that if I decided the setup didn't work, I would have options.
I wanted to stick with bank charging. Of course, if I had all eight batteries in the bike, I would definitely have to go back to string charging or crack 8 (!) of them in half and mount in the same space pictured above.