Simplified Bank Charger Wiring - for 12 volt lead-acid batteries

fisher,

I just bought one to use on a trike I am rebuilding as a 24-volt trike for my mother. I am using 4 B&B batteries with 2 in parallel and 2 in series. I plan to mount the charger in the battery box with the face of the charger through a hole so I can see the LEDs. Like this PhotoShop picture;

Grandpa Chas S.

Chas

What is the amp hour rating of the B&B batteries you will be charging with the Lilpro2. Let me know how it charges like float voltage and max charging voltage. I see they have an option for true gel charger did you get that option.

Eric Fisher

What is the amp hour rating of the B&B batteries

The batteries I am using are: EB20-12.

I see they have an option for true gel charger did you get that option.

No, I just got the standard version which should work for the AGM batteries.

Grandpa Chas S.

;)

Ya know , I was thinking I think we are missing somthing !! if we bank the battery we still can have a CELL go bad in battery ( 12v pb has 6x 2V cells those Dewalt 36V BATTERY's have 36/ 3 + 12 CELLS to be true to balanced charging you need a transformer with 13 taps and bridge circuts , control circuts , for each tap !!! And It is true DC curent flow and voltage tapers off as the length of wire is increased ( AC does not ) DC will bore a hole in you , Ac throws you away ! as long as what you are charging is a BATTERY , You are going to have the week link problem !!! In signal we used CELLS in a bank of batt And tested mounthly .

those Dewalt 36V BATTERY's have 36/ 3 = 12 CELLS

Incorrect. The DeWalt batteries have 10 cells and the nominal voltage per cell is 3.3v so you should think of those as 33 volt packs. DeWalt is lying.

As for the LilPro chargers -- heck, that's an interesting option. "Too expensive"? You have either a 2-bank or 3-bank charger in each one, so try dividing the price by 2 or 3. It's more in line with other chargers but you will probably say it's still more expensive than the Vector charger. And it is. It is in line with the cost of Soneil chargers, though.

My thought is it's probably too big for my Lectra.

David

I don't know how cheap the Vector Chargers are but if you were to buy the Minn Kota MK 315 charger you could charge 3 batteries at the same time. At a cost of 130 dollars minus 25 dollar rebate gives a total cost of 105 dollars divided by 3 batteries is 35 dollars. So if you could buy the Vector chargers for less than 35 dollars then that would be cheaper, otherwise the Minn Kota Charger is cheaper.

Eric Fisher

http://www.boatersland.com/minmk315.html

I've literally just finished wiring my XM-2000 for bank charging. Using 5 separate 2/6/10 Amp Vector chargers. 2 out of the 5 chargers are displaying the fault light - so I have to do some troubleshooting and find out what the problem is. I could easily believe it's the battery itself - or it could just be a loose connection somewhere. I'll do the troubleshooting later. I'm waiting for my new SP27-12's to arrive (should be here in the next couple of weeks).

ok, it's been a few months. I've followed this thread with great interest. I've got a xm-3000 ordered, & am getting the stuff i need for a bank charger setup.

any followups? Everything working? Problems?

thanks for the info..
scotty

A major advantage of bank charging is that it lets me keep tabs on individual batteries in the pack. Twice in the last six months I've been able to track down loose pack wires thanks to the individual feedback I get every night when charging.

The batteries in my scoot are too inaccessible for me to regularly check their connections, and there's a LOT of vibration to yiggle things apart over the miles...

Mark

Bank Charging has been working for me. Haven't riden as much as I wanted due to threats of storms almost every afternoon in Colorado. However, the chargers work well. I use a timer to shut them off. Once a month I will change the order of chargers to batteries to equalize the charge. The chargers are not calibrated to each other in terms of volts/amps/cutoff, etc. The only problem I foresee is the molex connectors were not designed for daily connection.
I would like to find a military style canon connector for 6 12awg wires.

I have mine wired up this way and only have three chargers, one died and my dad "borrowed" one. The thing I noticed is they do shut off quicker if I charge say 1,2,3 then when I charge 1,3,5. I am guessing this is because of the stray voltage it sees from the charger next to it. I now charge 1,3,5 and then 2,4. I am not saying charging all five at once isn't going to work, but it might be a good idea once a month or so to charge them one at a time or every other to avoid any stray higher voltage from the charger next to it.

I've also been having good results with this "simplified" bank wiring setup. Also, I stripped down my 2/6/10A Vector chargers to bear minimum. They all almost fit in a cheap plastic fishing tackle box - I put holes in the side for airflow from the fans. This allows me to take bank charging along with me (and I dropped my string charger and it died on me).

I really need to get a slightly larger box for them and also fix the fans better - sometimes I've had a charger "fault out" (illuminate the red light) because a fan is either not rotating due to shifting.

At one point I completely killed one of the chargers and had to replace it. I don't know what I did to it - but I blame user error (i.e. me).

If anyones interested I'll post a pic of my setup - it's amazing how compact you can get compared to the size of the unit before "scaling down".

BTW - I always charge at 6A to reduce the chance of overheating. So far, so good...

My 5 2/6/10 vectors came today.. & i got a notice that my card was charged for the xm-3000! So now all i need is some connectors, & i'll be ready to ride!

I'll post what i do, & what the results are.

I'm also thinking i can use the vectors at 2a to charge a little 48v scooter i modded a couple years back.. it still works, but i'm sure the xm will take over.

Anyone have any licensing issues with the xm-2000? I'm hoping i can tell the az dot it's just a little electric scooter & won't need a license. I know there is a cutoff somewhere with the motor hp, just haven't looked it up recently.

So this circuit will run with just a few, or even one charger? Just hook up the positive & neg leads?

Thanks to all for the comments & suggestions on this thread. It should be trimmed up & made a sticky!

scotty
sedona, az
48v lashout clone (quazar)
xm-3000 (coming!)

ok, so my card wasn't charged, & the scooter might not be coming.. but i still have the chargers!

Here's my plan:

1. I'm going to skip the terminal strips & connect the wires to anderson powerpole connectors, & use them as the charger plug. This way i can use the same charger setup to charge either the 60v bank, or my 48. The connector will have fewer plugs on the lower voltage scooter. I like how the powerpole connectors clip together to make this 'plug', & it is rated for thousands of connects.

2. I've taken the vectors apart.. the bulky back is definitely not needed, but the front has the labels for the buttons, the led display, & has a cleaner look than if i tried to make a new housing. So i think i'll try mounting just the fronts of the chargers to a flat surface.. plastic preferably.. then plug the existing power plugs into a power strip, also mounted on the flat surface. I'll snip off the clamps, & crimp the wires into powerpole connectors. I'll ziptie the wires into a bunch, so there will be a long, thick 'cord'. Then the battery side connectors will crimp into their own powerpole connectors, & can connect. This setup will make it easy if i add another battery, or want to use the same charger setup for another scooter. I'll take some pics when i get it done.

scotty