I am about to get me a EVD VRLA version and it comes with a single 5 amp charger for the 60v pack, is it possible to hook up 5 individual Soneil chargers that are permanently mounted under the fairing then wired out to a surge protector (think powersquid) which I can plug in anywhere. It would be providing 5 amps per battery instead of total but I want to make sure I can leave the charger wires permanently connected to the battery terminals. I figure it'll drop my charge time from 6 to about 2 hours and also serve as a pack balancer keeping all the batteries individually charged. I was going to attempt the same idea in a ninja 250 conversion but I decided to get this instead. What do you guys think of that idea?
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I think your idea is a good one and I would love to hear how it turns out. The only thing you have to worry about is if the chargers you plan to use are isolated. If they are not isolated you could end up with a big short across the battery pack. It is easy to check the charges, just use a meter and do a continuity from both sides of the plug to both sides of the battery connection. If there is no continuity then the charger is isolated and you are good to go.
Good Luck,
Grandpa Chas S.
P.S.
Have you thought of taking all the chargers out of their cases to reduce weight. As long as they are attached inside the fairing there should work fine.
I had thought about it, however its a rugged aluminum waterproof case (1.5lb a piece, not worried about 7.5lb) and I am in Portland, OR which makes it a must. These are the chargers though http://www.electricrider.com/chargers/specsheets/1212sr.pdf They come recommended out of this ninja conversion guide and I have not yet found something cheaper to match those specs. As far as I can tell its a pretty sweet charger... basically does the work of a BMS and then some.
Yes, you can do this. The technique is called 'bank charging'. I have chargers connected full time on my EVT-4000 scooter, it's been that way for years, and not a problem.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki
Good to know, I will still make sure they are isolated but I didn't see any reason why it shouldn't work. Thanks
Found a reason why it wont work... to use it properly I would need to break it up into two or possibly 3 circuits because most modern designs are 15 amp breakers. This design would max at 25 amps. At my work we were installing a new large office all-in-one copy machine and the old one was only a 15 amp, new was a 20 amp and my bosses started droppin bricks cause they had to rewire for a 20 amp draw.
sirsnafu,
How did you come up with a draw of 25 amps total. If you are using 5 12-volt chargers to get 60-volts then each 12-volt charger would output 250 amps. I think you are adding the outputs which is about a 10:1 ratio with the input. The input draw of a 12-volt 5 amp charger is about .5 amps. The input of 5 charges would only be 2.5 amps not 25.
Grandpa Chas S.
Ah.... I did not see any kind of input amperage... power supplies and the little transformers usually say the input and output amperage however all I saw was that 5 amp value. If you are sure that the input is only roughly a tenth of the output then I would jump on that in a second. Even finding a surge protector that can take 25 amps is some work. Just to clarify I am using these individually, one per battery in a permanently hooked up solution.
Thank you for that information, I have found multiple areas that these chargers can fit and it would be a fun project for me.
sirsnafu,
I am assuming the wall outlet is about 120vac and the output of the charger is about 12VDC. If this is correct then as you can see by the voltage (120 - 12) there is a 10:1 correlation. If this is the case there must also be a 1:10 correlation of the current going the other way. The wattage must remain constant, so lets look at a simple table;
Of course there are some other factors which would make these numbers slightly different but for this discussion they are correct. I could go into the other math on this but the change in the answer would be very small. Even if the numbers are off by 100%, the charges would draw 1 amp rather than .5 amps so the total will still only be 5 amps from 5 chargers. This is still an acceptable level and I can tell you if I were to estimate what these 5 chargers will draw I would say about 3.5 amps max. This is based on 35 years working in electronics.
I hope this helps,
Grandpa Chas S.
Yeah I was thinking back to it and it is just a transformer, the extra energy has to go somewhere with the converted voltage. It is something of a 400 dollar expense before the work to mount them but I like the idea of it all. Thank you for the knowledge, I will have to give it a try.
无语！No word can express my thought.If the charger rooted with scooter.Its life will be reduced. And if the charger gets any trouble,U must send the whole scooter to the repairer....
aima,high-tech,high-quality eletric vehicles designer&maker.
Uh... let me address your concerns here. These chargers are made to be outdoor chargers and are designed for exactly this purpose. If you are referring to the effective range of the scooter because of the added weight, that is partially true however the overall charge delivered to the batteries will be 25 amps instead of 5 so I can plug and go much easier. These chargers are also designed to be permanently attached as they de-sulfate the battery and maintain float charging. Since it will be 5 chargers, and I am the one doing the work, a problem with one of them will be very easily replaced as I know how I installed the chargers. I am the repairer and I have the original charger so if the bank charger fails, the normal one will work till I fix it. I hope that clears everything up...
siranafu,
You have it right, I don't think aima understood that we are the modifiers/re-designers of our bikes and scooters. Several of the members here on V is for Voltage like to tinker and re-engineer parts to make the bike or scooter more to our own liking and to fit our needs better. Using the chargers the way you are will also charge the pack faster without placing a large current flow through the entire pack. This should prolong the batteries life. Also with the chargers in this configuration, one charger per battery, and balancing the battery pack during every charge, again gives longer life to the batteries. I wish the manufactures would understand this simple concept. String chargers are a bad idea from the start. One of the problems in the charge process of almost every bike and scooter on the market today is the use of string charges. They were a bad idea to save a few dollars which have caused lots of people to give-up on EV's. The industry needs to recognize this fact and do something about it.
sirsnafu, I think you are well on your way to having many hours of fun riding. Good work!
Grandpa Chas S.