Lee, I can't begin tell you how great a help this is to me. Below you wrote "50v on a 48v battery is 2.08v per cell. That's too low to ever reach full charge. You could use such a voltage for charging, as long as you connect a higher-voltage low-current charger to finish up the charge cycle." I located a Lorain 55V rectifier that has 30 amp output; this is far lower current than what the manufacturer calls for (it's only about 1/3 to 1/4) but if I'm using *after* charging as far as I can go with 50V (or whatever I can wring out) from the DC generator -- which would be operating at about 80 amps -- do you think this rectifier might do the trick? Thanks again,
Christopher Witmer Lee Hart wrote: > Christopher Witmer wrote: > > >>The battery in my application should, according to the manufacturer, >>be charged at a voltage of 2.25-2.28v per cell (at 25 degrees C). >>Since the total number of cells is 24, this translates into 52-54.72v >>applied to the entire battery. >> > > That is a good float voltage; the voltage you can apply when you don't > care how long it takes to reach "full" (it will take days), and plan to > leave this voltage applied for very long periods of time. > > >>I found a DC generator that can output 30-50v by adjusting a pot on the >>voltage regulator. What I'm curious about is: >> >>1) Is there a practical way of tweaking or boosting the voltage a >>little higher to get into the 52-54.72v range specified by the >>manufacturer? >> > > Yes; it is very easy as far as the generator itself is concerned. You > just have to spin it a little faster, or run a little more field current > to boost the voltage. > > The voltage regulator is another story. You might get lucky, and find > that it already has enough range to reach 55v or so. If it doesn't, you > may have to take it apart and trace out enough of its circuitry so you > can change a couple resistors to extend the adjustment range. > > >>2) In the event that can't be done and 50v is all I have to work with, >>how much of a difference will this make with regard to recharging >>performance? >> > > 50v on a 48v battery is 2.08v per cell. That's too low to ever reach > full charge. You could use such a voltage for charging, as long as you > connect a higher-voltage low-current charger to finish up the charge > cycle. >
