The 12V boat chargers worked, but their ratings were not spec. It took
some back and forth with their engineer to get that out of them (they
admitted the battery load had to be below 50%SOC for the rated current
to be provided. But they did work, and having individual chargers across
my pack made for a more balanced, and stiffer pack (the EV preformed
better).
I too had a Soneil charger that I bought to mount the ice I am currently
driving (I drive it so little that the OEM car alarm the previous owner
installed, drains the starter battery). I was warned by an evdl member
than Soneil's reliability was not that great. It turns out they were
right: after a several months the charger died. I am glad yours is
still good.
Imagine the rough treatment these cheap-n-slow chargers get: being
banged around, mis-placed/lost, owner driving off while still connected,
+more. I am thinking that would make a a little more robustness
(designed tougher). And also remember that so many of them are produced,
that they are very cheap: no one would repair one. Just drop it in the
recycle bin, and get another one.
Previously, you posted that you did not read one of my posts all the way
through. For some people my long-winded/verbosity, gets the better of
them and has them skim/skip to the end without reading everything.
Clarifying: Anyone like yourself leery of buying and trying something
someone else has not already tested first/for-them, should not attempt
this.
Clarifying: My idea was for those brave souls like myself that put
themselves out there to test these chargers for those that 'want it
tested before they will buy it'. They will deserve the accolades for
doing the plugin community the good-deed. You should not be surprised
that there are people like that, that are will to try-it-out.
Repeating: Same as I said in my initial post, those that are interested
in my suggestion/idea, should buy three chargers, put their outputs in
parallel, monitor/test them connected to a 24V PbSO4 pack, and then let
the evdl know the results/your findings. If it fails, you are out ~$35.
If it works, then others will benefit.
...
Another thought occurred after I had made the initial post. Most times,
buying in quantity (like we do with our batteries) gets you a better
price. Contacting the seller, you might be able to work out a deal,
where you buy the initial three at regular price. And if all goes well
as I believe it will, then that last 17 the seller may give a discounted
price because of a quantity buy and or they all ship to the same address
(save them shipping: effort, time, cost$).
Anyone else have comments, I would like to hear them, pro or con.
{brucedp.150m.com}
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On Fri, May 10, 2013, at 08:29 AM, damon henry wrote:
> Hi Bruce,
> I was around and read all the varied charger reports you posted. I'm
> surprised to see you recommending someone go and buy 20 of the cheapest
> untested (smart?) chargers you could find. I recall you going through
> many of these types of chargers and it seems very few of them worked up
> to spec or for very long. I wonder what has changed in the world to make
> you believe that randomly picking the cheapest one today will provide a
> reliable charge method when you spent so much time in the past putting
> them through their paces and reporting back to the list the plus and
> minuses of each brand you tried. It's been a few years though so perhaps
> my memory is foggy or maybe you have had lots of experience since then
> with these mobility scooter chargers which has shaped your opinion.
> I know I recently purchased a Soneil 24volt 5 amp charger off ebay for
> around $40 that I am quite happy with, but this is a charger that usually
> retails for over $200 and is known to be of good quality. Even if you
> could find a sufficient supply of these at Ebay prices you would still
> blow the budget.
-
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