I just want to say thanks for all the comments. I'm not trying to advocate anything, and I really appreciate the feedback and discussion.
On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 11:16 AM, damon henry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This will work, and probably work fairly well, but is a lot of work, and > will take a loooong time to charge. One thing you need to keep in mind is > that when you put two batteries in parrallel their capacity becomes the sum > of the two batteries, so if you put 6 12 volt batteries in parallel and they > each have 50 ahrs of capacity you now have one 12 volt 300 ahr battery. If > you have a battery charger that can dish out 300 amps you can charge in > about one hour, 30 amps ~10 hours, 10 amps ~ 30 hours. Also remember that > each of your Anderson connectors will be seeing full discharge current, and > will need to be rated appropriately. If you use the smaller connectors they > will melt. > > damon > A 50 ah battery only has about 25-30 usable ah in an EV, so even with a 12v 40 amp smart charger (that cost $85) it would only take about 4.5 hours. I have 35ah battereis, so I could charge in about 2.5 hours. I think I sized the Anderson connectors appropriately---as large as I could possibly fit. I plan to use an SB350 where it permits, and use PP180s for the rest. BTW, I found a company that mostly carries just Anderson connectors that was prompt to ship my order with good prices: http://www.powerwerx.com I guess I should clarify what my reasons for doing this are: 1. One charger will be less likely to fail than any one of 6. Sure I could buy tens of chargers to replace continually failing chargers over a period of years, and have the hassle monitoring the ones that die. But I'm tired of fixing stuff. I want to do it right, and be done with it. 2. Parallel charging is simpler than any outher sound charging method, except one: using one 12v charger and manually connecting it to each battery, one at a time. Please not the word *sound* in the last sentence. String charging just isn't sound in my opion without adding a load of complexity to make it sound. 3. There are some really neat advantages to being able to wire the pack in parallel. For instance, I can charge from any car alternator w/jumper cables in an emergency. I can run a 120v AC inverter with my bike, to even charge another EV if need be. I can also charge really slowly overnight to slightly improve the life of the batteries by selecting the 10/25 amp rate. Can keep a small low-voltage emergency charge Nimh/lithium ion pack on board to charge the batteries and get an extra 1-2 miles range in case of running out of charge. 4. When I switch to LiFePo4, I'll be able to charge all of the batteries in a more uniform manner. 5. Everyone is saying no, and to my knowledge it hasn't been done. I want to prove them wrong, even if I am wrong. 6. An EV project is a fun experement. Why not use it as a platform to try new things? If I wanted something that has been proven and is known to work, I would drive 5 miles to my local motorcycle dealer. 7. I'm not using the No.6 as an excuse to try something stupid. I've put much thought into this, and am about 95% sure it'll work like a charm despite the negativity. Regards, Andrew in NM
