Mine is a 450 AH battery bank. I have been using a system, for about ten years, where I have substituted a power supply for a PV panel (solar panel) to feed a solar charge controller, which isolates the power supply from the battery. There are also fuses in the line between every stage, and for load distribution.
The problem I ran into is that I just didn't take time to check the site after our recent hurricane related power outage, and the battery discharged to 10.5 Volts. (The job pays the bills, but is sometimes inconvenient during times like these. hi hi!) Anyway, I am now slowly charging the battery using a substitute method. For the long term, I'll probably be okay with a power supply capable of supplying a continuous 25 or 30 Amps. I just need to be sure to get the current limiting thing worked out. Thanks! Steve AA5SG ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Montierth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 2:18 PM Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] BIG battery & Astron current limit > The size of supply you will need are dependent on > several factors, such as peak current draw, average > current draw, size of battery (in AH), and length of > time to reach full charge, after an outage. Usually a > single 35 or 50 amp supply will suffice, unless you > are running high power or multiple repeaters, or some > other type of load. > > The Astrons really need to be modified (as pointed out > below) to change the current limit point to a value > that is at, or less than, the continuous duty rating. > This can be readily accomplished by adding a single > resistor, or a pot, to change the current limit to a > lower point. If you don't do this, you could burn out > the supply after a long outage, because the supply is > running at full tilt for longer that it is designed > for. > > We have used Astron supplies for many years supplying > current to an 840 AH battery bank. Before we did the > mod for the current limit (about 10 years ago), we did > burn up a supply transformer, rectifiers, and > transistors. Another thing to do is place a fuse > between the Astron and the battery about 20-40% more > than the continuous duty rating. This will protect the > supply and the batteries from catastophic failure of > each other. > > Joe > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
