charging amperage

fauss
fauss Registered Users Posts: 26 ✭✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
Looking for the right battery charger and the Iota SDC1-120-12-45 is the one I'm thinking. It's a 45 amp charger. My question is, can you only charge at 45 amps? I've watched YouTube videos and also emailed iota a few days ago with no response yet. Might just be a dumb question. Other car battery chargers I've used had a couple settings for a fast or slow charge.

I'll be charging two 6v golf cart batteries in series and I think they are 208ah or 220ah. A piece. (They are costco batteries and they don't have my info on them. ) I heard I should charge my batteries at 20 amps. Iota makes a 25 amp charger i was thinking about but going bigger for the future upgrade. So really my question is can I charge my batteries at 20 amps with a 45 amp charger.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #2
    When you charge at >~13% rate of charge (20 hour rating of battery)--You do run a risk of the battery(ies) overheating and, worst case, thermal runaway (batteries get hot, charging voltage drops, charger supplies more current, batteries get hotter).

    If you are charging from A/C mains, you probably would not want a 45 amp charger.

    If you are charging with a genset and monitoring your battery bank (typical for small genset operation)--Then the chances of thermal runaway is less (you will shut down genset after 4-6 hours of charging anyway).

    This is one reason why it is difficult to "grow" solar power systems vs design for loads. A "balanced" system design does not really support growing a system much over 2x before "other things" need to happen (changing battery bank voltage, enlarging backup chargers, etc.).

    There are other chargers out there that have programmable outputs (Xantrex TC-2 family is one with remote thermal sensor). Using inverter-chargers with programmable charging parameters could be an option.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • t00ls
    t00ls Solar Expert Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    #3
    try one of these...you may like it better
    http://www.teslachargers.com/products.html


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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #4
    There was a discussion of these chargers about 5 years ago here:

    http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/10764/tesla-chargers

    I would think twice before spending money on this charger. Your mileage may vary...

    -Bill

    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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