Re: (ET) A charger question

["David Roden (Akron OH USA)" <roden ald net>]

On 15 Jul 2003 at 13:49, Roy Vanderhoef wrote:

> could I hook the three of them together in series (that is
> positive to negative) and then simply connect them across the full
> battery pack or directly in to the ET charger out put line???

Maybe.  But if they have any kind of charge control circuitry, this would 
confuse it.  But there's no need to connect them in series.  Instead, 
connect each charger to a series pair of 6-volt batteries.

One word of warning.  If one of the chargers fails, you may not notice the 
failure right away.  This can lead to damage for the battery (batteries) 
that didn't get properly charged.  And from what I've seen of the 
low-budget 
Chinese sweatshop stuff sold at Harbor Freight, a failure is pretty likely 
before many years go by.

I suggest that if you want to try modular charging, you spend a little 
more 
money and buy better quality chargers.  I consider the $40 Cliplight brand 
chargers I use about the minimum.  These are the ones in tall black 
plastic 
cases that you often see in NAPA stores.  I think K-Mart sells them under 
its own brand, and I've seen them with the Exide brand on them too.  
They're 
made in Canada.  

A rule of thumb for electric vehicles in general: your largest single 
operating expense is battery amortization.  A good charger prolongs 
battery 
life; a cheap one can kill them in a few months.  If you buy a cheap 
charger, you'll be paying for it the rest of the vehicle's life.


David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
1991 Solectria Force 144vac
1991 Ford Escort Green/EV 128vdc
1970 GE Elec-trak E15 36vdc
1974 Avco New Idea 36vdc
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