(ET) Another Soneil charger experience

["Darryl McMahon" <darryl econogics com>]

Disclosure:  I am so enthused with my Soneil charger I am in the process 
of 
becoming a distributor for this line of chargers.

I have the 36-volt, 4.5 amp Soneil charger on my ET 12S.  2 summers ago I 
thought 
my pack was done (it is at least 12 years old now).  However, I put the 
Soneil on 
primarily to have a plug in and forget charger while I was away from it 
for a week 
or more at a time, and to see if the claims for this charger were valid.  
I used 
both chargers for a period of time, until the capacitor failed on the ET 
charger.  

I have noted 3 significant changes in using the 2 chargers.  

1) With the Soneil, I am not using nearly as much water.  The ET charger 
would have 
me watering the batteries every 2 months.  I have added water once in the 
year-plus 
since I have been using only the Soneil.

2) With the Soneil, the tractor is ready for use when I arrive.  With the 
ET 
charger, I would invariably have to recharge before use.

3) With the Soneil, the batteries have more effective capacity, as 
measured in 
round trips hauling construction material around the cottage property.  

While the desire for a charger with more initial oomph may be desirable 
for certain 
constructions, I certainly have not detected any issues with the Trojan 
105s using 
only the Soneil.  These are reduced capacity batteries due to age, but 
given that 
many of us use second-hand or simply older batteries, that may relevant to 
some.  I 
am prepared to discuss the potential for a higher-rated charger with 
Soneil if a 
number of you here think that would be of value.

I believe the 4.5 amp Soneil will take longer to charge a fully-discharged 
pack.  
This has not been a factor for me.  The pack has always been fully charged 
overnight with the Soneil in my experience (based on dash gauge and 
voltmeter 
readings over 43 volts on full pack while Soneil is in a refresh cycle in 
the 
morning).  

The Soneil is a 3-stage charger, so it will pump out 4.5 amps continuously 
in the 
bulk charge stage, where the ET charger starts high, but tapers down 
quickly.  It's 
been a while since I had an ammeter on the ET charger, but my recollection 
is 18 
amps to start, which had dropped to 12 within an hour and down to 6 within 
3 hours. 
 (Again, this pack probably does not have full capacity of a new pack - 
but it will 
blow snow for an hour without problems - with batteries cold.)

With the ET, I have to guess how long to set the timer for a charge based 
on 
age/capacity of the batteries, and how discharged I think the pack is.  
With the 
Soneil, no guess-work.  Just plug it in and walk away.

I am now planning to buy 12 of the 12-volt Soneil units as finish chargers 
for my 
next on-road EV project instead of using regulators with a bulk charger 
for finish 
charging.  I will have the bulk charger as well for fast charging on the 
car.

Disclosure (repeated):  I am so enthused with my Soneil charger I am in 
the process 
of becoming a distributor for this line of chargers.

-- 
Darryl McMahon      http://www.econogics.com/
It's your planet.  If you won't look after it, who will?