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Re: (ET) Stock E20 charger /reinventing / monitoring
As some pointed out - the OEM GE Ferroresonant charger is not terrible,
just
not as automatic as we might like, and not fail safe (and, it does not
check
the electrolyte level in any of the cells, for us <grin>).
My suggestion to use a microcontroller was intended as a step up from the
Landis system:
(1) Still fairly low cost (parts wise),
(2) Still use OEM battery charger.
(3) Add Voltage readout ($3 digital meter from Harbor Freight could do
this
part),
(4) Add Voltage related control - linked to charging (this requires SOME
type
of control circuit - from simple Zeners, to comparators, to microprocessor
control, etc).
(5) Add current monitoring (fairly easy, if you have already added a $5
microprocessor to your design)
(6) add real time clock (again, easy if you already have microprocessor)
to
enable alerting
(7) Add temperature sensor - boiling batteries warm up (easy for micro to
shut
down the system)!
(8) Add Electrolyte level sensors ? This could add up $$ - maybe more
expensive than those special HYDRO-Caps ($7 each) that reduce water loss
...
(but not necessarily - maybe sensor that attaches to outside of battery ?)
(9) Log energy used to Charge (Kill-A-Watt for $23 on EBay does this) -
again,
not too hard if you already have the microprocessor, and current
monitoring.
(10) Add piezo buzzer, flashing lights, other alert devices (pretty easy
in
any system)
Anyway, the point was that a small circuit board can cost under $5 in
quantity, and can include layout for a variety of options, and with open
source software, a variety of people could contribute modules - SO, they
hardware and software would be modular. ALSO, we could search the net -
half
or all of this might already have been done.
The Microprocessor costs between $1 and $6, then 5 volt regulator,
crystal,
misc resistors, capacitors & pushbutton switches total a few dollars,
Colored
LED's are 10-20 cents each, & an LCD might cost $10, etc. Total $20 > $25
in
parts, or so.
We - Electrak Owners - are not the only ones who might benefit: My Comuta
cars are also old, and have simple chargers, and a cheap, simple circuit
change (and corresponding software change) would allow the above design to
monitor its 48V pack, or 60 V pack, or my 12V Black & Decker Cordless
mower,
or my friends cheap Ryobi Drill charger, which bakes her batteries when
she
leaves the charger on too many days. etc, etc, etc.
I was thinking along the lines of the old Heathkit Kits - since they also
had
a page in every manual which explained how they worked.
Cost is also a concern - as I want the system built into the vehicle, and
I
own 3 Electraks, 2 Comuta cars, and a variety of other battery powered
devices - SO, I don't want to buy fancy new chargers for all, when I could
design (or hopefully find on the net) an economical charge
monitor/controller
[ NOT a charger ] and buy/build a dozen of them.
On Wednesday 08 August 2007 3:06:08 pm Jeremy Gagliardi com wrote:
> How many Amps output is the stock E20 charger?
>
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