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Re: (ET) Elec-trak Digest, Vol 9, Issue 15



Maybe ignorance is bliss. Never had trouble with the charger, thrower, or tractor.
As I stated in other postings I don't know much about electricity. Decided to try it based on these thoughts.

- I knew that the ET charger (and the ET) are primitive at best.
- I knew that I was going to use power faster than I could replace it
- I did not think I could over draw the charger since I thought its output was limited to the amount of AC going into it
- I felt that the batteries would be a buffer, unlike trying to run the tractor hardwired to the charger alone
- I always had the blower running (even on the long, slow reverse runs) so there was no big shock to the systems on a blower restart
- Everyone has heard of booster/chargers for starting vehicles

So I tried it, and it worked quite well. Maybe I was lucky or maybe the primitive electrics are more robust than we think.

There is a lot of postings about what could happen. Theory aside, have any of you had failures doing this with the standard ET electrics? Or am I the only one foolish enough to try it?

Dean

On Jan 17, 2011, at 3:03 PM, Chris Zach wrote:

Think about the current draw that a well-drained battery pack will put on
the charger, especially the original GE charger.  If that does not blow
the diodes, then the charger boosting the batteries while operating is not
likely to blow diodes.  At least this is my current viewpoint.

40 amps at 36 volts :-) Seriously, I have a Link-20 on my elec-trak, and it reads about 20a per string when the NiCDs are dead.

Snow blower sucks 150+. Cutoff voltage on my E20 is about 30 volts or so. Any lower than that and the relays start dropping out.

What is the rating on the diodes? If one really wanted to do this I would recommend a fuse on the DC side of the diodes so it doesn't over-draw the charger. Maybe a 50a fuse.

Chris




Rhett


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