On 29 Apr 2014 at 10:53, Michael Ross wrote: > I am a lead acid dunce. Can I imitate a smart charger with the Amrel > power supply? > > Are there different protocols for conventional, AGM and Gel? I assume so.
Here is a good introduction to lead battery charging: http://www.evdl.org/pages/hartcharge.html If you set your bench supply to the battery manufacturer's recommended charging voltage (typically 2.4 to 2.5 volts per cell for flooded, 2.35 to 2.5 for AGM, and 2.35 for gel), it will be a taper charger and will safely charge the battery. It can take a long time to reach full charge, though. To charge faster, do as Lee recommends in that document, or build a charge controller that does it automatically. Coincidentally, I was just suggesting to someone on the Elec-Trak list that he try building a simple cycle-dropping charge controller similar to this one: http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/charger2.asp?showcomments=all I've built a number of chargers with these circuits over the years. They work, though they're not very sophisticated. Many car battery chargers use a similar circuit. This design was also used for the charger in the early-80s Comuta-Car (not that that's much of an endorsement). I think the original Rudman Regulators of 20-some years ago were similar to this circuit too, but I may be wrong about that. Obviously you adjust the components to your situation (charging current and battery voltage). Change C1, R1, R3, and maybe D3 for different voltages, and change the triac for higher currents. Other than just regulating the charger and doing straight taper charging, this is about the most minimal charge controller I know of. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
