| Author |
Message |
dougtheboneifiedbusnut
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 4:37 pm: | |
Hey Fred,or Gary,or Ace or, RC,or, well you guys get the picture, all of you have at one time or another been more than helpful.Anyway here's the question.I just got the converter that Gary was so kind to turn me on to. I was about to install it when I got to thinking, Why dont I just connect the batteries and the heater motor in parallel, then when I'm not running the heater motor I will be charging the batt's. Yes?, NO?
As always thanks very much. |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 6:44 pm: | |
Doug, The converter you got is a 24 volt output BUT the way it's regulated is not friendly to batteries. It's a "power supply" which is an entirely different animal than something you can hook to a battery and have it live thru the affair for long.
A battery charger/converter will change it's output voltage a bit in response to the charge state of the batteries... this converter you got will output 24 volts, 24 volts, or 24 volts regardless of what's hooked to it, until the current draw gets over it's rating, then it will shut down.
Not the right kind of device for batteries at all, sorry.... it'll work great to power your heater but don't hook your batts to it or they will probably loose in short time....
Cheers |
Cliff (Floridacracker)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 7:08 pm: | |
Gary,
Whats your opinion on one of these 24dc battery chargers for a mobile lift to use while on shore power?
24Vdc @ 40A.
Cliff |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 9:55 pm: | |
Cliff, if I'm reading you correctly and you want to use something "plugged in" to make your mobile lift operate, a DC power supply of the proper capacity would work fine. As with Doug's system, it wouldn't be the right thing to charge batteries with.
Conversely, a battery charger rated at 24v 40 amps "might" operate your lift but it's not really meant to do that job, and the voltage may vary quite a lot. I'm not telling you it will burn anything out though that's a possibility.. a battery charger pretty much should be hooked to a battery to "level" out the voltage and keep it fairly constant. A 24 volt charger not hooked to a battery could easily have an open circuit voltage as high as 30-35 volts which might waste your lift circuitry.
If you are interested in a cheap (relatively) power supply that will do the job, check this one out:
http://www.mpja.com/productview.asp?product=16046+PS
24 volts at 40 amps is a whopper...almost a kilowatt... this is the only one I could find |
Cliff (Floridacracker)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 7:03 am: | |
Gary,
I meant FROM a mobile lift not FOR.
The charger is for a portable skylift(two man bucket)but is a new unused unit. I was thinking of using it to provide 24Vdc to my house batteries and keep them charged, while I am on shore power.
Sorry for the poor first post.
Cliff |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 8:38 am: | |
For whats its worth, my opinion is that you should never use a unit designed as a battery charger for a DC power supply. Conversely, you shound not use a unit designed as a DC power supply for a battery charger. They are two different animals.
Richard |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 10:46 am: | |
Oh !
In that case, yes, a charger "from" a lift would probably work quite well as a charger for your bus.
The only thing I'd ascertain is how it does it's job... is it a simple transformer-based charger that will not totally take good care of your batteries, or is it an electronics-based unit that will charge, maintain, and occasionally equalize your batteries, leaving you "not much" to do or worry about...???
Cheers |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 11:43 am: | |
Most of the heavy duty battery chargers that I have seen are not very smart, but I have not seen one for several years.
It should work perfectly OK, even if it is not smart, as long as you are smart and keep your eye on it. LOL
Riochard |
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