# Cheap 4KW Charger



## JoeG (Jul 18, 2010)

Louis,
I have one of their 2000w chargers and it does ok. It puts out 9A at 160V and has been in use for about 3 months now. It is not a PFC charger and neither is the 4KW model. What this means is that even though a clamp meter shows the charger is pulling 14A on 120V, it will cause a 20A circuit breaker to trip almost right away. Due to the power surges, I need to use a 30A circuit and size the power cords for that size draw or it gets hot.
Also the panel meter failed on the second day of use. That didn't bother me because I'm using the my cycle analyst to keep track of what is happening with the charger.
Hope this helps,
Joe


----------



## Lipo Louis (Oct 29, 2012)

Thank you, I will consider.
Would a charger with CAN bus has some benefits in combination with a BMS with CAN bus ?


----------



## Semper Vivus (Apr 13, 2011)

Lipo Louis said:


> Thank you, I will consider.
> Would a charger with CAN bus has some benefits in combination with a BMS with CAN bus ?


No. Only if you use a control unit that is able to coordinate the traffic between them.


----------



## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

Depends on the brand of charger and BMS. 

Elithion Pro can talk directly with several chargers. Elcon, Brusa, Currentways, Eltek Valere.


----------



## batterytang (Nov 17, 2011)

Lipo Louis said:


> http://www.bmsbattery.com/alloy-she...ifepo4li-ionlead-acid-battery-ev-charger.html
> 
> I do have experience with their 900W chargers and they are very ok.
> 
> ...


I do not believe a good 3000W charger will have such a low price...

In my own opinion that only materials will cost more than 400 USD.

If the charger damaged the battery pack, you may only find battery pack is not so good but not consider the charger...


----------



## Diethelm (Nov 10, 2012)

batterytang said:


> I do not believe a good 3000W charger will have such a low price...
> 
> In my own opinion that only materials will cost more than 400 USD.
> 
> If the charger damaged the battery pack, you may only find battery pack is not so good but not consider the charger...


Try this charger http://www.eltek.com/wip4/detail_products.epl?id=1155390&cat=24672&k1=&k2=&k3=&k4=&close=1 if you are not concerned about IP ratings. It is in the US$400 price range and great quality 

or this http://www.eltek.com/wip4/detail_products.epl?id=1155391&cat=24672&k1=&k2=&k3=&k4=&close=1 which is slightly more costly


----------



## marc02228 (Jan 15, 2011)

I use the EMUS, too.
Go with a CAN charger. The BMS then can request any current and voltage of the charger. Especially in balancing stage this makes sense, because a non CAN charger will turn off the charger, turn it on again, off, on, etc. the CAN charger gets just a request to reduce the current. 
I use the ELCON charger, but the charger Posted from Diethelm is really interesting.

Let me know your decision, i need another 2.5kw Elcon charger to cut my charging time from 7h to 3,5h. Maybe we could split shipping cost.


----------



## favguy (May 2, 2008)

Wow,
British chargers at reasonable costs, look great! There is no pricing on the website that I can see, so have you spoken with them about the price?


----------



## marc02228 (Jan 15, 2011)

favguy said:


> Wow,
> British chargers at reasonable costs, look great! There is no pricing on the website that I can see, so have you spoken with them about the price?



Somehow I doubt, that this charger only costs 400$. Just sent them an email for the IP20 and IP67 price.


----------



## z_power (Dec 17, 2011)

So far by googling I've found Eltek's IP20 3kW charger for ~1400eur; is there any trick behind mentioned $400 pricetag?


----------



## Lipo Louis (Oct 29, 2012)

I also want a CAN charger, a elcon 2,5kw is on my wish list too.
This topic was from before I wanted Can.

The charger from diethelm is also a CAN bus charger?

If you use 2x 2,5kw elcon charger and you will visit someone with only one 3000 w outlet, then you just use one charger? What about a elcon 5kw can you simply set the charge current lower so you can charge everywhere?


----------



## Diethelm (Nov 10, 2012)

favguy said:


> Wow,
> British chargers at reasonable costs, look great! There is no pricing on the website that I can see, so have you spoken with them about the price?


Hi favguy

Yes I have been in contact with Eltek, which is actually a Norwegian company, not British. 
But nonetheless, I will order the charger this week and I thought I'd share the source.

Kind Regards


----------



## favguy (May 2, 2008)

Hi Diethelm,
Norwegian is OK also  may I ask the final cost please? and for which model?

regards, Paul


----------



## Diethelm (Nov 10, 2012)

z_power said:


> So far by googling I've found Eltek's IP20 3kW charger for ~1400eur; is there any trick behind mentioned $400 pricetag?


hi z_power

I think the trick is to find a local distributor and get a quote from them. Just for the record, the charger is in the price RANGE of US$400 as mentioned before


----------



## Diethelm (Nov 10, 2012)

Lipo Louis said:


> I also want a CAN charger, a elcon 2,5kw is on my wish list too.
> This topic was from before I wanted Can.
> 
> The charger from diethelm is also a CAN bus charger?
> ...


Yes, this charger is CAN bus enabled.


----------



## Diethelm (Nov 10, 2012)

favguy said:


> Hi Diethelm,
> Norwegian is OK also  may I ask the final cost please? and for which model?
> 
> regards, Paul


Please note that prices vary among distributors, so please don't quote me on this. For the IP20 rated model I was offered $470 excl. shipping


----------



## Lipo Louis (Oct 29, 2012)

I ordered the Elcon 2.5 KW and I have to tell the supplier at what voltage I want the charger.

I want to use 84s a123 so 84x 3.6v = 302V But if I later want to ride with 92 cells in serie I can not adjust the voltage of the controller to higher voltage.

So I can order the charger at 331.2 V and the Can bus BMS will cut off if a cell will get to high,( totall 302v ) but I like the saftey of a charger that is set to the same voltage as the pack.

If for some reason the BMS will fail the charge can not be higher than 302v.

Any idea's ? Maybe the Elcon can be set to a higher voltage by customer ?


----------



## Diethelm (Nov 10, 2012)

Lipo Louis said:


> I ordered the Elcon 2.5 KW and I have to tell the supplier at what voltage I want the charger.
> 
> I want to use 84s a123 so 84x 3.6v = 302V But if I later want to ride with 92 cells in serie I can not adjust the voltage of the controller to higher voltage.
> 
> ...


I don't have hands on experience with the Elcon, but as far as I know you have to set up the BMS for the # of cells in series. Then in return, the BMS will send the corresponding charger output voltage setpoint via the CAN bus. If your Elcon was specified for 302V nominal, it should be able to go up to 408V.


----------



## Lipo Louis (Oct 29, 2012)

This CAN bus is pretty new to me, I just thought it would be safer to have the max voltage of the charger not set too high in case if the BMS will fail or other reason that the charge somehow will charge a 300v pack to 400v


----------

