# "48V"/56V lithium charger?



## nimblemotors (Oct 1, 2010)

You can build one for about $100 that does 25 amps.if you look around.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Not interested in doing that, don't need another project, just want something to plug and play.


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## kennybobby (Aug 10, 2012)

delta-Q makes lithium chargers used for golf carts, lots of them on ebay. They appear to be well made but i haven't finished reversing one yet to know the internal details.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Aren't they lead acid chargers, with constant trickle charge?


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## Hippie Djohn (Oct 24, 2011)

You can get Lithium CC/CV algorithms for them as well.
What is the size of your pack, what is termination current you want ?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

It's a 16 cell 100ah pack, if the charger is 10-20 amps max then I'd be fine with a constant current up to 56 Volts and then shut down. I don't bother with tapering current since I don't want to fully charge the cells anyway. I guess if I had to have a taper I'd pick the highest current/fastest taper available.


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## Hippie Djohn (Oct 24, 2011)

Ok.. Don't know any Alg's without the CV-phase, but there is one which charges to 55.somthing and taper of to 5 A and shuts down. Temp. sensor input can be used as on/off control also.


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## pdove (Jan 9, 2012)

I have a 3kw TC charger that I can program to that voltage for you. It is 72 volts now but pretty sure it will work at 56. It's programmed to stop when the end voltage is reached with no taper. TCCH-72-32. It will do 32 amps but I can program it for lower current. 

It's brand new never been used. I bought it off of an electric vehicle company who were upgrading to a different system. It did have a lead acid curve but I changed it to put out full current til it reached 86 volts and then cuts off but I can modify end voltage and current to suit you needs.


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## Sunking (Aug 10, 2009)

Any 48 volt golf cart charger will work if you terminate manually.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Yeah, I don't want to terminate manually, and depending on the charger it may not work well. Initially I used 3 different lead acid chargers to charge 12V groups of cells. My MinnKota 440 went into trickle charge mode under 2 amps because the 4 cell groups were above 13V. The MinnKota is 4 isolated chargers in one, and the negative most terminal on number 4 had high frequency vibration and heating. The other chargers,(cheap Crafstman and a Schumaker shop charger), seemed to have high frequency vibration coming from the negative cable clamp and higher than normal heating on the negative clamp as well. Maybe something to do with the lower internal resistance of lithium compared to lead? 

pdove, I'll send you a PM.


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## rtz (Jul 3, 2013)

"The PD9100L Series can be wired in parallel to charge at much higher current rates. They can also be wired in series/parallel to charge 36, 48, 60, 72 and higher voltage battery packs at high charge rates.”

http://www.progressivedyn.com/lithium_battery_charger.html


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Interesting, but I'd need 4 of them, or 2 of the 24V, and they seem to come set for 3.65V per cell, which is too high.


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## rtz (Jul 3, 2013)

It says the output voltage can be adjusted at the factory.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Yes, for "OEM's" in bulk orders. Doesn't seem as if you can buy from them directly unless you are a distributor. I did pick up one of their used lead acid units on Ebay for $60, not a bad price for a 45 amp charger.


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## GizmoEV (Nov 28, 2009)

I have the 12V equivalent of this charger: http://www.headway-headquarters.com/48v15a-battery-charger-lifepo4/. I was able to order it with my own termination voltage. Headway Headquarters was awesome to work with which is good since the manufacturer missed setting the target voltage I requested. They sent instructions for adjusting the final voltage which is easier to do than on a Zivan charger because it doesn't have to be hooked up to a battery pack!


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

That's interesting, but it looks as if the CV stage continues all the way down to 1.5 amps. Can that be changed, or eliminated completely so it just shuts off when the CC phase hits max voltage?


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## GizmoEV (Nov 28, 2009)

I ordered mine with a cutoff rather than the float charge. The manufacturer actually made 2 errors, sent me the wrong voltage (14.6V rather than 14.2V) and happened to grab a charger with float charge so that when it shut "off" the charger kept charging. Mine is a 40A charger and is supposed to terminate charge at 10% of that but actually shuts off at around 3A. They sent me a replacement PIC and directions to what pot to trim for the voltage.

I attached the PDF they sent me for the fix/adjustment. Voltage adjustment is done by attaching a volt meter to the output and turning on the charger then doing the adjustment. As you can see there are 4 trim pots. I just don't know what the other three are for. I'm suspicious one might be for max amperage and one for termination amperage. Not sure what the 4th one might be for.

For my 4 CALB CAM80FI cells I found that 14.2V terminating at ~3A only drove the lowest capacity cell to a smidge over 3.8V but they all rested below 3.38V after a few hours so I'm sure they aren't being overcharged.

FWIW, Jim at Headway Headquarters was more than willing to send the charger back and have the manufacturer correct the error. I was just willing to fix it my self which is why they sent me the replacement IC and directions for voltage adjustment.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Thanks for the data. I sent them an email to see if they'd set one up with a 55.5 max voltage and no CV.


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## acrel-bms (Dec 31, 2014)

Could you please tell me the type of the battery? LiFePO4 battery or lead acid battery?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

I'd say the thread title provides the answer, along with many of the posts in this thread.


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## GizmoEV (Nov 28, 2009)

acrel-bms said:


> Could you please tell me the type of the battery? LiFePO4 battery or lead acid battery?


In addition to what JRP3 said I'm using them with LiFePO4 cells as stated that I'm using CALB CAM80FI cells and the original post mentioned CALB cells which are LiFePO4.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

David, do you have a contact email for Headway-heaquarters? I sent an email to the contact on the website but haven't heard anything back. Could be because of the holidays of course.


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## GizmoEV (Nov 28, 2009)

I sent you a PM since I wasn't sure what they wanted posted publicly since it looks like their contact form doesn't list an email address to send to.


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## acrel-bms (Dec 31, 2014)

GizmoEV said:


> In addition to what JRP3 said I'm using them with LiFePO4 cells as stated that I'm using CALB CAM80FI cells and the original post mentioned CALB cells which are LiFePO4.


 
*we can provide the chrger for you, which used for LiFePO4 battery, has 900W15A*


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Could you provide more details? 
Pictures, price, warranty, brand name, can it shut off at 55.5V with no current taper?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

GizmoEV said:


> I ordered mine with a cutoff rather than the float charge...
> 
> For my 4 CALB CAM80FI cells I found that 14.2V terminating at ~3A only drove the lowest capacity cell to a smidge over 3.8V but they all rested below 3.38V after a few hours so I'm sure they aren't being overcharged.


I was looking for a full current cutoff, not a taper, and after talking with them they can't do that. He said their chargers go into CV phase and taper all the way down to 5% of the rated output current, which would be 0.75 amps on the 15 amp charger, which is way too low for a 100ah cell in my opinion, and would not allow me to undercharge the cells the way I want. Plus I'd probably have to top balance to avoid individual cells from being pushed to higher voltage. I could plug it into a timer to limit the time in the CV phase, but I'd have to estimate the charge time since I don't want to bother with an amp hour meter.


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## pdove (Jan 9, 2012)

JRP3 said:


> I was looking for a full current cutoff, not a taper, and after talking with them they can't do that. He said their chargers go into CV phase and taper all the way down to 5% of the rated output current, which would be 0.75 amps on the 15 amp charger, which is way too low for a 100ah cell in my opinion, and would not allow me to undercharge the cells the way I want. Plus I'd probably have to top balance to avoid individual cells from being pushed to higher voltage. I could plug it into a timer to limit the time in the CV phase, but I'd have to estimate the charge time since I don't want to bother with an amp hour meter.


I still have that Elcon TC Charger that I can program to cutoff at whatever voltage you like.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

I was hoping you still had it.  I'll send you a PM.


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## rmay635703 (Oct 23, 2008)

I am wondering why all the chargers went away from having a simple dial to set whatever voltage and taper you want?

My old K&W could be set for any voltage and it would not go over, very simple design as well.


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## pdove (Jan 9, 2012)

Probably because of battery fires. Trying to protect you from yourself only it appears to me most of these are not good for lithium batteries.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

I think too many people simply believe a CV taper phase is necessary for "proper" charging.


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## pdove (Jan 9, 2012)

Well, proper is not accurate I suppose. Taper charge is necessary to get the maximum energy into the cell but most people have not likely put it into perspective. If you travel 50 miles on a charge and you gain 5% by taper charge that equates to 2.5 miles less range. Not really worth worrying about.


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## rtz (Jul 3, 2013)

This place is supposedly a competent shop. Call them up and chat about getting the outputs adjusted:

http://www.bestconverter.com/Inteli-Power-Lithium-Battery-Chargers_c_221.html


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Still have to get 2 or 4 units, and from their manual:



> The system was designed to sense voltage on the battery and will taper the charging current as the battery becomes charged.


Pdove is hooking me up with a deal on a TCCH charger with no taper.


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