# Elcon PFC chargers



## ewdysar (Jun 15, 2010)

I'm starting this thread because I wanted a place to collect information about these chargers and I couldn't find a single source of detailed information and buyer impressions.

That said, I just purchased a PFC 2000+ charger configured for a 48V battery bank that consists of 16 Thundersky TS-LFP160 cells. This charger is intended to be my on-board charger for my 30' ketch sailboat conversion. I chose this charger because it seems like it will deliver more amps than other chargers while remaining compatible with regular 15A 120VAC circuits.

I purchased the charger from Evolve Electrics in Colorado and the charger was delivered in less than a week directly from Elcon in California. The charger arrived with a copy the documentation that is available on various websites and a specification sheet for the specific charging profile that was loaded at the Elcon facility. The user selectable feature mentioned in the documentation allows the user to adjust the charger for different size (in Ah) battery packs. The various voltages in the charging profile are set at Elcon.

Because the Elcon charger models look different on different websites, I was pleasantly surprised that my 2000+ came with a fan installed in the charger heat sink. I hope that this will keep the operating temperatures down during extended charging cycles, a full charge may run 8 hours.

I don't have the charger installed yet, but I will post again after I gather some real life performance numbers.

Fair winds,
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA


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## DIYguy (Sep 18, 2008)

Here is the thread you may want to read. It convers most issues..including some poliltics you may not want to read...lol

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forum...hinoz-pfc-charger-38108.html?highlight=Chinoz

I've been using my charger for a while now. It works very well. I have recently started using it on 240 volts. Wow, 6kw charges pretty fast.

Regards,
Gary


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## BMI/LiFeTech (Aug 12, 2009)

ewdysar said:


> I'm starting this thread because I wanted a place to collect information about these chargers and I couldn't find a single source of detailed information and buyer impressions.
> 
> Fair winds,
> Eric
> Marina del Rey, CA


There is plenty of information and a whole thread devoted to Elcon chargers over at the AEVA forum.
http://www.aeva.asn.au/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=1949


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

ewdysar said:


> I chose this charger because it seems like it will deliver more amps than other chargers while remaining compatible with regular 15A 120VAC circuits.


Highly unlikely. 15A at 120VAC = 1800 watts. That's all you'll get from a 15A 120VAC circuit, minus losses of course.


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## ewdysar (Jun 15, 2010)

JRP3 said:


> Highly unlikely. 15A at 120VAC = 1800 watts. That's all you'll get from a 15A 120VAC circuit, minus losses of course.


I've been told that this charger will deliver 25A or better at 57V (bulk charging voltage for 16 TS lithium cells). Do you know of another 120VAC charger that will push more amps at that voltage? The closest that I could find was 18A.

I'm looking forward to your suggestion, since I haven't installed this charger yet, I can still return it and upgrade.

Eric


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## ewdysar (Jun 15, 2010)

BMI/LiFeTech said:


> There is plenty of information and a whole thread devoted to Elcon chargers over at the AEVA forum.
> http://www.aeva.asn.au/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=1949


While I'm not a member of that forum, it looks like almost all of the info came from EV Components. I read about a number of owners in the US that have reported that the "custom" Lithium programming done for EV Components is problematic. Many of those units are going to Elcon in California for re-programming from scratch. Of course, customer support from EV Components is now non-existent.

Eric


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

A Manzanita PFC30 should be able to do almost 30 amps at 57 volts from 120VAC.


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## ewdysar (Jun 15, 2010)

JRP3 said:


> A Manzanita PFC30 should be able to do almost 30 amps at 57 volts from 120VAC.


Thanks for the info. But with the Manzanita at $2650 and the Elcon at $665, I'll give the Elcon a try. Since this is going into a sailboat, I won't ever have access to higher input voltages/amps, so that additional capability in the Manzanita would be wasted.

Does anyone here have experience with both charger brands? Is a Manazanita noticeably more efficient (higher amp output) with the same input voltage/amps? The Elcon PFC chargers are rated at > 92% efficient 

Thanks again.
Eric


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## DIYguy (Sep 18, 2008)

ewdysar said:


> Thanks for the info. But with the Manzanita at $2650 and the Elcon at $665, I'll give the Elcon a try. Since this is going into a sailboat, I won't ever have access to higher input voltages/amps, so that additional capability in the Manzanita would be wasted.
> 
> Does anyone here have experience with both charger brands? Is a Manazanita noticeably more efficient (higher amp output) with the same input voltage/amps? The Elcon PFC chargers are rated at > 92% efficient
> 
> ...


The Elcon is a high freq. switch mode charger... you won't find anything significantly higher (if at all) in efficiency.


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