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Post by kris on Aug 9, 2022 10:47:00 GMT
I’m just wondering if there are any new methods of doing this. Last time I looked into it, there where just exspensive regulators or the Sterling battery to battery chargers.
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Post by Telemachus on Aug 9, 2022 10:54:00 GMT
I’m just wondering if there are any new methods of doing this. Last time I looked into it, there where just exspensive regulators or the Sterling battery to battery chargers. An "expensive" regulator is the best way of course. Not that expensive compared to the cost of the batteries.
The other way is to add a long length of wire to add resistance to limit max current to avoid frying the alternator. And have an alternator regulator that limits at say 14.3v or less. You really only need about 14v to nearly fully charge Li batteries. What is to be avoided is prolonged holding at high voltage if possible, so if you are someone who cruises for long days, you might want to keep an LA battery in parallel and have the ability to disconnect the Li if you need to continue cruising after the Li is charged.
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Post by Telemachus on Aug 9, 2022 10:55:05 GMT
Interested in this too. Our Lithiums are solar only at the moment, and the next step will be connecting them to the engine. I did read on the other channel about tractor regulators (available for the A127 type alternator), and using a long length of cable to produce the required voltage drop. I have lost track of who, on this forum has adopted LifeP04. I know there is you, Telemachus, Peterboat, and JD. The long cable is less about voltage drop (because voltage drop is resitance x current) and more about limiting current. A long length of cable will not reduce the charging voltage once the current has decreased to near zero.
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Post by kris on Aug 9, 2022 11:03:32 GMT
Interested in this too. Our Lithiums are solar only at the moment, and the next step will be connecting them to the engine. I did read on the other channel about tractor regulators (available for the A127 type alternator), and using a long length of cable to produce the required voltage drop. I have lost track of who, on this forum has adopted LifeP04. I know there is you, Telemachus, Peterboat, and JD. I’ve got some A127 clones and got tractor regulators, (I cant remember the voltage 13.7v seems to ring a bell.) But I was just wondering if there was a cheaper controller on the market yet.
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Post by kris on Aug 9, 2022 11:08:54 GMT
I’m just wondering if there are any new methods of doing this. Last time I looked into it, there where just exspensive regulators or the Sterling battery to battery chargers. An "expensive" regulator is the best way of course. Not that expensive compared to the cost of the batteries.
The other way is to add a long length of wire to add resistance to limit max current to avoid frying the alternator. And have an alternator regulator that limits at say 14.3v or less. You really only need about 14v to nearly fully charge Li batteries. What is to be avoided is prolonged holding at high voltage if possible, so if you are someone who cruises for long days, you might want to keep an LA battery in parallel and have the ability to disconnect the Li if you need to continue cruising after the Li is charged.
I don’t think I’d need the long length of wire with tractor regulators. But that’s a good point about disconnecting the lithium’s when full. Is the only way to have a lead acid battery to switch too? Or could you disconnect the alternator?
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Post by Telemachus on Aug 9, 2022 11:10:58 GMT
Interested in this too. Our Lithiums are solar only at the moment, and the next step will be connecting them to the engine. I did read on the other channel about tractor regulators (available for the A127 type alternator), and using a long length of cable to produce the required voltage drop. I have lost track of who, on this forum has adopted LifeP04. I know there is you, Telemachus, Peterboat, and JD. I’ve got some A127 clones and got tractor regulators, (I cant remember the voltage 13.7v seems to ring a bell.) But I was just wondering if there was a cheaper controller on the market yet. 13.7v will get you to about 90%, 95% if left for a while (current decreases significantly). As far as I know the cheapest decent one is the Mastervolt Alpha Pro III which is around £350. Sterling do alternator controllers but I don't think they are designed for Li. Worth having a look though
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Post by Telemachus on Aug 9, 2022 11:14:43 GMT
An "expensive" regulator is the best way of course. Not that expensive compared to the cost of the batteries.
The other way is to add a long length of wire to add resistance to limit max current to avoid frying the alternator. And have an alternator regulator that limits at say 14.3v or less. You really only need about 14v to nearly fully charge Li batteries. What is to be avoided is prolonged holding at high voltage if possible, so if you are someone who cruises for long days, you might want to keep an LA battery in parallel and have the ability to disconnect the Li if you need to continue cruising after the Li is charged.
I don’t think I’d need the long length of wire with tractor regulators. But that’s a good point about disconnecting the lithium’s when full. Is the only way to have a lead acid battery to switch too? Or could you disconnect the alternator? The tractor regulator allows you to set the voltage, not limit the current. So with a low Li battery, maximum current will be taken from the alternator, which is fine for the Li but not so fine for the alternator which will likely have a short lifespan if operating at max output for prolonged periods. The length of wire limits the max current to prevent overheating.
On disconnecting, you cannot just disconnect the alternator with the engine running as that would cause a massive voltage spike which would likely damage the alternator. Although you could disconnect it when the engine was not running, I suppose. Better would be to break into the internal wiring and fit a switch to the connection from regulator to the brushes (field / rotor current) - by opening that switch the alternator would stop working gracefully.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2022 11:27:29 GMT
An "expensive" regulator is the best way of course. Not that expensive compared to the cost of the batteries.
The other way is to add a long length of wire to add resistance to limit max current to avoid frying the alternator. And have an alternator regulator that limits at say 14.3v or less. You really only need about 14v to nearly fully charge Li batteries. What is to be avoided is prolonged holding at high voltage if possible, so if you are someone who cruises for long days, you might want to keep an LA battery in parallel and have the ability to disconnect the Li if you need to continue cruising after the Li is charged.
I don’t think I’d need the long length of wire with tractor regulators. But that’s a good point about disconnecting the lithium’s when full. Is the only way to have a lead acid battery to switch too? Or could you disconnect the alternator? I've got 300ah of lithium, and a couple of agm's. So basically a hybrid set up. 25mm2 cable from alternator to agm's, then cables through switch and fuse etc to lithium. Works fine with alternator. I do have a bugger off bilge blower which may or may not help.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2022 13:50:00 GMT
Over the yars LTO will become the dominant chemistry. Durable stuff. I was offered a good deal from my battery man but due to other commitments I was not able to pursue this in the way I would have liked. Yars ago of course things were different but we are talking around 30 yars so not all that recent.
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Post by bodger on Aug 11, 2022 6:58:53 GMT
Over the yars LTO will become the dominant chemistry. Durable stuff. I was offered a good deal from my battery man but due to other commitments I was not able to pursue this in the way I would have liked. Yars ago of course things were different but we are talking around 30 yars so not all that recent.
is that an Oxbridge yar, or can anyone have one?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2022 12:37:42 GMT
Over the yars LTO will become the dominant chemistry. Durable stuff. I was offered a good deal from my battery man but due to other commitments I was not able to pursue this in the way I would have liked. Yars ago of course things were different but we are talking around 30 yars so not all that recent.
is that an Oxbridge yar, or can anyone have one? Oxbridge ? Stop swearing sir !
Terrible places but I suppose they are useful for training some workers.
No it is the parlance of those who know their place.
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Post by Jim on Aug 12, 2022 6:56:06 GMT
is that an Oxbridge yar, or can anyone have one? Oxbridge ? Stop swearing sir !
Terrible places but I suppose they are useful for training some workers.
No it is the parlance of those who know their palace.
ftfy
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Post by kris on Aug 15, 2022 15:47:34 GMT
What kind of switch would I need to be able to switch between the lithium’s and lead acid whilst the alternator is spinning? I’m going to set this up on my engine as I think it will be the most economical way to charge my batteries in winter. I was let down by the kipor and my diesel generator last year. Luckily I had the trusty Honda ex1000. I think an alternator on the main engine is probably more reliable. The alternators I have are 120amp. I didn’t have to run a generator much last year. My main drain was my inverter, so I’m going to organise a low power inverter this year and maybe some 12v lighting. It would be good not to run a generator at all, but that’s the dream.
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Post by kris on Aug 15, 2022 16:09:21 GMT
I got a lovely motorised BEP switch sat between my lithiums and LA. I suppose any half decent switch, be it BEP or bluesea or An other would do as long as it is sized appropriately for your system. You mean a1-2 and off switch? Because obviously putting it to off when alternator spinning would damage the alternator. An a-b switch is what I would need. I can’t seem to find one have you got a link 150amp or up.
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Post by kris on Aug 15, 2022 17:03:51 GMT
I think we both may be over complicating things.
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