Chargers Current Draw On Charging Setup

bigone5500

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
I got to wondering about running my charger setup from my truck on the inverter. I have a Schumacher 750w ac inverter that I think will work if I attach it directly to the battery. So I started by exposing the inner wires of a computer style PSU cord and plugging it into my Dell Z750P-00 power supply which is connected to an iCharger 206B. I connected three 4S LiPos and set the charger to 9.3A. At idle, the current draw is .2A and with the charger at 9.3A charge rate the current is 1.75A. It will be interesting to see what the current draw is with 6 batteries connected. I'll update this thread with that information when I do that.

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Tony

Tony

Staff member
Be careful running those PSU's off of an inverter. If it is pure sine wave inverter, then there are no issues. But if it is a square wave, which most cheaper ones are, and expensive ones as well, that square wave can blow out components. Been there done that lol. Just wanted to give you a heads up. I'm sure you already knew all of this lol.
 
bigone5500

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
I knew some electronic devices don't like modified sine waves. However, I did not think of that. Thanks for reminding me. *golf clap*
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Wait, I reminded you of something very important and all I get is a friggin golf clap? I was thinking that deserved a standing ovation or something lmao.
 
murankar

murankar

Staff member
Sounds crazy to run an inverter to power a psu to convert it back to 12v so you can charge. Why not just hook the charger straight to the battery?
 
murankar

murankar

Staff member
Lot longer than it would with an inverter and PSUs.

Depends on the watt hours of the battery. My 2 6v golf cart batteries are 225 amp hours each. I got about 9 12s cycles with it at high current charge.


You would to know the watt hours of your packs. Then total that divide that by the marine battery watt hours. That will give you an approximate of how many charge cycles you will get.

It actually get more complicated than that. That is the simple way. You would have to take into account the amp draw on the source, inefficiencies of the circuit , temperature.

I say monitor the bank and just use it. Track how many cycles you get. That way you have hard numbers.
 
bigone5500

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
That's true. I guess I could do that. I'd hate to connect it to my truck battery and have it drain down too far to crank.
 
Stambo

Stambo

Well-Known Member
We use a thing called a VSR (voltage sensing relay) to connect motor home house batteries to the main vehicle batteries.
Using one of those you could hook your marine battery to your truck battery, that way it is only connected when the truck is running and charging voltage is above 13.5v.
While you are parked the marine battery is isolated so you can draw it as low as you dare without affecting the starting battery.
As soon as you start the truck, the marine battery is being charged by the alternator.
 
murankar

murankar

Staff member
Amazon has them listed as a battery isolation circuit. I am researching them myself. My solar set up could use one if those to help keep the batteries charged during the winter or while I drive.
 
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