[lostinspacebar]

Hi,

I am currently working on a Go-Kart project that will have 24 LiFePO4 cells to make around 72V. I am looking for a charger to finish my BOM.

One cheap one I've found is: http://www.evassemble.com/index.php?...&products_id=8

I've also seen more expensive chargers that go up to $500-$600. Is the only difference here that this will charge slower compared to the more expensive Elcon ones? Will I be missing any critical features that I should be worried about?

Thanks a bunch,
Aditya

[MN Driver]

What criteria are you looking for?

You want a 72v charger, I'm assuming you picked 900 watts as a combination of price vs. charge time but you can adjust what you are spending depending on how fast you need to charge. There have been some people here using the 1500 watt charger from this place. http://www.bmsbattery.com/6-charger?...e&orderway=asc

Their 900 watt charger is $79.99 right now or for about the same price as you have from your link above you could get a 1200 watt charger. How fast these will charge your pack depends on the Ah capacity of the cells and how deep you discharge them. I don't think you can get much cheaper than prices like these. Keep in mind that if a charger doesn't say its isolated, its most likely not so if you are charging be sure you don't touch any battery terminals and be sure you don't have any components trying to connect a terminal(even the negative most terminal) to the chassis or you'll get a zap if you've got the charger plugged in. Use a GFCI outlet.

[lostinspacebar]

@MN Driver, Thanks for the tips. I think I might be ok with the non-isolated part. At least now I know thanks to you.

My battery bank is going to be 72V @ 40AH. I don't know if I really care about quick charges. I probably will actually try not to do that if I can to prolong the pack's lifespan (slower charging helps right?)

According to this site (just a quick google search): http://www.csgnetwork.com/batterychgcalc.html I can do a charge at 13A in about 4 hours. Maybe say 6 hours if I assume the website is being optimistic. That's fine for me I think. If it takes anything more than 1-2 hours, I might as well just wait another 4-10 hours if it will get me a cheaper charger.

Is that logic valid/rational?

- Aditya