Elcon buzzing

1850 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by kennybobby, Jan 3, 2014

danpatgal

Discussion Starter · Jan 2, 2014

I have an ELCON PFC 2000+ I've been using for two years (first year with lead, then reprogrammed last year for lithium). Aside from stupidly popping the AC fuse once, I've been happy with it.

Recently I've noticed the sound of the charger having more buzz or crackle when charging. So far, I've had no problem charging, but I'm wondering if it's normal or if I should be fixing some underlying problem; or just be prepared for it to die

.

My car is here: http://www.evalbum.com/3854 , I'm using 38 x 130ah CALBs for a 120v nominal car (normally ends at 131v ... 3.45 per cell) and I'm using a Lithiumate Lite BMS.

Thanks - Dan

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mk4gti

· #2 · Jan 2, 2014

Maybe go over each cell connection and make sure everything is tight. my 2c

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kennybobby

· #3 · Jan 2, 2014

There is a low-level 12 volt power circuit inside those units that supplies power to the digital board plus pulls the input relay closed to turn the unit on. If that 12v supply fails for some reason then the ac power will burn up the bypass resistors around the relay that are used to bootstrap start the charger. Sometimes the relays burn up also.
Also the units have Line and Neutral wired/labelled incorrectly such that the fuse is on the Neutral side.

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danpatgal

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 2, 2014

kennybobby said:
There is a low-level 12 volt power circuit inside those units that supplies power to the digital board plus pulls the input relay closed to turn the unit on. If that 12v supply fails for some reason then the ac power will burn up the bypass resistors around the relay that are used to bootstrap start the charger.

And the buzzing is the sound of the "bootstrap" circuit minus a properly functioning resistor (or relay)?

I went to check on the charging after some hours, and it appeared to still be going, but it wasn't buzzing as before. Hopefully it was still charging, but just had got beyond the buzz bootstrap?

Should I expect this situation ultimately to end in failure of the charger? Or can it go on indefinitely (albeit annoyingly)?

Thanks - Dan

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kennybobby

· #5 · Jan 3, 2014

Not sure what is causing the buzzing sound, but there are two large transformers/inductors on the high voltage output side that would be the likely source. Here's a link to the analog circuits: http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89470

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