Elcon charger-Battery not connected????

18380 Views 60 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Mark F, Oct 16, 2014

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · Feb 16, 2011

I have an Elcon 96-12 connected to charge 30-100ahr thunderskys with mini BMS. When I plug in the charger it Blinks 4xs and then starts alternating red and green at a second interval, and the batteries are connected. I don't know what the third wire married to the leads is for?? Any Help

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DIYguy

· #2 · Feb 16, 2011 (Edited)

[email protected] said:
I have an Elcon 96-12 connected to charge 30-100ahr thunderskys with mini BMS. When I plug in the charger it Blinks 4xs and then starts alternating red and green at a second interval, and the batteries are connected. I don't know what the third wire married to the leads is for?? Any Help

The 4 blinks represent the algorithm...u r using #4 (out of 10). The red/green alternating blink means "battery disconnected".

Was you charger originally made for lithium or pb?

Do you not have a manual?

If it was made for lithium, you need to supply it with 5 volts before it will charge...going from memory.

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 16, 2011 (Edited)

I bought it with the batteries from evcomponents a while back, no manual. It was suspose to be set for my lithium batteries. The miniBMS is connected to my 12v aux battery.

DIYguy

· #4 · Feb 16, 2011

OK, what colour is the wire? I think it is a red wire that requires the 5 volts...here is a description from the factory rep about this signal. (just so you know, the charger was made to charge Li battery with a BMS, if no BMS is used, you must "enable" the charger with a signal of 5 - 12 volts.)

The way making Lithium Charger for no connecting BMS is:We set the fixed maximum voltage before delivery. When the charger is powered on, it begins
charging if there is external control single. When the charger is working, it employs constant
current in the beginning, and then constant voltage. In the constant voltage, when the current
reduces to a specific value, the charging period ends. If control single cuts off at any time,
the charging will end.
There are two control lines. It needs to connect 5V~12V. The current 10mA is required.
I think the wires are red and yellow.

DIYguy

· #5 · Feb 16, 2011 (Edited)

[email protected] said:
I bought it with the batteries from evcomponents a while back, no manual. It was suspose to be set for my lithium batteries. The miniBMS is connected to my 12v aux battery.

You should bug EVComponents to support the product that they sold you. I do have several manuals for this thing... not sure this control circuit is well described in any of them though...

Oh ya...they're defunct... just put the name together...

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 16, 2011

The charger is hooked to the BMS with a red and black wire(the black wire is grounded) as per BMS instructions. These 2 wires are connected to the charger through a pinned connection. The 3rd wire married to the + and _ leads is a green wire with a 1/4 " female push connecter.
Thanks for helping.

DIYguy

· #7 · Feb 17, 2011

[email protected] said:
The charger is hooked to the BMS with a red and black wire(the black wire is grounded) as per BMS instructions. These 2 wires are connected to the charger through a pinned connection. The 3rd wire married to the + and _ leads is a green wire with a 1/4 " female push connecter.
Thanks for helping.

Be careful here. One of the wires is meant for a charge interlock but unfortunately puts out whatever your pack voltage is. Pretty much useless. Problem is, I'm not sure of colours and I don't have my charger here at the moment. Put a volt meter on these and see whats up. You should check with Dimitri regarding the MiniBMS and the Elcon connections, he has investigated them. I think he even posted a drawing. Check his website.

You can check with Greg McCrea regarding the charger, to be sure.

I think I took some pics of mine... I'll have a look.

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 17, 2011

I sent Demitri an email just now, he was very helpful telling me what I needed before.
Do you have an email for Greg McCrea?
Thanks again.

DIYguy

· #9 · Feb 17, 2011

here is a pic. It is the red/yellow for 5V. I think the green is the interlock wire.
Greg is [email protected]

See less See more

DIYguy

· #10 · Feb 17, 2011

Dimitri's dwg shows red and black wires for charger control. Perhaps Elcon didn't keep it standard....

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 17, 2011

Is it ok to leave the interlock disconnected?

DIYguy

· #12 · Feb 17, 2011

yes. I think no one uses it.

dimitri

· #13 · Feb 17, 2011

Almost missed this thread!

You have to check your charger's documentation carefully!

Elcon shipped some chargers with 2 different "Charge Enable" aka "BMS Enable" input types.

One type needs 5-12V applied to red and black wires to enable the charger, those are usually thin wires, separate from battery connection wires.

2nd type has just one White wire, which must be connected to black wire ( pack negative ) to enable the charger. This type does not need any external voltage applied.

CHECK YOUR CHARGER USER MANUAL!!!! Test "charge enable" feature manually prior to connecting to BMS, or you might damage BMS or the charger.

If in doubt, call or Email Elcon support, to confirm which type of charge enable you got.

See less See more

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · #14 · Feb 17, 2011

dimitri said:
Almost missed this thread!

You have to check your charger's documentation carefully!

Elcon shipped some chargers with 2 different "Charge Enable" aka "BMS Enable" input types.

One type needs 5-12V applied to red and black wires to enable the charger, those are usually thin wires, separate from battery connection wires.

2nd type has just one White wire, which must be connected to black wire ( pack negative ) to enable the charger. This type does not need any external voltage applied.

CHECK YOUR CHARGER USER MANUAL!!!! Test "charge enable" feature manually prior to connecting to BMS, or you might damage BMS or the charger.

If in doubt, call or Email Elcon support, to confirm which type of charge enable you got.

Thanks, I have an email in to Elcon, I never got a manual.

mora

· #15 · Feb 17, 2011

Mine has three wires (charge enable / bms enable). If I remember right those were green, red and black. One of them is +12V coming from charger itself and this one had to be connected to one of those other small wires. Manual suggested relay/optocoupler between wires and miniBMS controls the relay. I connected it this way and it works fine.

Manual also told that max. charge current could be lowered if something between 2V - 5V is applied to these wires. Anything over 5V results in max. charge current. Manual showed simple voltage divider as an example of controlling charge current.

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · #16 · Feb 17, 2011

mora said:
Mine has three wires (charge enable / bms enable). If I remember right those were green, red and black. One of them is +12V coming from charger itself and this one had to be connected to one of those other small wires. Manual suggested relay/optocoupler between wires and miniBMS controls the relay. I connected it this way and it works fine.

Manual also told that max. charge current could be lowered if something between 2V - 5V is applied to these wires. Anything over 5V results in max. charge current. Manual showed simple voltage divider as an example of controlling charge current.

Thanks, I'll check the green with a vltmeter and try,Thanks again.

Russco

· #17 · Feb 17, 2011

[email protected] said:
Thanks, I have an email in to Elcon, I never got a manual.

Here's the website for the so called "Elcon" charger:

http://www.hztiecheng.com

Good luck.

Russ Kaufmann

RUSSCO

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · #18 · Feb 17, 2011

Russco said:
Here's the website for the so called "Elcon" charger:

http://www.hztiecheng.com

Good luck.

Russ Kaufmann

RUSSCO

Thanks, wish I could read Chinese. This problem is so frustrating.

mora

· #19 · Feb 17, 2011

This makes reading easier:

http://www.hztiecheng.com/english/

no proper manual there though.

[email protected]

Discussion Starter · #20 · Feb 17, 2011

mora said:
This makes reading easier:

http://www.hztiecheng.com/english/

no proper manual there though.

Thanks, sooner or later I will see the light

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