I'd be surprised if the State of California takes any stand at all on transformer chargers. Heck, there's a huge lobby against that just in golf cart chargers, which predominantly are ferroresonant and really not all that inefficient.
On Lithium: Simple answer for me---I use surplus Enerdel modules from a THINK battery pack.
Advantages:
· No inter-cell cabling required since they come in 48v, 70ah modules and I bought them with the Enerdel RLEC BMS boards
· Only about $270/kwh
· Probably the best & safest Lithium batteries you can buy
· For me: They're backup spares in case one of my modules dies on my THINK City car…
As for driving power into the pack while underway, I haven't used an Elcon or other smart multi-stage charger except the semi-intelligent ferroresonant Lester I've used for the past 11 years. While underway, I'd typically just use the Lester. If doing a long trip where more than 20-amps (from 36v) is needed by the motor, I added a modular Vicor Megapac 48v power supply to the mix. If maintaining the pack SOC is the goal while motoring just on gas, typically I'd watch my Link10 meter and increase motor speed up to the point where the meter indicates ZERO current going into the pack. Periodically I'd check to be sure that the chargers and generator are delivering what I expected (either 20a (1 chgr) or 40a (2 chgrs)). That's important because if you left the dock with a full pack and at least one of the chargers is a tapering or CI/CV charger, the current delivered will drop as the pack voltage rises. This results in the net delivery of power dropping and can cause you to receive less power than you thought. As long as you're still maintaining the speed you want, that's fine, but if you find yourself wondering why you're not making the speed you thought you would, double check that the voltage hasn't crept up. To keep that from happening, I usually set the throttle such that I see a NET current draw from the battery and not into it---just a few amps is all. I've run all day, 17-hours with this arrangement. Once I know I have the battery capacity to make it to port with one charger, I remove one of the 2 from the mix. When I'm close enough for battery only, well, you know…
I'll have some 700ah at 31-48v soon, so I don't expect I'll have many occasions where I'll bring the genset aboard anymore.
In case this helps-
-MT, Portland, Or.
From: electricboats@yahoogroups.com [mailto:electricboats@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2014 9:06 AM
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Electric Boats] Chargers and Batteries in California
The conversation about chargers is part of the conversation about batteries.
Thought you guys should know that the state of California has decided that transformers battery chargers are melting the polar ice caps and should be banned. We have had very good results with these types of chargers. Would those of you who have had experience with chargers when the charger drove power into a battery bank while the batteries were driving the boat please share you experiences. I am thinking of 2 to 6 hours usage of running a small generator and over several years. I would like to know what the experience is with Advanced high-frequency switching design chargers such as Elcon and others.
There has been recent conversations about batteries on this site. As a seller of batteries my view is that cheap is not the way to go but quality at good value are more important. When buying new batteries for a new installation be sure to verify the "core charge" and delivery costs.
Deka (also West Marine SeaVolt) are very adequate for our usage. Lifeline are still the best we have seen over hundreds of installations. Trojan batteries are also well though of. TPPL are becoming more of an option with Northstar and Oddessy being the ones that come to mind. We have seen 7 years as an expected useful life for AGM batteries in our "traction application". We have had very little success with Lithium based sales as the costs are often beyond the budget of our clients. That being said, I would like to know the experience of those of you who have built your own Lithium battery systems and what products you used.
Now for the ad!
My website has new full warranted batteries normally delivered to the dock that I think are good value and are priced to make it easier to go electric in California. The West Marine SeaVolt are sold and delivered nationally.
Mike
Electric Yacht of Southern California
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