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psa: Chargeverter is LOUD

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novaleaf

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Jul 2, 2023
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17
Location
woodinville wa
I have a Chargeverter v1, and I like it (Aside from poor documentation).

One thing that none of the various reviews/videos I saw of it mention though, the fans are LOUD. I'm using the chargeverter to trickle charge my trailer from mains and for camping with grid power I either need to add some custom soundproofing, or I need to come up with another solution (like connect something silent via the solar input)
 
Yes, it's like a jet engine running.
I don't mind it, because it's only on when I need it.
But it would definitely be annoying, if it were running all of the time.
 
HighTechLab said:
Curious what is poor about the documentation...they are pretty simple devices.
Click to expand...
basically around "first time user" experience. (The people who actually need manuals)

- Minimal info on rewiring the plug (and none for hooking up for 110V)
- No info around failure modes/troubleshooting (for example, I tried using an adapter to convert to 110 input and it didn't work... but the green light was blinking which according the the manual means it's all connected properly)
- No info around voltage curves / amp ramp up/down
 
novaleaf said:
basically around "first time user" experience. (The people who actually need manuals)

- Minimal info on rewiring the plug (and none for hooking up for 110V)
- No info around failure modes/troubleshooting (for example, I tried using an adapter to convert to 110 input and it didn't work... but the green light was blinking which according the the manual means it's all connected properly)
- No info around voltage curves / amp ramp up/down
Click to expand...
There are two power-in lines, IIRC blue and brown. Connect them to your power supply, either 120 or 240 volts. Yeah, the drawings are a little hard to decipher, but once you understand that it's an autoranging input, and there are two wires, you are good to go.

Adapters will probably connect one of the power pins and Neutral, which is not what you want, you are going to have to make a custom adapter (or rewire the cable) because I hope no-one makes an adapter to connect the 120V lines across the two hot lines in the plug, which is what you want.

ChargeVerter V1 doesn't have any control over ramp-up, not sure if V2/GC does, but while it would be nice to have it specified in the documentation, it's not clear what you are missing from an operational standpoint.

And yeah, I find the documentation frustrating as well, but I figure I'll be able to make use of my CV-GC even if I can't optimize them.
 
wpns said:
Adapters will probably connect one of the power pins and Neutral, which is not what you want, you are going to have to make a custom adapter (or rewire the cable) because I hope no-one makes an adapter to connect the 120V lines across the two hot lines in the plug, which is what you want.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't know much about electrical, but figured something like this was the problem (I tried using one of those RV adapters). I ended up taking a (educated?) guess to rewire the plug for NEMA 5-15P and then everything worked.

Prior to that, I wasn't sure what the problem was. I had a blinking green light but nothing else.


Also, it seems the chargeverter v1 does do ramp down as it gets up to the target voltage. I'm currently trying to document the battery % at various voltage levels but I'm getting ambiguous results. (my last measurement/test, both 53.5v and 53.6v seem to charge my eg4 v2 48v up to 63% which is weird)
 
novaleaf said:
I'm currently trying to document the battery % at various voltage levels but I'm getting ambiguous results. (my last measurement/test, both 53.5v and 53.6v seem to charge my eg4 v2 48v up to 63% which is weird)
Click to expand...
It's not lead-acid...this will lead you to nothing more than disappointment. The charge/discharge voltage curve is practically a flatline from ~20% SOC to 90% SOC.
 
I use this fanless Meanwell since mine is used for daily function, all my grid import comes in through it.

HEP-2300-55

Only 2kW though, so I'm probably going to need to add a second one.

1713796697102.png
 
novaleaf said:
Yeah, I don't know much about electrical, but figured something like this was the problem (I tried using one of those RV adapters). I ended up taking a (educated?) guess to rewire the plug for NEMA 5-15P and then everything worked.

Prior to that, I wasn't sure what the problem was. I had a blinking green light but nothing else.


Also, it seems the chargeverter v1 does do ramp down as it gets up to the target voltage. I'm currently trying to document the battery % at various voltage levels but I'm getting ambiguous results. (my last measurement/test, both 53.5v and 53.6v seem to charge my eg4 v2 48v up to 63% which is weird)
Click to expand...

No charger ramps down.

The current naturally tapers off as the battery voltage and charger's set voltage limit reach unit.
 
hwy17 said:
I use this fanless Meanwell since mine is used for daily function, all my grid import comes in through it.

HEP-2300-55

Only 2kW though, so I'm probably going to need to add a second one.

View attachment 210816
Click to expand...

the price of that (~USD$1K) is too much for me. I'm eying this:
1713801144202.png

... it has a fan, but is supposed to turn off if draw is less than 1.5A for 10 min.
 
novaleaf said:
the price of that (~USD$1K) is too much for me. I'm eying this:
View attachment 210828

... it has a fan, but is supposed to turn off if draw is less than 1.5A for 10 min.
Click to expand...
How many watts are you actually trying to run constantly? If you are actually looking to purchase an alternative for low wattage constant use Meanwell has a wide catalog of cheaper options.
 
hwy17 said:
How many watts are you actually trying to run constantly? If you are actually looking to purchase an alternative for low wattage constant use Meanwell has a wide catalog of cheaper options.
Click to expand...
I just took a peek, and with minimal load my draw is currently 140W which is likely to mostly be the chargeverter's fans working like crazy.

I got the chargeverter because my AiO Inverter (Growatt 3000) is dumb: when connected to mains power it only draws from mains, and my circuit breaker tends to pop. Honestly I could work around this on grid power, but it's a real pain in the ass when off grid and then generator gets overloaded when I try using the microwave oven (while the battery is charging).

so in that respect, the chargevert is great, because It lets me trickle in a max of 5A continuously from mains (or set it to 15A on generator) , with the battery taking any load spikes.

The problem is that this is in my small 18' travel trailer, and want a silent trickle charge option when on-grid, and saving the chargeverter for actual generator use seems good too.
 
novaleaf said:
I just took a peek, and with minimal load my draw is currently 140W which is likely to mostly be the chargeverter's fans working like crazy.

I got the chargeverter because my AiO Inverter (Growatt 3000) is dumb: when connected to mains power it only draws from mains, and my circuit breaker tends to pop. Honestly I could work around this on grid power, but it's a real pain in the ass when off grid and then generator gets overloaded when I try using the microwave oven (while the battery is charging).

so in that respect, the chargevert is great, because It lets me trickle in a max of 5A continuously from mains (or set it to 15A on generator) , with the battery taking any load spikes.

The problem is that this is in my small 18' travel trailer, and want a silent trickle charge option when on-grid, and saving the chargeverter for actual generator use seems good too.
Click to expand...
I also use one of these. The voltage adjustment is very sensitive but it can be set to like 54 volts for a constant float. Constant float is tricky territory though, so you might want to run it at like 53.6 and then manually run higher charges once in a while to balance.

 
novaleaf said:
basically around "first time user" experience. (The people who actually need manuals)

- Minimal info on rewiring the plug (and none for hooking up for 110V)
- No info around failure modes/troubleshooting (for example, I tried using an adapter to convert to 110 input and it didn't work... but the green light was blinking which according the the manual means it's all connected properly)
- No info around voltage curves / amp ramp up/down
Click to expand...
Regarding your 110V wiring comment, did you not see the pinout diagram on page 2 for the L14-30P using it for 240-V-120? It shows which terminal is not used for 120V.
 
wsaharem said:
Regarding your 110V wiring comment, did you not see the pinout diagram on page 2 for the L14-30P using it for 240-V-120? It shows which terminal is not used for 120V.
Click to expand...
OP's got it, he was just saying the manual does not make it super clear to a beginner that it uses an unexpected and nonstandard pinout. I agree, the manual could give a little clearer warning on that.
 
hwy17 said:
I also use one of these. The voltage adjustment is very sensitive but it can be set to like 54 volts for a constant float. Constant float is tricky territory though, so you might want to run it at like 53.6 and then manually run higher charges once in a while to balance.

Click to expand...
thanks, I think i'll give the 240W version a try, seems a lot better long-term solution than what I was looking at.
 
novaleaf said:
thanks, I think i'll give the 240W version a try, seems a lot better long-term solution than what I was looking at.
Click to expand...
Be careful with the part numbers and check the datasheet for features. The A at the end of the LED drivers signifies the adjustable voltage.

The 48A model can probably go up to 55v but check the datasheet to confirm. Mine are all 54A or 55 models.

For each specific part number, Mouser or Digikey will have the datasheet.
 
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