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48v LiFePO4 Battery Charger

coolwaterxii

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Joined
Mar 12, 2021
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I'm in planning to buy 32 x Lishen 272Ah LiFePO4 batteries. I'll then configure them to be 2p16 for 48v on an Orion BMS Jr. Eventually, it will be hooked up to a Sol-Ark 12 hybrid inverter.

Meanwhile, I'd like to learn more about the batteries and do some capacity/load testing before adding it to the Sol-Ark inverter.

The closest charger that I can see is Aims AC Converter / Battery Charger 36V & 48V Smart Charger 25 Amps. Will this charger work for my use case? If not, what are 48v chargers that are commonly used for this kind of usage?
 
That's what I have for charger, but I don't have my batteries yet. Maybe by this weekend. It's only 18.5a at 48v. There is not much selection for 48v chargers. AFAICT it will be fine as long as you have a bms. I'm getting 32 cells too. I was going to create two 16s strings and hook this charger to one string and bring it up until the BMS triggers high cell voltage. Then put the charger on the other string. I also bought a 60A power supply. I'll put that on the first string of cells to finish. Then move it to the second string. If the AIMS is too slow I'll rewire one of my charge controllers to feed the cells. That's my plan anyway.
 
Do you mind sharing the brand/model of the 60A power supply? Is this mainly for top balancing?

I'm a newbie... But here's my plan.

When I get the batteries:
- Inspect them, and check each voltages
- Top balance them using Top Balancing LiFePo4 Cells using a low cost benchtop power supply. | DIY Solar Power Forum (diysolarforum.com)
- Hook them up to Orion BMS Jr. (I'm still learning if I should do a 2p16s or 16s2p (two BMS's))
- Use the charger above to start playing with it, and an inverter that I have yet to research. Then do some actual load / capacity testing. Will also use this to test the BMS and make sure it cuts off when it should.

Thanks!
 
I have that charger and I like it. You can adjust the output amps and switch between type of battery and 36/48v. My Overkill Solar BMS was able to shut it off and restart it as designed when I had a single cell get near OV protection.

For top balancing, I used the 0-60v benchtop DC powersupply from Amazon. Great little unit, however, it only puts out 5a so top balancing can take some time. I recommending ordering some large gauge wire along with it in order to make new leads as it will function much better.
 
This is the one I have. I was only going to use it for top balance. I have no other use for it. I'm doing 32 cells initially but adding another 32, if the first 32 work well. Then it will live on a shelf.


I am arranging the cells into 16s strings and using a Batrium BMS for the long haul. I'm using cheap qucc BMSs that have a contactor for the initial top balance procedure. If 16s parallel batteries fail to work well and battery banks get unbalanced, I will move to a parallel first setup.

The AIMS charger I bought is not just for helping initial top balance. I plan to have it wired in as a backup charging method. This is pretty much a must have if you are off grid. I'm moving from 24v to 48v so it replacing a 24v charger I have that is connected to an outdoor plug where I can plug in portable generators.
 
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