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FYI Gigavac GV series relays only use 2 watts to hold open, and only cost $95 for a 400A

Maast

Maast

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Probably not of much interest to anybody, but I was poking around their online store looking to pick up another couple of contactors because I was reading the specs on the ones I have and their max coil voltage was 54V. Doh! There goes another couple hundred bucks.

At any rate it turns out the GV series are dual coil units that turn off one coil after activation bring their hold wattage to 2 watts, which is nothing and impressed the heck out of me, I think thats less than a SSR usage. Also the GV series coil voltages go up to 64V. And they were cheaper than my originals. Picked up a 200A GV221FAX for $85 and a 400A GV241FAX for $95, no sales tax and no shipping charges.

The reason the coil voltage is important is because the Chargery passes along the battery pack voltage as the coil control voltage if its running off the pack for power.

Thought I'd pass it along.


Edit, for those that arent aware, Gigavac relays/contactors are absolute top quality relays made in the USA and will outlast your grandchildren. Their online store filters are easy to use and you can find a high power relay in any configuration you could ever imagine. Their ratings are for true continuous duty.

Product selector: https://www.gigavac.com/catalog/power-products

Online store: www.gigavac.com/shop
 
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I just realized I completely boogered up the above, the Chargery ouputs 12V to the coils not a bloody 48V. I dunno, I had 48v on the brain when I was shopping. Getting old is hell.

Which means I just spent ANOTHER 200 bucks I shouldnt have. I'll be returning the GV221FAX and GV241FAX for BAX versions of them.
 
Not all of them do. Make sure to check the spec sheet. e.g. the GV240 series does but not the GV220 series. Note that on these, the pickup current is very high (e.g. 4 amps on the 12v coil) which is more than the Chargery or Orion can handle directly.
 
cinergi said:
Not all of them do. Make sure to check the spec sheet. e.g. the GV240 series does but not the GV220 series. Note that on these, the pickup current is very high (e.g. 4 amps on the 12v coil) which is more than the Chargery or Orion can handle directly.
Click to expand...
Good catch on the amp requirement, didnt catch the 12v draw I'd only looked at the 48v amp requirement of less than a amp. Well if I have to use a interposing relay I might as well use the 48v coil thats on its way. Doesnt surprise me though, its a big chonking contactor.
Another good catch on the GV22 series not being a dual coil. I made a mistake there, digging through specs on too many things at once.

Thanks! Its why I post things like this, more eyes to catch oopsies.

Edit: Another look show the GX22S and GX12S use less than 2 amps to activate, and only 1 watt to hold. Cost more though. Probably going with GX series, I'll dig around more tomorrow. I dont really like the idea of a interposing relay. Additional major failure point.
 
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Couple of things to look out for with contactors:

1: always use precharge resistor or it’s likely you will weld the contactor closed.

2: make sure you get a contactor that works in both polarities (many don’t).
 
toms said:
Couple of things to look out for with contactors:

1: always use precharge resistor or it’s likely you will weld the contactor closed.

2: make sure you get a contactor that works in both polarities (many don’t).
Click to expand...
Indeed. The MX series is rated for inrush but always smart to precharge

All of the gigavac contractors are polarized. I chose to orient mine for proper disconnect under discharge. It would be backwards if disconnected during charge. It will work but will reduce the life of the contractor.

keep in mind that normally these contactors are always on so I don’t worry about these problems. The relay won’t cycle enough for this to be an issue.
 
As I dug around the gigavac site I couldnt find any 400A contactors that'd use less than 3A to trigger, I think I'll use a SSR to drive it - but not a aliexpress/amazon/etc piece of junk. I'll get a good omron or the like from Mouser/Digikey.
 
Missed that part . What do yours spec to hold. They are about 2/3 cost of the kilos
 
Pyrofx said:
Just looked. Mine say 1.7 to initiate
Click to expand...
Thats to hold (which is pretty darn good), look at the inrush current, thats the initiating current. I really like the wide voltage ranges of it. Dang nice contactor. The one I saw was $180 but that was at mouser, probably cheaper elsewhere. Do you have a good source?
kilovac.JPG
 
toms said:
1: always use precharge resistor or it’s likely you will weld the contactor closed.
Click to expand...
I'm using a 40k ohm resistor as a precharge circuit, only passes about .1millamp @ 51v but the numbers say it'd keep/pre charge the capacitors in about 25 mins but keep the voltage low enough that the inverter doesnt try to turn itself back on.
 
That's the 12 to 36 volt. I'm using the 48v. I forgot your issue was 12 passthrough on your bms.
I found them for 135 someplace. Itll take some digging to find. That's why I was looking at what you found.
 
I've been using a gigavacs for some time, works very well. I just changed my main out for a 24v so I could feed it directly from my battery pack.
If you want a no-power option, there are some high end tyco contactors that use power to open or close. Of course, the danger there is that you could have a failed open or failed closed position. The things are used in fighter jets, so I expect some reliability.

The latching unit I'm referring to:
Tyco Contactor PN 7-1618401-8 12VDC EV200F4ANA LATCHING
 
willo said:
If you want a no-power option, there are some high end tyco contactors that use power to open or close. Of course, the danger there is that you could have a failed open or failed closed position. The things are used in fighter jets, so I expect some reliability.

The latching unit I'm referring to:
Tyco Contactor PN 7-1618401-8 12VDC EV200F4ANA LATCHING
Click to expand...

I don't know a BMS That would do this? You have to separately signal open and close to the relay.

(Gigavac makes latching relays, too)

Note that the two-coil relays use 2W so for me that's .17% of my battery per day. (although I need a second amplifying relay at another 2W so .34% per day). Now a single 1280wH battery ... that's 3.75% per day (or 7% if you have an amplifying relay as well). Now it's worth considering SSR.
 
The Crydom SSR I've ordered as my 12v triggered interposing relay for the 48v contactor is a 558-EL100D10-12 and it has a 15.5ma hold = .18watts, so total wattage to hold open the 48v contactor is 2.18 watts or 52.32 watt-hours per day. SSR costs $35
 
Maast said:
I just realized I completely boogered up the above, the Chargery ouputs 12V to the coils not a bloody 48V. I dunno, I had 48v on the brain when I was shopping. Getting old is hell.

Which means I just spent ANOTHER 200 bucks I shouldnt have. I'll be returning the GV221FAX and GV241FAX for BAX versions of them.
Click to expand...
I’m planning on going with chargery BMS and chargery DCC contractors for common port charge and discharge. Is there anything I should know about these units? is there a good reason to turn away from their DCC contactors?
 
Maast said:
The Crydom SSR I've ordered as my 12v triggered interposing relay for the 48v contactor is a 558-EL100D10-12 and it has a 15.5ma hold = .18watts, so total wattage to hold open the 48v contactor is 2.18 watts or 52.32 watt-hours per day. SSR costs $35
Click to expand...

This was helpful - it helped me located a 48v control SSR. Thanks!
 
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