On Sat, 6 Nov 2010, doc@kd4e.com wrote:
> My cheap Vector battery charger has died - it did work well for
> several years - now it won't stay on more than a few seconds.
> When running it was an RFI-monster!
>
> My Vector Start-It 450Amp jump-box can't hold enough charge
> to jump the car any more either. It will still be useful for
> a while as a portable power pack.
>
> Is there a reasonably priced charger for car and deep-cycle
> batteries that does not blanket the spectrum with RFI?
>
> Any recommendations for a reliable jump-box?
>
> Thanks!
IOTA Engineering DLS series, one of the 12V units and with the built in
IQ4.
These are good quality switchers meant for power support or battery bank
charge/maint. The /IQ4 models, or the standard module with a external
plug in /IQ4 will do full BULK/Absorb/Float cycle charging for lead acid
including AGM.
2 things
1) They are not silent, but are at least as quiet as and of the "made for
ham use" switchers I have tried. I could hear mine on multiples of the
43khs switching freq, but only when listening hard and the band noise was
low (my antenna is only 35 feet from the house and I can hear the
small arcs when light switches are thrown too). Properly bonding the case
(as the manual states is needed) cut this down to barley detectable and
only on some bands, way below band noise when bands are open.
2) These are designed for PS or (with the IQ) PS/charger use. They will
charge and maintain batteries without "cooking" them. They auto cycle
batteries and have a 13.4 - 13.6 float voltage. You need to be aware of
your battery limits though, bulk charge is fixed voltage at 14.6 volts, up
to the current limit of the charger. My setup, capable of 110amps out at
14.6 will happily push ~ 100 amps into a depleted deep-cycle bank tapering
off as battery voltage rises. This is OK, because the supplies are sized
to the bank, and the bank is made of batteries rated for safe charge in a
unlimited current fixed 14.6 profile.
The last thing you want to do is hook any high current supply/charger to a
current limited battery (one that cannot accept fixed voltage charging).
Many SLI, gel-cell, etc have a max charge of 1/10th a/h rating.
A IOTA DLS-15/IQ4 would be a good balance for general charge use for auto
SLI and larger charge (including long term maint).
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