[RFI] Battery charger recommendations

[Gary Smith]

Hi Jim,

I want to have 100% of my non-tube radio 
equipment powered through battery, the 
same for my TV & McIntosh C2500 & MC75 
amp. In this mix will also be two 
computers, one a laptop & the other a 
desktop and a few LED lights. My current 
small wattage Solar Panels won't begin to 
approach this need. My future system will.

I want solar power to help charge the 
batteries and a battery charger to keep 
the batteries at charge. I had bought an 
Iota DLS-55/IQ4 charger last fall but it 
throws out too much RFI. My latest post to 
the RFI list was to try and find a 
substantial charger that is a smart 
charger which won't cause so much RFI.

I don't plan to have all the solar done 
this year, but I hope to have 400 watts of 
panels to help with recharging. As there's 
going to be less power than the max they 
can give, it'll only cover a fraction of 
the power drain till I get more panels of 
several KW installed. The 6V seriesed 
batteries are substantial & the new design 
by Trojan for solar which will be 
excellent energy storage for my immediate 
needs. I can't address all the power needs 
of the two rooms from the solar I have, 
but I can do so with the solar & a charger 
to handle the draw.

When I install the future panels I will 
buy two more of these batteries and 
parallel them for 800+ AH, but for now, 
there is no sense in that as I don't have 
panels enough to generate more than my 
needs & if I keep them charged with a 
power supply, they will be good for 
emergency backup and albeit the equipment 
is more $ than the cost of the power it 
will generate, I like the idea of 
generating power off the grid.

What I need at this moment and in the 
future, is a charger that will not muck up 
my Rx. My Iota is noisy and as was 
suggested to me, I'll contact the company 
as it's under warranty, but I'm suspecting 
the RFI is within the nature of the PS and 
there's nothing to be fixed. So I'm 
looking for a high amp smart PS that is 
not a RFI generator to use with my limited 
current system, and will nicely compliment 
a more robust system and leave my Rx RFI 
free. Hopefully someone here knows of such 
a charger.

73,

Gary
KA1J


> 
> > 
> > Suggestions?
> What are the loads that you plan to run from this system? Radio gear
> only, or also stuff like lighting, computers, etc? What are the radio
> loads? Do they run on 12V? 100W radios, SO2R, what modes? What are the
> duty cycles for use of the gear? What fraction of the time will you
> spend transmitting?
> 
> How much solar illumination do you have? Have you tabulated all the
> loads and duty cycles? Have you redesigned lighting to use LEDs that
> can run directly on 12V?
> 
> Genasun makes very quiet MPPT charge controllers for small systems,
> and for all three primary battery chemistries. We use them both with
> solar panels as power sources and with re-purposed power supplies for
> obsolete Thinkpads. This Bay Area company exhibits at Pacificon and
> Visalia. https://www.wiredco.com/LED_Lighting_Low_Voltage_s/1874.htm
> 
> I'm lighting my shack with five of these strips 
> https://www.wiredco.com/LED_Strip_Light_12_Volts_SMT_Cool_White_20_p/l
> edbar1.htm
> 
> and about 10 inches of LEDs from
> 
> https://www.wiredco.com/300_SMD3528_Flexible_LED_Cool_White_Lighting_S
> trip_p/flexibleledcoolwhite.htm
> 
> I would NOT by anything from them but the lights and switches --
> certainly not power supplies or connectors/adapters/cables, etc.
> 
> A Thinkpad 20V 4.5A charger keeps up with my K3s in a contest running
> on a 100Ah Bioenne LiFePO4 battery, and a 16V 4A Thinkpad charger
> keeps up with other ham gear, video monitors, antenna switching, and
> shack lighting running from a 100Ah sealed lead acid battery. 120V
> gear (Thinkpad, two rotators, PSU for SteppIR controller) runs on
> 120V, backed up with a good UPS. I have no backup for power amps.
> 
> Be sure to use twisted pair for all DC and AC wiring (and remember
> that charge regulators work by chopping DC, so DC wiring is really
> carrying DC. When panels and/or batteries are in series, be sure to
> maintain twisted pair in the series loop that connects them for
> charging.
> 
> 73, Jim K9YC
> 
> 
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