[TenTec] Battery charger (power supply Hercules II)

[NL7VL]

>According to the Herc II manual it draws 80 to 100 amps for 1 KW input.
>
>Batteries last even better if the discharge is less than 50%.

Absolutely! I know that with CW you are actually looking at a 50% duty
cycle but I'm not sure about SSB. A pair of 6 volt batteries will
handle several hours of SSB at 100 watts, but we are talking about a
quality battery like a Trojan. An RV size 27 will be well on its way to
total discharge after a couple of hours at 20 amps after a few times
at a heavy discharge rate. The next size up will double the capacity
still giving you 2 hours at 20+ amps, but you've only discharged them
50% or a bit less. Your batteries will now live through 200+ charge
cycles or 4-5 years.

With the RV batteries you are looking at about $100 x 2, but the
Trojans will run at least $300 for the pair. Dang expensive! But that's
what you have to do to protect you investment.

-- 
 Neal, NL7VL

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On Sat, 05 Feb 2011 15:01:12 -0600
"Dr. Gerald N. Johnson" <geraldj at weather.net> wrote:

>According to the Herc II manual it draws 80 to 100 amps for 1 KW input.
>
>Batteries last even better if the discharge is less than 50%.
>
>73, Jerry, K0CQ
>
>On 2/5/2011 2:47 PM, NL7VL wrote:
>> Jim,
>>
>> You are asking what kind of battery capacity you need to run the Herc
>> from just batteries, or a PS + deep cycle in parallel? Maybe this is
>> not what you what, but it might be useful anyway.
>>
>> * With the PS + deep cycles:
>>
>> So the Herc has an input requirement of what - 70 or 80 amps for 500
>> watts out? I had an Astron 50 amp adjustable that would foldback the
>> current wherever you set it, and I had it in parallel with my
>> batteries. I'd use it to float them, too, but I would have maybe 4 RV
>> batteries with your setup. I suppose you could do it with 2 and not
>> be too hard on them. But a single battery - not sure about that.
>>
>> * Deep cycles only:
>>
>> I would have 4 of them - preferably 6 volt batteries in
>> series/parallel. The cell plate geometry is larger and will take the
>> abuse better than 4 12 volts in parallel. Even with this setup -
>> without doing the math (probably get nailed for that) - you can
>> expect a couple of hours. You only what to discharge them 50% to
>> preserve their lives and ability to hold a charge.
>>
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