Charging when away from home.

[thamesmud]

I'm blown away with the range of a 200AH lithium pack compared to the old lead bricks and looking forward to summer holidays without suffering range anxiety.
Has anyone come up with a reasonably portable charging solution whilst not at home base?
I could put the PL8, power brick, leads, laptop and its power supply in a Peli Case and hire a native porter, the whole setup weighs about 8kg and takes up a lot of space, or is there a better solution ?

[Burgerman]

Not really. The PL8 is needed and its lighter and smaller than a normal chair charger being plastic etc.

You can take a much smaller power supply but that will mean instead of charing a 200Ah pack at 35 or 40 amps you will be restricted to less. Even a laptop supply will work. But no big currents.

[thamesmud]

Not really. The PL8 is needed and its lighter and smaller than a normal chair charger being plastic etc.

You can take a much smaller power supply but that will mean instead of charing a 200Ah pack at 35 or 40 amps you will be restricted to less. Even a laptop supply will work. But no big currents.

I thought that would be the case. I've modified 2 750w HP server power supplies to give a 24v which is a bit smaller and lighter than the ZDX. I have only run it with charge current limited to 20A charge and everything stays nice and cool, perhaps I need to not be a pussy and try it at 30 or 35A, according to the labels they can run up to 60A. They can be jimmied up to give 26V which might be better for the PL8 but I'm not sure if its worth the effort.

[shirley_hkg]

Has anyone come up with a reasonably portable charging solution whilst not at home base?
I could put the PL8, power brick, leads, laptop and its power supply in a Peli Case and hire a native porter, the whole setup weighs about 8kg and takes up a lot of space, or is there a better solution ?

It's simple, if you are using PL8 already.
It has all the wire nodes, where you can hook up a cheap BMS externally. You then charge with any dump charger you have.

Since you are away from home for a short period of time. Only a few charge cycles are done .

I did it for a long time.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/board/ ... start=4350

[swalker]

When I travel, I take a PL8, an appropriate power supply (I use the Revolectrix power supply, because it is allegedly less sensitive to the rigors of travel), and appropriate cables.

I don't use a computer, I simply use the user interface on the PL8 to select the desired program and to start it.

This approach has served me well for numerous trips.

Steve

[thamesmud]

It's simple, if you are using PL8 already.
It has all the wire nodes, where you can hook up a cheap BMS externally. You then charge with any dump charger you have.
Since you are away from home for a short period of time. Only a few charge cycles are done .
I did it for a long time.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/board/ ... start=4350

Thanks, I missed this in the vast conversion thread
I have been playing with a QUCC BMS this uses separate relays to switch charge and discharge rather than semiconductors. I might stick it in a box with a power brick for holiday charging. Its good to know you got away with this for a while without building up a problem.

[ex-Gooserider]

Risky, but if the pack is well balanced, it is possible to charge w/ a bench supply or equivalent as long as you don't try to do a full charge.... I've also heard of folks using a cheap and cheerful (i.e. Hobby Kink) LiFePO4 capable budget charger for doing top-ups while traveling... Slow but can be plugged into the cigarette lighter in a rental car, or other compact supply... Again look more to do 80-90% top-up charges rather than full.

ex-Gooserider

[rickystyx]

I have a second PL8 mounted in the car and a spare supply in there too - the PL8 has a connector that allows me to take the charge from the car (when it is running) or from the power supply when parked up. I just use a normal extension cable to whichever house power socket is nearest, or, if that won't reach, then the power supply and PL8 go into wherever we are staying.
Having only 150AH cells in mine I have done a week when I had forgotten to take the charger and still been fine but it did make me add my spares to the car. I also have a second 150AH pack for my other chair which is in a battery box and can be taken with us for when there isn't any other supply.
A bit belt and braces but it does work when caravaning in the wild.

[Burgerman]

I think in that Myra chair you can actually get 280 or 320Ah cells in. And so would be enough that you wouldnt need any charge equipment on a holiday! Its surprising just how far a big lithium pack goes.

[Burgerman]

This should do the trick. NOT TESTED BY ME. Its chinesium, but should be OK.
ISDT K4 Dual Port 1~8S 400~600W x 2 AC/DC Smart Charger

SKU:
LIPO-ISDTK4


https://www.flyingtech.co.uk/accessorie ... rt-charger

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08ZN6RPHQ

https://www.amazon.com/ISDT-Battery-Bal ... B09CPXP5FD

This will run on AC and give 400W charge, 8S, 1.5A balance, etc. The SPEC looks OK. No PC control etc, but for holiday use its compact and doesent need a power supply. And its more powerful than a normal mobility charger (@225W) as well.

[thamesmud]

This should do the trick. NOT TESTED BY ME. Its chinesium, but should be OK.
ISDT K4 Dual Port 1~8S 400~600W x 2 AC/DC Smart Charger

SKU:
LIPO-ISDTK4


https://www.flyingtech.co.uk/accessorie ... rt-charger

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08ZN6RPHQ

https://www.amazon.com/ISDT-Battery-Bal ... B09CPXP5FD

This will run on AC and give 400W charge, 8S, 1.5A balance, etc. The SPEC looks OK. No PC control etc, but for holiday use its compact and doesent need a power supply. And its more powerful than a normal mobility charger (@225W) as well.

Thanks, that looks interesting.
ISDT seem to do a good range of dc to dc chargers, the Q8 max is 1kw and it looks like you can connect it to a pc by usb or phone by app but typical Chinese the details are a bit sparse. This one in a box with a 24v power brick would only be 2.3kg and be quite small 12"x4"x3" and its only $90

[rickystyx]

I think in that Myra chair you can actually get 280 or 320Ah cells in. And so would be enough that you wouldnt need any charge equipment on a holiday! Its surprising just how far a big lithium pack goes.

Yes but I already have the 150Ah fitted and they are all still good, but I also have the option to put my second 150Ah pack onto the rear reack and it plugs in to give me a full 300Ah - this has become a very useable and sensible system for me.
I've even used the old 30Ah add on pack on the chinese chair which draws much lower currents than our other chairs which is why it only comes with a 12Ah battery - for going around the shops and ferries it is fine and with 32Ah available it lasts forever too

[Burgerman]

Thanks, that looks interesting.
ISDT seem to do a good range of dc to dc chargers,

They are a bit cheaply made. But the one I linked is AC power. For easy travel use. Just like the typical stock powerchair charger, but double the power and no seperate power supply needed. It needs to be double the power compared to a mobility charger, really, as you are charging 3x the usable Ah... The idea is that its easy. Plug into wall, and connect one plug to chair. Will charge at 13A to 14A @28.8V. So 13x 8 hours (night time) = 100Ah plus returned.