Charger question - feedback

[tomjasz]

Google experts with no real hands on experience. Yawn.

 

[vincent]

I had that lunna charger and it died on me, not sure what’s wrong with it, liked it until it quit lol


Like the grin satiator I have but do think it’s pricey

I would be very interested in good quality $150 chargers that did variable percentages and charging speeds , Think that is a great idea

 

[tomjasz]

I had that lunna charger and it died on me, not sure what’s wrong with it, liked it until it quit lol


Like the grin satiator I have but do think it’s pricey

I would be very interested in good quality $150 chargers that did variable percentages and charging speeds , Think that is a great idea

I had 3 early Luna chargers. All now dead. Two EM3ev chargers, also dead. 2 UPP failures too. My first satiator is more than 5 years old and no issues and lots of positive experience. I’m one that is willing to pay for high quality. A $340 satiator, current cost, is still less than I paid for all the failed chargers.

 

[webcurl]

Meanwell have been the kings in power conversion for decades.

 

[Gionnirocket]

The idea that this hardware needs to cost hundreds of dollars I find ridiculous.
I have a Variable DC Power Supply (60V 5A) and I built this for $20 that I also use with my standard charger as well. Now I don't expect the average user to do this... But it demonstrates that the technology and hardware have been around for decades and this is far from rocket science.
I can charge at any voltage up to 60v and any current up to 5a with automatic shutdown and readout of wh applied for under $100 retail cost.

 

[mclewis1]

The idea that this hardware needs to cost hundreds of dollars I find ridiculous.
I have a Variable DC Power Supply (60V 5A) and I built this for $20 that I also use with my standard charger. Now I don't expect the average user to do this... But it demonstrates that the technology and hardware have been around for decades and is far from rocket science.
I can charge at any voltage up to 60v and any current up to 5a with automatic shutdown and readout of wh applied for under $100 retail cost.

Who says it has to cost hundreds? You can spend 10s of dollars and monitor and manage the charging externally, do some inexpensive DIY and make the monitoring automatic, choose a commercial product with fixed voltages with those features for $100 USD, or you can spend 100s for extra flexibility and features. Plenty of choices depending on someone's needs and capabilities.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Thank you for sharing your experience. That is exactly what we want to achieve. A fine granularity in voltage and current settings.

We could actually source the exact charger that you bought but we have also heard about the reliability concerns.
Once we hit $300, that's almost like an EV charger territory and I think we could do better than that.

LECTRON 240-Volt 40 Amp Level 2 EV Charger with 18 ft Extension Cord J1772 Cable & NEMA 14-50 Plug Electric Vehicle Charger EVCharge14-50-40A - The Home Depot

The Lectron EV Charger surpasses your standard factory-issued charger, cutting total charge time by 7.5 times . It features an LED display which notifies you of any charging faults, and an extra long 18 feet cable to better ensure reachability. NEMA 14-50 EV charger (SAE J1772 compliant) is...

www.homedepot.com

If it is just voltage and current variation, that's easy to do but making very UI/UX friendly takes time.

Thanks for this endeavor as I think it will be welcomed.... Though perhaps more in the DIY market.

Who says it has to cost hundreds? You can spend 10s of dollars and monitor and manage the charging externally, do some inexpensive DIY and make the monitoring automatic, choose a commercial product with fixed voltages with those features for $100 USD, or you can spend 100s for extra flexibility and features. Plenty of choices depending on someone's needs and capabilities.

Exactly my point... Right now to have these options sold as an easy to use eBike charger it costs hundreds... and what we speak of with DIY add ons is beyond the capabilities of the average user.

 

[tomjasz]

The idea that this hardware needs to cost hundreds of dollars I find ridiculous.
I have a Variable DC Power Supply (60V 5A) and I built this for $20 that I also use with my standard charger as well. Now I don't expect the average user to do this... But it demonstrates that the technology and hardware have been around for decades and this is far from rocket science.
I can charge at any voltage up to 60v and any current up to 5a with automatic shutdown and readout of wh applied for under $100 retail cost.

I let go of my First Communion money...

 

[webcurl]

The idea that this hardware needs to cost hundreds of dollars I find ridiculous.
I have a Variable DC Power Supply (60V 5A) and I built this for $20 that I also use with my standard charger as well. Now I don't expect the average user to do this... But it demonstrates that the technology and hardware have been around for decades and this is far from rocket science.
I can charge at any voltage up to 60v and any current up to 5a with automatic shutdown and readout of wh applied for under $100 retail cost.

Care to put your name to them, sell them and be liable (not just offload it to some unknown, un-reachable Chinese company)?

 

[Gionnirocket]

I let go of my First Communion money...

If I had your money.... I'd burn mine.

 

[mclewis1]

Care to put your name to them, sell them and be liable (not just offload it to some unknown, un-reachable Chinese company)?

I'm not sure I understand the point of your post. This thread's topic is experiences with the extra features with some commercial battery chargers. Gionnrocket offered an alternative example of those features with a less expensive DIY version.

Your sum total contribution appears to be to snipe at that idea and just mention a highly regarded Asian OEM power supply company.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Care to put your name to them, sell them and be liable (not just offload it to some unknown, un-reachable Chinese company)?

Nope... I'm only worried about myself and I'm all taken care of
But Yes.. having quality control, certification and insurance has a real costs....but not to the extent of what's currently being charged.
I think the OP realizes that as well and that's why he's shooting for a $150 max price tag.

 

[tomjasz]

If I had your money.... I'd burn mine.

If you're so smart how come you're not rich. Well sometimes your comments are rich.
Are you hit by the big storm?

 

[Gionnirocket]

If you're so smart how come you're not rich. Well sometimes your comments are rich.
Are you hit by the big storm?

How do you know I'm not rich?

That said... Money is not my God but I do I have more than enough to do whatever I want... though my needs are typically simple.
That that said... I enjoy experimenting and building things, especially if it ends up doing what I need better than what I can purchase and at half the price.
You should see my aquarium setups.... All diy filters, pump and heat controls, automatic water changes with leak detection, low and high water shutdown coupled with alarms and email notification. Once setup it's now 10x easier to maintain then anything available commercially.

That the that that said.. I could have easily afforded any eBike I wanted...but i enjoyed the build, custom charging included.

But I'm also reasonable... When it came to an automobile, I went with the factory built Corvette and didn't try to cut in my own convertible top

 

[tomjasz]

How do you know I'm not rich?

That said... Money is not my God but I do I have more than enough to do whatever I want... though my needs are typically simple.
That that said... I enjoy experimenting and building things, especially if it ends up doing what I need better than what I can purchase and at half the price.
You should see my aquarium setups.... All diy filters, pump and heat controls, automatic water changes with leak detection, low and high water shutdown coupled with alarms and email notification. Once setup it's now 10x easier to maintain then anything available commercially.

That the that that said.. I could have easily afforded any eBike I wanted...but i enjoyed the build, custom charging included.

But I'm also reasonable... When it came to an automobile, I went with the factory built Corvette and didn't try to cut in my own convertible top

This is why we’re pals! I prefer my builds too. As a working stiff I could have nearly any cage I wanted. I parked my 1970 hot rod VW van (2100cc dual 2 barrel carbs in The Mirage executive parking. “Mean People Suck” and later “Buck Fush” bumper stickers rounded out the statement. But we’re DINKS. Double income no kids. I didn’t have to grow up. Yup, a regular Peter Pan turned curmudgeon.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

@Ravi Kempaiah

Idk about the Luna charger.

If this is going to be a charger you will be bundling with your bikes then what matters is, it should work with the voltage range of the supplied batteries. If you have decided on using only 48V I don't see the point of a variable Voltage one.

It would be good if it can:

1. Give cut off options like %85, %90 at which it automatically stops charging for increasing longevity of the battery.
2. Rated current should be enough to charge your largest batteries in 4-5 hours from a completely depleted state to %100.

If someone wants more let them get Satiator.

I think around $100 should be a sweet spot.

Thanks. We have switched our packs to 52V for production and made some changes.
The voltage control option would be helpful to charge both 52V and 48V packs.

Thanks for this endeavor as I think it will be welcomed.... Though perhaps more in the DIY market.

Exactly my point... Right now to have these options sold as an easy to use eBike charger it costs hundreds... and what we speak of with DIY add ons is beyond the capabilities of the average user.

Thank you. Charger hardware is not too complicated but getting the UL/CE certification costs a lot.
The goal is to build a high-quality, programmable charger that can be warrantied for ~3-5 years with a high level of built-in safety.
We are thinking of a system like this: an option to toggle between high-energy (long-range) or long-life.
And of course, an option to change the charging current. If you have any suggestions, I would be eager to listen.
As @theemartymac suggested, if we can make everything controlled via App, that would be cool but to build a robust app takes time and a lot of capital. Something we are seriously thinking about.

 

[mclewis1]

So instead of settings with voltages and/or percentages of a voltage and amperages it would be switches for specific functional settings? I think that would work for a lot of folks. I hope a display for voltage and amperage monitoring is something that can be kept in the design.

 

[Dewey]

Jonathan Maus in Portland, OR, recently blogged about charging his e-Bullitt using public EV chargers using this EV Station charging adapter, because his Shimano Steps battery can accept 100-240VAC input, has anyone done this? My EM3EV 36v battery charger says it accepts 100-240VAC input, would there be anything stopping me from using it with this adapter to charge my battery?

 

[Art Deco]

Great find. I didn't know these even existed.

 

[webcurl]

How do they handle all the signalling or no need?

SAE J1772 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org