charging A123 8S3P

[ohass]

Hi everyone,

Im about to buy a Mastech 5020E power supply to charges 8 series and 3 parallel battery pack

26.4v and 6.9 ah

i would like to charge as fast as the power supply allow

i have heard this power supply is 50v and 20A max, so i only need to dial 29.6v and 20ah and plug it directly to my pack?

if i don't turn it off in time what would happen?

this pack is not for an heli but an electric scooter and it will be charged at home everytime

[concept1]

the Mastec will stop charging when peak voltage is reached, i have forgotten my A123's and left them on over night, as the pack settles in voltage it will kick back on and bring the voltage back up. As the voltage reaches peak charge the Mastec will start dropping Amps and slow the charge till it reaches 0amps. this is why I love the Mastec!!!!

[ohass]

why aren't everyone using this to charge A123's? is it expensive?

[concept1]

don't know, but probably because it is A/C only, so can't take it to the field unless you have a generator or converter. and some guys may want a all in one charger/balancer, and the ability to do lipo as well.
but for A123 i found the mastec the best. A123's perform best warm, so charging at less then 10 amps or less the pack will actually cool down, most all in one chargers will only do 6-10 amps so this is not optimal.

[ohass]

i really want one now, how much did it cost you and where did you buy it from

[kgfly]

Mastech PS are hard to get outside of North America. However there are several chargers that will do the job as well or better. For example:

Junsi iCharger 208B (8S, 350W/20A) = can charge 8S A123 at 12A.
Junsi iCharger 3010B (10S, 1000W/30A) = can charge 8S A123 at 30A

FMA PowerLab8 (8S, 1000W/30A) = can charge 8S A123 at 30A

To run a 1000W charger at full rated output power you need a 24V/50A (1200W) power supply, but it does not have to be as fancy as the Mastech. There are not too many options yet but as these chargers get out and demand for such PS increases, they should become easier to find.

For those in Europe, this is an interesting 900W power supply for around USD$210 which will allow the charger to deliver about 720W output so charge 8S A123 at up to 25A: http://www.thiecom.de/rng900-schaltnetzgeraet.html

MRGN-900 is an adjustable power supply in the 19-inch housing with separate LED gauges for volts and amps.

Three Areas of adjustable:
0-15Volt = 0 -60 amps
0-30V = 0 -30 amps
0-60Volt = 0 -15 Amp

[kgfly]

BTW, you can order the Mastech from the link below. For use as a battery charger you want the EX model: http://www.mastechpowersupply.com/dc...n/prod_61.html