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A New Charger/Inverter for Our
Elec-Trak
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The built in charger that Elec-Traks come with from the factory was
missing on our E15, and the external charger that came with it seemed a
bit doubtful. In addition, I wanted to have a setup that would
allow me to use the Elec-Trak to battery pack to power 120VAC loads out
in the field or during power outages. So, what I really
wanted was a combination charger and inverter.
The new inverter/charger and its mounting shelf on the Elec-Trak.
Charger/inverters for 36 volt battery packs are not common, and I
ended up buying a
3600 watt Tripplite that is larger than what I really
need, but appears to do the job well and appears to be well made.
The $800 price was more than I wanted to pay, and a smaller one would
have been fine, but just could not find one. It weighs in at 57 lbs!
Back to the Elec-Trak Table of Contents... |
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Mounting and Wiring the Charger/Inverter
I did not want the new charger/inverter to be permanently mounted in the
Elec-Trak, as is seems like it could be damaged by all the bouncing around.
But, I did want to be able to use the charger/inverter with the Elec-Track out
in the field when 120 VAC is needed to run tools etc. So, normally, the
charger/inverter sits in its yellow plywood "cabinet" on the garage floor next to the Elec-Trak parking
spot such that the Elec-Track can be easily plugged in and charged when parked.
The charger/inverter in its home in the garage. |
The Tripplite charger charging the Elec-Trak.
Note the 175 amp Anderson SB disconnect
that is hooked up for charging. |
For times when the charger/inverter is needed with the Elec-Track to power
120 VAC loads out in the field, I built a
platform off the back battery pack housing that supports the charger/inverter
when its used with the Elec-Trak.
The inverter/charger in its position on the back of the Elec-Track.
It only takes a minute to mount it. |
The same SB disconnect that allows the inverter charger to
charge the battery pack also connects the inverter/charger to
the battery pack to generate 120 VAC in the field. |
Since the charger/inverter has to be able to be separated from the Elec-Trak,
a heavy duty disconnect is needed to break the cables between the battery pack
and the charger. I used an
Ancerson SB disconnect
The charger/inverter and Elec-Trak powering a circular saw.
This is a fairly big startup load, and shows no sign of any problem. |
The new DC circuit breaker at the bottom protects the
charger/inverter and wiring.
(just ignore those extra yellow and green wires -- it was
a quick workaround :) |
With the charger/inverter mounted on the back of the Elec-Track, it can be
used out in the field to power 120VAC tools as in the picture just above.
The Tripplite charges the 36 volt pack at up to 30 amps, so a half discharged
220 ah battery pack should charge back up in about 4 hours. The charger
does a 3 stage charge and will also do the equalization charge when requested. It can be set up for a variety of battery types including the flooded
ones I use. The state of charge is indicated on the charger LEDs -- it
would have been nice to have a meter or digital readout.
The wires connecting the charger/inverter to the battery pack are protected
with a new 150 amp circuit breaker. This rating is too low to develop the
full surge capability of the Tripplite (they recommend a 300 amp for this), but
its plenty for the loads I want to serve, and protecting at 150 amps keeps the wire size reasonable.
In case power power outages, the Elec-Trak and the inverter can be used to
power loads in the house by using a heavy extension cord between the Elec-Trak
and the house. The plan is to use this to cover a few critical
loads like the the fridge, a few lights, a small TV, laptop, ... and, maybe the furnace
(but we do have another emergency source of heat).
In addition, for extended power outages, our PV array
can be rewired a bit to to charge the Elec-Trak battery pack ...
PV charging the Elec-Trak battery pack.
Gary
December 13, 2011
