Industrial Power Supply as Charger?

[forsailbyowner]

I saw a henschko ?sp? Power supply while browsing electronics that spec,ed 13.5v. 37amp regulated overvoltage protected, 85-135v in ,13.8 v. 37 amp out. Would this work as manual charger for freshening batteries at occasional marina stops? Its less than 100$ and since I have no converter was curious.

[steve_hendry]

Might be a DC-DC converter, such as would be used on, f'rinstance, an electric forklift to step down the main battery voltage to 12V for lights and such.

[goboatingnow]

its not going to recharge your batteries properly with that voltage output, at best you will get about 80% into them

[David M]

A three stage charger would work much better.

[simplypower]

Although a three stage charger is the best way forward they are also quite expensive.

You can float a battery using an industrial power supply as long as it has enough voltage (although the unit you mention is only 13.5Vdc it almost certaily has a pot. to turn it up). The most important thing is that it is current limited, this is because a battery will show a load of almost infinite load demand on the PSU, if not it may well fold back and stop delivering voltage.

I hope this helps!

[thefilthywhore]

don't be a dumby, just do it right to begin with and you dont have to worry about problems.

just buy a real battery charger they are not that expensive, especialy if you buy it used.

[James S]

Batteries are expensive

[David M]

I agree with James. It is a false economy to spend all this money on batteries and then go cheap with something that could easily destroy them if not done correctly. I think its wiser to go with something that is fully automated rather than trying to be the automation ourselves. Its relatively rare when a marine charger destroys a bank of batteries. On the other hand, to err is human.

[SoonerSailor]

Your 13.7 volt power supply won't hurt your flooded cell battery unless left on it for days at a time, but as mentioned above it won't fully charge them very quickly.

If you can bump the voltage up to 14.0 or 14.1, you could use it more effectively as a charger, but you would definitely want to take it off after a few hours, or sooner when you think you have a full charge. Automobiles maintain 14 volts all the time, but of course they don't run 24 hours a day.

With either one, you would have to be careful about maintaining proper electrolyte levels.

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by forsailbyowner

I saw a henschko ?sp? Power supply while browsing electronics that spec,ed 13.5v. 37amp regulated overvoltage protected, 85-135v in ,13.8 v. 37 amp out. Would this work as manual charger for freshening batteries at occasional marina stops? Its less than 100$ and since I have no converter was curious.

For less than $175, you can get an excellent 45-amp Iota smart charger. It does bulk, absorb, float, and equalize. It's RF-quiet. My Magnum MS-2800 125A charger radiates RF like crazy, but my two DLS-75's just purr...

More amps, hands-off, charges more quickly. Worth the extra $75! I'm sure you can find other brands for a similar price...

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by thefilthywhore

don't be a dumby, just do it right to begin with and you dont have to worry about problems.
just buy a real battery charger they are not that expensive, especialy if you buy it used.

A very wise man once said:
"If you don't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when or where will you get the time or money to fix or replace it?"

[Chief Engineer]

It amazes me what some people do to try to save money...and ends up biting them in the buttocks

[Fuss]

I agree with the comments about taking shortcuts, however its an interesting point. In the interests of education, Is there a problem with connecting say a 14.2 volt power supply for a few hours? I mean what could happen, you could even put a 3 hour time relay on it so it only ever did a maximum of 3 hours. What harm could this do? Is it a problem if the stable 14 volt power supply was a 5 amp one or 10 amp or 20 amp?
Thanks in advance if someone could comment on this.... just from an education point of view.

[sailvayu]

I read a lot of posts about people having trouble with galvanic corrosion and then read posts like this and am not surprised. Marine battery chargers are designed with double insulated coils and separated neutrals and grounds. When you use a non marine charger you are opening yourself up to a would of problems and safety hazards. Anyone who thinks of using a non marine battery charger better have good insurance as several deaths have been the result of an auto or industrial charger being installed. This not one area you want to cut corners. If it is not UL approved for marine use it is a hazard and even if you do not get shocked your underwater metal as well as those around you in the marina is at risk. I have been reading a lot of you recommending these Itoa chargers. Are they UL approved for marine use? If not you might be putting people in danger.

Wayne Canning, AMS
projectboatzen.com

[Fuss]

My thinking of a good senario is as follows...
(I have an aluminium boat and a galvanic silver cell tester)
I have 2 20amp galvanic isolated power supplys that can be wired in parallel. They are high quality switched mode units. They look very similar to my victron charger.
I only wish to use them when charging using my generator and not in the marina.
When i run my generator for 1 hour I want the maximum charge possible to go into my 700 amp 24v battery bank.
My Victron charger is an 80 amp quality unit.
When the batterys are below 70%, they can accept 120 amps or more as I have run my main engine and generator at the same time... they accept 140 amps.
If I installed these 2 28.5v power supplies and limit them by time relay to say 2 hours (just so it is not possible to ever leave them on for a long time) then the batteries would be charge at nearer their maximum acceptance rate (120 amps).
Under normal shore based circumstances the victron unit would do all the charge management as usual.
could someone comment on whether this would work and if i have forgotten something
thanks John