Hi everyone,
It does seem a bit strange that there are so few 48V mains chargers available given the fact that there are a plethora of 48V solar mppt charge controllers and 48V inverters. Aside from the large Victron Skylla chargers, there are basically NONE! And I don't just mean Victron, but across the board aside from some awful Chinese offerings that is...
Weird!
It is possibly a case of supply and demand.
12v is common for cars, 24v is common for trucks outside of US. 48v is really only used in golf carts, electric forklifts and off grid/ess systems.
Once you get to 48v it tends to be more specialised equipment to suit specific use.
Due to the the ‘average’ person not requiring them, there is less market hence less models available.
There is also a slightly higher risk involved with 48v chargers, due to the higher voltage and the possibility of imbalance in a battery pack.
If you are after a smaller 48v charger search for “golf cart charger”, then check the voltage as golf carts can be 24,36 or 48v.
Another option is to use 2x 24v chargers or 4x 12v chargers as long as the output is fully isolated.
Please explain the requirement to be fully isolated @Vance Mitchell
You can use multiple chargers at once in series if they are isolated.
If the negative of the charger is earthed or otherwise linked to the grid connection then using them in series would create a short.
I don’t know of any chargers that are a problem but it would be worth checking to be safe.
Victron actually make quite a large range. They go by the names Multiplus and Quattro.
They can invert too, so you get that as a bonus. :)
Quite often a multiplus can be purchased for a similar price to a charger of the same current rating.
The inverter makes for a great bonus.
Hello @JohnC
Which Multiplus unit would you suggest for charging 48V battery pack at 100A?
Is there one that would accept 115V AC and 400Hz?
I like the idea of using Multiplus unit since it can be connected via VEbus with other Victron units and this way give full control of the charging process.
Regards,
Marek
Thanks for all answers everyone.
I am at aware of the Victron Multiplus and indeed am installing one san we speak on a separate project. It would be however too expensive (and wasteful) to install one on the other project. I do like the the idea of using 4 x 12V chargers. I already have one so will buy 3 more and get the project finished.
Thanks again,
hardwarepimp
I would advice against using 4x 12V chargers in 99% of cases!!!
There's a very big risk of unbalance.
other sources of 48 volt equipment: telecom sector (but that's usually just a single float voltage and not made for cyclic charging)
Indeed, i am looking at these two.. any advise - comments? (to recharge my 48v battery banks when running on Genny)
Battery Charger - Single-Phase - 48V/120A | Westexe Direct
Forklift Batteries, Forklift Battery Chargers | PB Battery Solutions UK
@hardwarepimp I have been wondering the same. I currently have a Multiplus II 48v 5kva and the 4 hours of off peak on the Octopus Go is not enough for my 48v 70amp charge input from the Multiplus to charge my batteries in that period. This leads to days where my batteries never reach 100% SOC.
For months I have been trying to source a reasonably priced 48v charger but as others have mentioned, the only larger enough chargers are inverter chargers like the Multiplus unit therefore it looks like the only solution is to add another inverter charger to supplement the Multiplus when charging.
From this, I have been looking at the smaller Multi's like the 800va units as this size would be sufficient to supplement my Multiplus 5kva unit when charging but then comes the increased complexity of fitting a shunt to measure the DC input into the batteries from the 2nd charger, monitored by the main Multiplus. Also the question of how to I set the bulk and absorption voltage to match the smaller multi and so on. I've not gone down the rabbit hole with this idea just yet but I also need to find a cost effective solution to increasing the charger input during my off-peak periods.
@nesswill I like the links you posed. They appear to be well priced 48v charges but damn they are big. I cant work out if they are aimed for lead batteries only or if they can be used for Lithium but I'll have a proper look over the weekend.
For that purpose I am looking on the charger that would work only in the bulk charging stage. The absorption stage would be done by Multiplus.
It would be very simple charger and would not have to be designed for lithium battery.
I understand your predicament Jason UK. There is such a dearth of 48V chargers. Are you running Lithium batteries?
I’m running lead acid AGM on a relatively small scale (102AH) X 2 banks and needed more amps for bulk charging from Genset. I’ve now added some cheap Chinese 48V chargers that I got from Aliexpress to my mix and to tell the truth, they are surprisingly good and cheap as chips. You can even adjust the voltages after removing their covers. The build is surprisingly good and so far so good in terms of reliability. The brand I use also make chargers for lithium too.
I’ll post the ones I use later when I can get onto my desktop (ipad atm).
@hardwarepimp Looking forward to see what you find.
I have 4No Tesla battery packs form a Model S Tesla, each about 5kWh of energy.
