Possible to convert an powered AC battery charger to DC?

Thread Starter

TremerePuck

Joined Jul 4, 2010
2
I have a 110v AC source 48v SLA battery charger and am wondering if it would be possible to convert it to a charge controller for a 48v SLA battery bank with a 48v 1000w wind turbine as the source. Any and all help is appreciated.
 

sceadwian

Joined Jun 1, 2009
499
Not directly, you could use an inverter to power the charger, but that's going to waste a lot of power, you really need to design or use charge controller designed with those input/output requirements.
 

Thread Starter

TremerePuck

Joined Jul 4, 2010
2
I've been trying to find a schematic for a 48v charge controller for a while. I've foung many for 12v systems and have been contemplating using four of those in serial but would rather have one 48v of course.
 

sceadwian

Joined Jun 1, 2009
499
Are you set on building this yourself? There are plenty of commercial units that you could easily purchase that work within that range of voltage and power levels. In general with power electronics and somewhat complex circuits like this it's cheaper to buy than it is to build. I find plenty of units on e-bay and I'm sure you could find more conventional stores for 48V 20amp (1000w) charge controllers for around 150-200 dollars.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
If you are not dead-set on building, you should really buy.

Now-a-days you can get a charge controller with PWM and MPPT, that will increase net gains into the battery, and keep net losses to a minimum for under $300.

It really depends on the the output current and voltage range of the turbine, and the size of the battery bank.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
lol. I didn't even realize that. See thats what I get for replying before I read the rest of the thread.

Wow. I totally ripped you off. almost word for word.
 

sceadwian

Joined Jun 1, 2009
499
I see it happen a lot, sometimes I'm on the other end. No biggie I was just teasing ;) It's taken a few years but I've slowed down the response time of some of my posts until I've read a little bit more. It's REALLY hard to avoid those knee jerk posts, lemme tell you! My posting rate has dropped a bit, but the quality of the posts have gone up as a result.

I'm still horrible.
 
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