It is possible to use a welder as a charger. You must keep the current
below the 100% duty cycle rating of the welder and stop charging when the
battery reaches full charge. Of course DC is required, either from the
welder or from your diodes. For lead acid batteries, a good charge current
is about 10% of the amp-hour rating of the battery. 100 amp-hours --- 10
amps charge rate. Don't charge beyond the point when the electrolyte
reaches 1.280 specific gravity, (1.270 warm).
A trickle charge rate can be left on for long periods of time. This is
about 1-3% of the amp hour rating.
CAUTION:
If you don't limit the current, the battery can explode. If you overcharge,
it will warp the plates and ruin the battery. If you exceed the duty cycle
of the welder, you can burn it out or severely shorten it's life. Know what
you are doing and use good common sense and caution and it can work. I've
done it.
"Cory B" wrote in message
om...
Hi everyone, I have a very important question that needs a good answer
(such that I don't kill myself/start a major fire)
I have a forklift that is run off of batteries, 36 Volt... I beleve
they are in series linked positive to negative(series right???) There
are two posts for each positive and negative so that there are four
posts on each battery. There look to be a total of 18 cells, which
would be 2V each.. These are quite large..
The problem that I have is my charger I bought with it is three phase
(label indicates that it is "cycle phase"?? does this mean anything
important??) and it produces 36 Volt at 180 DC Amp..
I have a Lincoln welder that is 220 operated, and has an output of 40
Volt Switchable from AC/DC, and selectable 10-220 amp.. I am thinking
that if I were to use a 4 Volt inline resistor, and somewhere around
100 amp it should charge the batteries quite well, although I am not
an electronics expert of any sort and I really need some advice here
as to what parts to use, how to wire this baby up and feedback as to
just how crazy I might be..
Thanks in advance everyone,
Cory Boehne.