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#1
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Welder as battery charger??
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. |
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Welder as battery charger??
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Welder as battery charger??
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#5
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Welder as battery charger??
wrote in message . ..
On 9 Aug 2003 10:39:27 -0700, (Cory B) wrote: 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. If the welder isn't 100% duty cycle, I would think it will overheat and self destruct. Well, I'm not sure about it being 100% duty cycle, but I do know they use them to heat up long sections of pipe in the winter, so I don't know if it would kill it or not... I has forgotten about that, living in South Florida, but I think the same warning applies. I'm sure my red Lincoln buzz box would certainly catch on fire long before the batteries were charged. (20%) duty cycle....if it actually had a DC output that is. I'm looking forward to a few replies from someone more qualified than me.. Look under golf carts and you find info on correct type you need. |
#6
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Welder as battery charger??
I have seen the Lincoln MIG welder used as a battery recharger. It is
also the only time I have seen a Lead/Acid battery explode. He was able to bring down the voltage to 14VDC and connected it up and ran back and plugged it in. BOOM! Regretably he is related to me, my brother. He is alos not the brightest bulb in the bunch either, thank goodness. It was a battery from an old golfcart the U-Store-It dump outside the fence. After seeing that I just never had the guts to try it myself. Chipper On 9 Aug 2003 22:09:20 -0700, (Larry) wrote: wrote in message . .. On 9 Aug 2003 10:39:27 -0700, (Cory B) wrote: 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. If the welder isn't 100% duty cycle, I would think it will overheat and self destruct. Well, I'm not sure about it being 100% duty cycle, but I do know they use them to heat up long sections of pipe in the winter, so I don't know if it would kill it or not... I has forgotten about that, living in South Florida, but I think the same warning applies. I'm sure my red Lincoln buzz box would certainly catch on fire long before the batteries were charged. (20%) duty cycle....if it actually had a DC output that is. I'm looking forward to a few replies from someone more qualified than me.. Look under golf carts and you find info on correct type you need. |
#7
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Welder as battery charger??
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. |
#8
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Welder as battery charger??
Ghost Chip wrote:
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). Just a bit off topic ... According you what you had mentioned above, a good charge current for a lead acid battery is about 10% of the amp-hour rating of the said battery. When I opened up several (different brand) UPS rated at 500VA max, they all have a single 12VDC rated @ 7A battery (presumably gel battery). I would presume it would be alright to replace this battery with a 700 amp-hour or greater lead acid battery found in most SUV or trucks so the UPS can be used to provide a longer and an uninterrupted electrical power for a 200 watt load, i.e. TV, all night long during the outage. Once the electricity is back, this battery can be automatically charged to full by the UPS. Since any existing UPS has a built-in circuitry with a current-limited and auto-charge capabilities, one does not have to worry of over charging the lead acid battery to cause an explosion. I hope anyone out here can confirm this so I can start start making the extension cord and use it to replace the worn-out battery with a lead-acid battery for my 350VA UPS used by my 32" TV. That way, I can still be able to watch and follow up with the weather channel in case of a power outage due to the storms. 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. |
#9
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Welder as battery charger??
Yes you can use your welder as a battery charger. The trick is to rig up
some kind of monitoring and control so you dont over charge the battery. It would probably cost you more to do this than buy a battery charger. "Beep" wrote in message news:wvX%a.142878$Oz4.36509@rwcrnsc54... Ghost Chip wrote: 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). Just a bit off topic ... According you what you had mentioned above, a good charge current for a lead acid battery is about 10% of the amp-hour rating of the said battery. When I opened up several (different brand) UPS rated at 500VA max, they all have a single 12VDC rated @ 7A battery (presumably gel battery). I would presume it would be alright to replace this battery with a 700 amp-hour or greater lead acid battery found in most SUV or trucks so the UPS can be used to provide a longer and an uninterrupted electrical power for a 200 watt load, i.e. TV, all night long during the outage. Once the electricity is back, this battery can be automatically charged to full by the UPS. Since any existing UPS has a built-in circuitry with a current-limited and auto-charge capabilities, one does not have to worry of over charging the lead acid battery to cause an explosion. I hope anyone out here can confirm this so I can start start making the extension cord and use it to replace the worn-out battery with a lead-acid battery for my 350VA UPS used by my 32" TV. That way, I can still be able to watch and follow up with the weather channel in case of a power outage due to the storms. 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. |
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