1500W Elcon charger problem

[Beavinator]

I just finished rebuilding the 72V LiFePo4 battery I got from evassemble. I go and hook it up to my 1500W elcon charger and it charges fine for about 10-15min then the light starts flashing green, then red which it says means battery disconnected. It is not disconnected and I dont know what to do. I put a meter on my battery pack and its at 80.9V.

 

[dnmun]

when the charging mosfets turn off then it appears as an open circuit to your charger. check the voltage on the gate and then measure all the voltages from #1 through #24, record them and post up.

 

[FMB42]

Is the charger flashing "green-red...green-red...green-red" or is it flashing "red-green...red-green...red green"?

The evolveelectrics pdf for the 1500w Elcon chargers states the following:

Flashing "red-green...red-green...red-green" indicates a disconnected battery.

Flashing "green-red...green-red...green-red" indicates an overheated charger.

Here's the reference link:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:r447M0K5njwJ:www.evolveelectrics.com/PDF/Elcon/PFC_1500W_Charger_%28Manual%29.pdf+Elcon+1500w+battery+charger&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjfqGvulKnyretYxefYcuSEri6chtO1rCUW_qiojakNfCPBL1nyLElro6ksmadlaxIYAjHSfwodsx5XlrzaXAa2qRKawFqNeuccrODP3MAHSfQTflxfx5a_w1-OqkZuWAH0X-Mf&sig=AHIEtbRlDqHJWT0wXu3JQQhL0q3ofVAGSw

Edit: The previous link I posted didn't work.

 

[Beavinator]

The thing that pisses me off beyond words is that the bloody excuse Michael kept giving me why I never got my battery for so long is that they were doing testing. Well obviously they werent or maybe the F%$KING thing would work!

 

[dnmun]

like i said, post up a picture of your BMS if you don't know what to do and we will try to help.

 

[jondoh]

i have this charger. You need to connect a switch to two of the pins in the mini din connector. The connection is for some kind of interlock which you don`t probably need. You need to find the mini din pig tail.

 

[dnmun]

The thing that pisses me off beyond words is that the bloody excuse Michael kept giving me why I never got my battery for so long is that they were doing testing. Well obviously they werent or maybe the F%$KING thing would work!

i thought the pack was working but your charger was shutting off. can you confirm that it would produce power, but then when it was charging it would shut down the charger?

 

[FMB42]

Hey Beavinator,

I fixed the busted Elcon link.

HTH.

 

[FMB42]

I wonder if the correct (factory pre-set) "working" mode has been selected for your application.

Here's a ES link with some info on this from (Elcon customer rep?) "Nancy".

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16602&start=15


Note the post regarding the factory pre-set "working" modes:

Working mode 1 = CAN (Controller Area Network) module control option 1. This is a working mode when use (using) BMS which has CAN communication function. Please connect CAN bus through plugging in CAN module.
We set CAN ID and CAN module type at factory at customer's request. Specified and CAN communication protocol supported is set up before delivery.

2. Mini BMS or Battery protector option. This is a working mode when use battery protector or BMS(no CAN communication function). Charging can be switched on or off the charging through charging enable control wire like charging process below...


I'm not sure how (or if) you can check the selected "working" mode. However, maybe Elcon or your supplier can answer this question for you. I am, however, thinking that "working" mode #2 might be the correct selection for your application.

I'm also wondering if the correct "Charging Curve" has been selected. There are, according to manual (link), 10 different "curves" available (please see the manual for the directions on how to check and/or select these charging curves).

 

[Beavinator]

I talked to michel from evassemble and he says my charger should be in working mode 4 and thats what it is. I think maybe the charger is in fact working and its the BMS cutting it off because the pack is fully charged. I check the voltage and its 82.4 which michael says is fully charged. The led's just confused me because it says it will flash yellow when its over 80% charged and it never did that. I guess Ill find out soon enough.

 

[dnmun]

measure each cell voltage at the BMS, you will find it has high cells shutting off the charge, imo.

 

[FMB42]

Ya, check the individual cell voltage and then, if all is "O.K.", run the pack down a bit. There is a good chance that the charger LED readout will react normally while charging a "depleted" pack . It could be that the pack was at, or near, a full charge (which was giving you an unexpected charger LED readout).

I've noticed somewhat similar results while performing routine bi-weekly "maintenance" charging on my "unused" LifePo4 (that was previously stored in a nearly full charged condition). This "maintenance" charging procedure usually takes about 5-10 minutes before the charger indicates a full charge (even when the overall voltage was at 90% or so before connecting the chrgr).

 

[jondoh]

here are the pictures of the pigtail on my elcon charger. These need to be shorted to enable the charger.

 

[jonescg]

This is interesting because my charger is refusing to acknowledge my battery pack. I have the twin wire thing pictured in the post above going to an ev-power BMS master control unit. It's an interesting plug - 3 different ways you can plug it into the same plug :?

 

[jonescg]

It's allright, I got it to work

I had them wired into the BMS master unit the wrong way. But the charger is a bit too high a voltage for what I need anyway - 120 V is enough to drive the cells past 3.7 V in no time.

 

[__Tango]

here are the pictures of the pigtail on my elcon charger. These need to be shorted to enable the charger.

Hey there. can you tell more about why you need to short those pins? Also, my charger is (for now) off board, so i'm only hooking it up when needed. Should i permanently short the pins? or do i only need to short them to start the charging process?d

BTW, the problem i'm having is with an ecitypower 1500W charger (which i'm pretty sure is the same as these elcons). The charger always alternates between red and green at a one second interval which is supposed to mean battery disconnected. I've checked and rechecked everything and it's all hooked up properly.

Thanks!!

 

[__Tango]

For those of you who come across this thread here, I found some more information in another discussion on DIYElectricCar: http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/elcon-charger-battery-not-connectediiii-55452.html

There was more explanation about what's going on, and i was able to figure out my issues from a combination of the information here and on that thread.

 

[Beavinator]

Hey Tango I dont know if you got your charger working yet or not but that plug with three wires has a few different purposes. I believe in some aplications it is connected to a BMS so the charger can communicate with it. In my aplication I have to connect two wires in order to bupass the communication feature and allow it to charge my battery. Hope this helps