Please help find the elusive ebike charger

I'm having some difficulties finding a well made affordable charger that I can buy four of, to gently charge four 48v ebike batteries to 80% simultaneously

Originally I was going to get a Grin cycle satiator as I was just going to build one large battery and put it on the rear rack so I just needed one large powerful charger to charge one large battery in a reasonable timeframe.

But that changed after I was advised on this forum to test with a weight the same as the battery on the rear rack, which it made the bike really unstable and squirrely...


So I changed things up by splitting the cells into 4 separate batteries, which is a much better arrangement as it gives great flexibility in only carrying the amount of battery I need at any one time.

One in the frame for normal trips, an extra strapped to the rear rack for longer journeys

And if pulling a trailer, two more Batteries in the trailer itself



Problem now is that I need 4 affordable chargers, but want to avoid the dangerous and unreliable chinese specials as described here: https://electricbike-blog.com/2015/12/30/cheapo-chinese-charger-spews-out-smoke-as-i-dash-across-the-room-to-unplug-it-before-my-house-burns-down/


I thought I'd found what I was looking for in the Lunagizer Charger mentioned in that article, but they only have the 52v version in stock and are out of stock of the 48v version I need http://lunacycle.com/batteries/chargers/luna-charger-48v-advanced-300w-ebike-charger/

So does anyone know an equivalent to the luna charger?

My experience with the Chinese chargers sold by Luna Cycle is that they're as unreliable as any other cheapo chargers.

Chalo said:

My experience with the Chinese chargers sold by Luna Cycle is that they're as unreliable as any other cheapo chargers.

Click to expand...

This is for the $99 Lunagiser?

Dang.


Oh well I'm charging outside in a battery bunker anyway, so doesn't matter too much.

What would you suggest? What 48v chargers capable of 80% charging do people on this forum have good success with?

Chalo said:

My experience with the Chinese chargers sold by Luna Cycle is that they're as unreliable as any other cheapo chargers.

Click to expand...

Ditto

LewTwo said:

Chalo said:

My experience with the Chinese chargers sold by Luna Cycle is that they're as unreliable as any other cheapo chargers.

Click to expand...

Ditto

Click to expand...

Oh well since they're all hit and miss, might as well save a few quid... Picked up 4 of these as they are at the cheap end of the 80% charge capable units. And are simpler with a set 2A charge rate so hopefully less to go wrong

https://www.eco-ebike.com/products/48v-80-90-100-2a-smart-charger.

Just might have to swap out the plugs for UK ones.


Still time to cancel if you have a better suggestion.

Gorillazilla said:

Chalo said:

My experience with the Chinese chargers sold by Luna Cycle is that they're as unreliable as any other cheapo chargers.

Click to expand...

This is for the $99 Lunagiser?

Dang.

Oh well I'm charging outside in a battery bunker anyway, so doesn't matter too much.

What would you suggest? What 48v chargers capable of 80% charging do people on this forum have good success with?

Click to expand...

To be fair, all the failed chargers I've ever witnessed firsthand just stopped, no drama. One made a pop sound when a capacitor let go, but even in that case it just stopped charging.

I use a Grin Satiator (which is expensive and fussy, but versatile) and Meanwell HLG series power supplies (which are cheap, reliable, and adjustable). They both work great and have not failed me yet. Neither one depends on a crappy little fan that causes the charger to overheat when it dies.

Chalo said:

To be fair, all the failed chargers I've ever witnessed firsthand just stopped, no drama.

Click to expand...

Ditto Again. I got tired of throwing good money down the same hole.

I use a Riden RD6006 variable power supply. The advantage being I can charge any type/size battery and use it for a with other electronic projects as well.

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=110754

The meanwell adjustable power supplies (meant for LED lighting) are reliable

electric_nz said:

The meanwell adjustable power supplies (meant for LED lighting) are reliable

Click to expand...

Is this a good example? Or can you do better?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=446qSHyRzNk

I'll only ever charge at 54.6v 2A max

So I could get away with a cheaper 110w power supply. Going on the hunt for one now, but any suggestions from a more Experienced fellow would be appreciated, even if only to compare to what I find incase someone knows a good gem of a bargain.

Chalo said:

Meanwell HLG series power supplies (which are cheap, reliable, and adjustable). They both work great and have not failed me yet. Neither one depends on a crappy little fan that causes the charger to overheat when it dies.

Click to expand...

Maybe this HLG-120H-48A 120W 48V ?


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272575055507?hash=item3f76bd4693:g:j~8AAOSwKytZLDnI

Or is there better, or just as good for cheaper?


Does anyone know some of the best value but similar power supplies?

I use this one:

https://www.trcelectronics.com/View/Mean-Well/HLG-240H-54A.shtml

It's adjustable enough to charge my 12S packs at 4.05V/cell (48.6V). It charges at just over 5.5A when I turn the current up all the way.

I don't know how to get a better charger for cheaper than that.

I tolerated wheezy, failure-prone little Chinese chargers for a long time. When I could get them for $15, it was easy to forgive their disposability. I even kept extra fans to swap in when they started making new noises. But now you can get a MeanWell for the price of two plastic chargers, and that's a better value.

Chalo said:

My experience with the Chinese chargers sold by Luna Cycle is that they're as unreliable as any other cheapo chargers.

Click to expand...

Seems like the cooling fan is the first to go on the ones that have one.

E-HP said:

Chalo said:

My experience with the Chinese chargers sold by Luna Cycle is that they're as unreliable as any other cheapo chargers.

Click to expand...

Seems like the cooling fan is the first to go on the ones that have one.

Click to expand...

That's another good point for the adjustable Led Driver repurposed as an Ebike charger.

No fan to fail.

The meanwell HLGs are sealed and potted, waterproof, vibrationproof, etc. I've used one (HLG-600H-54A) for a few years bolted to the bottom of my trike as an onboard charger. It gets shaken daily, watered, actually been submerged at least twice in flashflood waters...and I just plug in my extension cord to the trike to the wall and come back to a charged trike a bit later.

I have a Satiator too, but since my main pack is 14s 40Ah, I wanted a little faster charging than the Satiator can do, for the times I might need to recharge at a destination for a trip that uses a lot of the capacity (or all of it). So the Satiator charges the 4s 20Ah lighting pack, and I can also make profiles for it to charge any other battery I happen to need to charge (rare, but sometimes I'm testing or fixing something for someone else...).