This is in reference to a car, but I feel this category is more appropriate given that it relates to using Meanwell power supplies.
So the current limiting mods for Meanwell power supplies are well known, and it's also obvious that in most situations, if you have a string of power supplies in series, only one would need to be current limited. My question arises from the large voltage gap of a much higher voltage battery.
Essentially, imagine you have a 48V battery being charged from two 24V power supplies where only one is current limiting. The unlimited power supply being connected to the battery wouldn't pass any current, but when put with the second, current limited, power supply, it could pass up to what the power supply was limiting to.
Now assume you have a battery that will go from 300V to 350V and a string of 24V power supplies to charge it and let's also assume only the last power supply is current limited. With all but the last power supply in the chain, the system would pass a current above the rating of the power supplies. If the last power supply can limit the current, however, the current would be within the rating of the power supplies. Being that even without the last power supply, the load would draw too much power, would the last power supply actually be able to limit the current? Essentially I'm thinking of it like this, if you put a string of 10ah batteries in series, and the last one in the line was only a 2ah battery then you start to draw power from the string, up to the limit of the weakest link (2ah), you could draw the full voltage of every battery in the string, but beyond the 2ah limit (just to ease the concept, imagine that 2ah battery now has a voltage of 0 even though that wouldn't be the case), if you continue to draw power, you would reverse charge the 2ah battery, and the max voltage would be the voltage of the 10ah batteries (minus whatever amount of reverse charging you did). Just like with the power supplies, the batteries could continue to power the load beyond the weakest link that is trying to stop them from doing so.
Sorry if that is a poor description of what I'm trying to say, but I hope you can understand it.
So the current limiting mods for Meanwell power supplies are well known, and it's also obvious that in most situations, if you have a string of power supplies in series, only one would need to be current limited. My question arises from the large voltage gap of a much higher voltage battery.
Essentially, imagine you have a 48V battery being charged from two 24V power supplies where only one is current limiting. The unlimited power supply being connected to the battery wouldn't pass any current, but when put with the second, current limited, power supply, it could pass up to what the power supply was limiting to.
Now assume you have a battery that will go from 300V to 350V and a string of 24V power supplies to charge it and let's also assume only the last power supply is current limited. With all but the last power supply in the chain, the system would pass a current above the rating of the power supplies. If the last power supply can limit the current, however, the current would be within the rating of the power supplies. Being that even without the last power supply, the load would draw too much power, would the last power supply actually be able to limit the current? Essentially I'm thinking of it like this, if you put a string of 10ah batteries in series, and the last one in the line was only a 2ah battery then you start to draw power from the string, up to the limit of the weakest link (2ah), you could draw the full voltage of every battery in the string, but beyond the 2ah limit (just to ease the concept, imagine that 2ah battery now has a voltage of 0 even though that wouldn't be the case), if you continue to draw power, you would reverse charge the 2ah battery, and the max voltage would be the voltage of the 10ah batteries (minus whatever amount of reverse charging you did). Just like with the power supplies, the batteries could continue to power the load beyond the weakest link that is trying to stop them from doing so.
Sorry if that is a poor description of what I'm trying to say, but I hope you can understand it.