Installing Power Button on Contoller

[Anthony King]

My eZee controller doesn't have an on/off switch so I get a "pop" when I connect my battery. It doesn't seem like this is good for the connectors. The metal inside the Andersons is getting charred.

I assume since the Infineons have a power switch this is a desirable feature.

I was thinking an inline switch would be easy enough, but wanted to know it there are good, ES approved, water-resistant switches for the job.

Thanks,
Anthony

 

[dnmun]

you can put a switch on the BMS circuit current and turn off the BMS so the battery is inactive when you plug it in to the controller.

or you can use a resistor to precharge the input capacitors on the controller before plugging the controller into the battery.

 

[amberwolf]

The switches on the "infineon" controllers do not turn the power off, they only turn off the internal low voltage power supply of the controller itself. Most of them do it by disconnecting the battery input side from the input of LVPS/regulator in the controller.

It won't stop the pop/spark you get when plugging/unplugging, though. For that you'd have to do as Dnmun suggests.

For the resistor and how to do it, search ES for "precharge".

 

[teklektik]

This is a topic that has gotten a lot of comment on the site - lots of solutions if you search around a bit ('precharge' or 'disconnect switch'). The controller 'ignition wire' (often a small red wire) is good as a kill switch to make the controller go brain-dead and stop the motor, but it has no effect on the arcing caused by the current in-rush to charge the controller caps.

Cell_man uses a scheme where there are three connectors for the battery - a dual connector (Gnd and +Vbatt via a precharge resistor) is connected first and precharges the caps through the resistor so there is no arc. You then connect the other single connector (straight-thru +Vbatt) - there is no arc since the caps are already precharged. This may be the simplest change for you - no switch, just a bit of extra wire and connector monkey-business.

My batteries are always connected so for a main disconnect switch I use a Blue Seas 50A magnetic toggle breaker (pn 7228, 7229, or 7230 - different colors) with a pre-charge button and 300ohm resistor across the breaker (a 1W or 1/2W resistor is fine). These breakers are available in sizes up to 50A and have a monster disconnect rating (7500A@65vDC). Hit the button and in 2secs - flip the breaker.

These breakers are available in marine supply stores, Amazon, etc for around $20. These things aren't sealed but have survived rain and salt spray in tens of thousands of boat installations for decades.