Charger recommendation? Dual 36v20a LiFePO4 Headway Packs

[ryan]

I have two 36v20a LiFePO4 headway packs in series on my bike. I only ordered one charger with the packs (straight from Headway in China). In an overzealous move I blew the charger fuse right away trying to charge both packs in series.

Since that obviously won't work, can you help recommend where to purchase another charger so I can charge both at once? Does a charger exist that would charge both in series?

Also, does anyone have a source for 10a 250v charger fuses (F10AL 250v markings). I ordered 10 from the UK via eBay but that's likely to take a long time to get to California.

 

[ryan]

I just heard back from Victoria at Headway... She recommended the Smart Charger (3.0A) for 38.4V LiFePO4 Battery Pack, 110-240V --- CE listed

Does that sound right to you? It looks different than the one she sent me a few months ago, but the price is right - $60.


Headway sent me one that looks like this (not exactly, but close):

Victoria just recommended this one:

 

[dnmun]

you can get the small fuses from mouser and the aluminum cased charger is known as the 'kingpower' charger and i don't recognize the plastic one.

do you have picture of the charger headway sold you? did you really plug your 36V charger into a total of 72V of battery?

why do you think the fuse blew up? have picture of it?

also what is with the 38.4V charger? that is a simple case of dislexia i bet. they should have 43.8V instead.

 

[Demosthenes]

Use two chargers in series

 

[ryan]

dnmun,

Yes, I unfortunately did just that... plug my 36v charger into a total of 72v battery.

I ordered a handful of fuses that look to closely match the fuse I had from Mouser. Unfortunately I can't be entirely sure since they didn't have anything that matched the F10AL 250V markings on the fuse the charger shipped with. We'll see.

And I'm 99% sure I have the exact same charger as the "Kingpower". It looks identical, only a different sticker.


Demosthenes,

I'm not sure if you were kidding or not, but I actually read a bit about connecting chargers in series. Interesting, but it looks a little too complex for my taste.

I'd be curious how those here with 72v packs charge their batteries.

 

[dnmun]

you can add charger outputs in series, use two 36V to get 72V. but if you have separate packs and only one charger, you have to do them one at a time or if they are always used together so they have the same amount of charge taken out of each during each cycle, then you can use the one charger and put your packs in parallel.

ping has a deal on his small 3A charger too, and he also sells 2 different 5A chargers, including that kingpower one. email him and see if you can buy the type A, which is 3A for $30 or $35 each. i think the 5A chargers are $60 or so.

 

[Demosthenes]

I was mostly kidding. It can be done but it's probably more hassle then it's worth. If the charging ports are seperate from the discharge ports you should be able to use two chargers though. One each. Or am I missing something here.