I have a Meanwell HLG 480-54a that will only " turn on" if I apply input voltage first and then apply the load. If I hook it up to the battery first and then plug it in, it doesn't charge . Is this a function of current fault protection or is there some type of disfunction going on?
meanwell issue
- Thread starter Dak77
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electric_nz
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- Jan 7, 2019
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They must have some big output caps as I get a heck of a spark on mine if I plug in to the battery without the mains power on. Perhaps that is triggering your BMS
electric_nz said:
It doesn't get power at the output leads unless I plug it in before adding a load. I tested it by removing the battery . It will be 0 v until I unplug it for a minute . Like it resets a tripped breaker/failsafe , whatever the mechanism is. As long as I let the caps charge first , I can plug in the max current load with no prob. And yes it does a pretty strong spark . The anderson connectors actually get pits in them after a few dozen charges and have to be sanded and eventually replaced. So yours works when you hook up the battery first? It seems odd that this would be a normal function. If you were powering a sign or billboard with it, you'd have to climb up there and manually disconnect and reconnect every time the power went out.
Try it with a resistive load instead of the battery (say, four 12v car headlights in series, or a 115vac 500-1000w halogen bulb). I would bet that it starts up fine with the load connected first that way.
If it does, then it means that something is going on with the voltage detection of the output stage, and it isn't allowing it to startup because it thinks it already *is* started up.
If you put a diode (that can handle the full current and power dissipation needed for your setup) on the output of the MW to the battery, it will prevent the MW from seeing any voltage there and so it would then start normally, if this is the problem. This complicates the final full charge voltage setting of the MW a bit, as the voltage drop on the diode varies with current (as current drops, the voltage drop decreases, but there will be a minimum amount of voltage drop you'll need to adjust the MW voltage up to accommodate).
If it does, then it means that something is going on with the voltage detection of the output stage, and it isn't allowing it to startup because it thinks it already *is* started up.
If you put a diode (that can handle the full current and power dissipation needed for your setup) on the output of the MW to the battery, it will prevent the MW from seeing any voltage there and so it would then start normally, if this is the problem. This complicates the final full charge voltage setting of the MW a bit, as the voltage drop on the diode varies with current (as current drops, the voltage drop decreases, but there will be a minimum amount of voltage drop you'll need to adjust the MW voltage up to accommodate).
They do normally work fine to do this (I use an HLG-600H-54A built in to the trike permanently connected to the pack) but yours may have a defect or failure in the startup section causing the problem. Can't know for sure since these are solidly potted so tough to open up and check stuff. 
But the test described will at least tell you if it is this type of problem.
But the test described will at least tell you if it is this type of problem.Similar threads
