Need Triton Charger and Power Supply Advices.

[LA OZ]

I recently purchase a second hand Triton (Version 1). I came with a brief manual. I need help from experience member here. Below are a few questions that I hope you could help me out:

1. What is the best source of 12V for it? I have heard some people converted their old PC power supply for it. Is it easy to do?
2. I mainly use it to charge Nimh and Li-ion. Would it be best to charge them in series or parallel?
3. What is the best setting for Nimh and Li-ion? As per manual said or your experience?
4. Some formula would be nice as to charging 1,2,3,4 batteries - do you just increase the voltage by factor of number of batteries if this was in series, and amp by the same factor if this was in parallel?

I have found a thread on charging clamp by Cy. I will start that project soon.

 

[65535]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

For my triton I used a Novak N-power 14 VDC regulated switching power supply.

Charge your cells series and get a balancing charger and use the from time to time to make sure your cells stay within a certain voltage of eachother.

As for settings depending on the age and quality of you cells the Delta cutoff for nimhs will change a little usually 3-5mv is a good peak. As for Lithiums and nimhs do not charge at over 1C which is basically 2200mah cell so dont charge over 2200 mA.


I'm not sure what you mean by #4 best for the cells is to charge them 1 at a time and balance them.

 

[SilverFox]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

Hello LA OZ,

The best source is one that provides over 1.5X the maximum charge current you want to use, and has low ripple. I use a Mastech HY3010E.

Cell imbalance is always an issue. You need to have balanced cells for the best performance. NiMh balance is achieved by a trickle charge after the bulk charge. You charge NiMh cells in series. Li-Ion balance is achieved by charging cells individually, or in parallel. You can charge Li-Ion cells in series, but cell imbalance can not be corrected by trickle charging. In extreme cases, a cell will end up overcharged and will rapidly vent with flame.

The best setting for NiMh is 1.0 C. The best setting for Li-Ion is 0.7 - 1.0 C.

I am not sure what you are referring to as needing a formula for multiple cells. Just keep in mind that for cells in series, the voltage goes up but the capacity stays the same. With cells in parallel, the capacity goes up while the voltage stays the same.

Tom

 

[wasBlinded]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

An obsoleted PC power supply is a very cheap and quality source of fairly high current 12v. In its simplest form it is easy to do. You can make it fancy if you want to, but do a search on the net for a basic procedure.

 

[LA OZ]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

For my triton I used a Novak N-power 14 VDC regulated switching power supply.

Charge your cells series and get a balancing charger and use the from time to time to make sure your cells stay within a certain voltage of eachother.

As for settings depending on the age and quality of you cells the Delta cutoff for nimhs will change a little usually 3-5mv is a good peak. As for Lithiums and nimhs do not charge at over 1C which is basically 2200mah cell so dont charge over 2200 mA.


I'm not sure what you mean by #4 best for the cells is to charge them 1 at a time and balance them.

Thank you for these reassuring information. #4 is rather confusing. I will change the wording of it.

 

[LA OZ]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

Hello LA OZ,

The best source is one that provides over 1.5X the maximum charge current you want to use, and has low ripple. I use a Mastech HY3010E.

Cell imbalance is always an issue. You need to have balanced cells for the best performance. NiMh balance is achieved by a trickle charge after the bulk charge. You charge NiMh cells in series. Li-Ion balance is achieved by charging cells individually, or in parallel. You can charge Li-Ion cells in series, but cell imbalance can not be corrected by trickle charging. In extreme cases, a cell will end up overcharged and will rapidly vent with flame.

The best setting for NiMh is 1.0 C. The best setting for Li-Ion is 0.7 - 1.0 C.

I am not sure what you are referring to as needing a formula for multiple cells. Just keep in mind that for cells in series, the voltage goes up but the capacity stays the same. With cells in parallel, the capacity goes up while the voltage stays the same.

Tom

Hi Ho Silver!! Silverfox to the rescue....again. Thanks Tom. These information are excellent. You have answer #4.

What is your opinion on the PC Power Supply as 12V source for Triton?

Mastech HY3010E power supply costs much more than my Triton . Is the 10amp over kill or is it going to be useful? How about the cheaper Mastech HY3003D HQ?

 

[65535]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

Most even old PC supplies churn about 15 amps min.

 

[wquiles]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

If you can get your hands on an used laptop adapter (most put out about 12-15 volts, regulated, and at 2-3 Amps), you would be set. That is what I used with my Triton

Will

 

[LA OZ]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

Great info there 65535 and wquiles (will).

 

[wasBlinded]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

The input requirements of the Triton are dependent on the power going into the cells or battery you are trying to charge. If you have a 3 amp supply at 12 volts, thats 36 watts. Reduce that by say 25% for a safe overhead (allowing for the DC-DC convertor losses) and you have 27 watts. That would suggest you could charge a 6 cell NiMh pack at about 3 amps, or a 4 cell pack at at least 5 amps. If you needed to charge a higher voltage pack, like a 9 cell pack you might be limited to about a 2 amp charge current.

A 3 amp 12 volt supply would probably serve you well for most of your charging needs. I got along fine with a 3 amp Radio Shack power supply for my Duratrax ICE for quite a while, and only once did I try to charge something at a rate the 3 amp supply couldn't support.

 

[LA OZ]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

wasBlinded, thank you for these explanation. I am shocked that I have to learn these Volts,Watts,Amp,Ohm etc.. again. Though I must say Physic was one of my favorite subject. I got 98% for my final year 12 exam. Got into university and have not had to use it since. That was since 1986 .

 

[LA OZ]

Re: Need Triton Charger Advice.

I managed to get an old pc power supply with the switch on the side. It rated as +12V 8amps. I hooked it up to the Triton and it power up ok, but as soon as I start the charging process, it has the input voltage error. I checked the voltage with my multimeter and it registered 11.78v, hooked it up with the Triton, it dropped to 11.25V, and under loading it registered 10.2V. Damn, it was so close. Is there a way to improve this? Triton needs 10.5-15V.

 

[evan9162]

Try putting a 1-2A load on the 5V rail. Some supplies don't regulate properly unless there is a minimum load on the 5V rail. The 5V and 12V rails are not independent. Usually, the 12V rail is a fixed ratio of the 5V rail, so it's totally dependent on the 5V rail regulating properly. If you put a 2-5 ohm, 20W resistor across the 5V output, it might improve the situation.

 

[LA OZ]

Try putting a 1-2A load on the 5V rail. Some supplies don't regulate properly unless there is a minimum load on the 5V rail. The 5V and 12V rails are not independent. Usually, the 12V rail is a fixed ratio of the 5V rail, so it's totally dependent on the 5V rail regulating properly. If you put a 2-5 ohm, 20W resistor across the 5V output, it might improve the situation.

Ok, I will purchase the resistor as mentioned and give this a try. I may tried hooking up two 1 ohm in series and see what it does. I have just read an article but it was based on ATX PS. The PS I have got is pre ATX. I hope it works the same. I will keep my finger cross.

Edited:
Damn, these resistors are hard to find in Australia. I managed to find a 10 ohm 10 Watt ceramic resistor at $7.95AU = $6US very expensive for a resistor.

 

[LA OZ]

I hooked up the 10 ohm 10 Watt resistor to the 5V lead and tricking it to drive harder and magically the 12V lead also works harder. I now have enough Voltage to drive my Triton. Thank you evan9162.

 

[kf4zht]

One that is popular among R/C guys is to pick up a portable jumpstart pack (from an autostore), it has a decent size 12v lead acid battery in it, run the charger off that, and keep the charger that comes with the powerpack. The battery in the pack will stand up to the duty cycle that most people use their chargers with.

Personally I have 3 ways to use it. I have a plug in for it in the back of my jeep, to charge mobiley, I have a 25amp tenma 13.8v power supply that I picked up at a hamfest for $20, and I have 3 40a lead acid batteries with a 2amp constant charge running off the wall, in case of power failure it can run my ham radios, chargers, and other equipment for quite a long time.

 

[wptski]

Some of those jump start packs come with a AGM battery and if I remember correctly they don't take kindly to frequent charging/discharging but have a very low self discharge rate. I have one with a AGM.

EDIT: I can't find any reference to anything negative about AGM's other than being more expensive, so my above statement is incorrect!

 

[LA OZ]

One that is popular among R/C guys is to pick up a portable jumpstart pack (from an autostore), it has a decent size 12v lead acid battery in it, run the charger off that, and keep the charger that comes with the powerpack. The battery in the pack will stand up to the duty cycle that most people use their chargers with.

Personally I have 3 ways to use it. I have a plug in for it in the back of my jeep, to charge mobiley, I have a 25amp tenma 13.8v power supply that I picked up at a hamfest for $20, and I have 3 40a lead acid batteries with a 2amp constant charge running off the wall, in case of power failure it can run my ham radios, chargers, and other equipment for quite a long time.

Good idea in, case of power failure, a jumpstart pack will be great. The jumpstart pack I have came with 3x12V cigarette ports which come in handy.

Power supply in Australia is rather expensive. One of the seller in Ebay willing to sell me a $25 power supply but charge me $128US shipping fee. He only charge $20 for US customers.

Unless one of you kind enough to help me purchase a power supply, I am sticking with my PC power supply. I am willing to give you commission .

 

[65535]

I coudl ship you a 40 amp PS at 12 volts but you wouldn't want to ship it ~50 lbs.

 

[modamag]

HI Oz,

Good transformer power supply (I think :thinking are very very heavy. I got some from a surplus place that's cost more to ship than it's worth.

For the Triton I think the gold old PC (switching) power supply is sufficient. The solution is < $50 and is "small" enough to lug around.

Here's my documentation of the work needed.
PC DC Power Supply Conversion Guide

Hope you have fun.
Jonathan