|
Mort's info in post #7 is the kind of stuff I'm looking for.
I wish I had a higher amperage ammeter handy. My multimeter only goes up to 10A. I think I have a 100A shunt around, with no matching ammeter, but I should be able to put the multimeter on it to make it work. If I can get that working, at least I can see how many amps are going through on a war-charge.
So far in my experiments, jumpercabling a 4-pack of the lithium cells to a 12V flooded battery causes fairly high current to flow, and does indeed raise the lithium pack voltage.
HOWEVER, each group of four cells is in better or worse condition than other groups, and I have no way to tell what it is by looking at it.
So far, one or two packs seem to draw a considerable amount of current. I've only caused the jumper cables to start smoking once, but that was enough to go "Yipes! Maybe I should figure out a way to control that!?"
Right now, I have a pack of lithium charging from a 12V flooded battery running through a 50watt 12V bulb. It looks like it's charging, but at about a rate of .05V per day. That's a little slow for my likes.
OK, here's a weird question for you solar guys...
PV is current-limited, right? I've seen where guys intentionally short a panel (plugging in its -&+ right into each other) to keep the connections out of the way what the panels are being mounted.
I have about 6 amps of Harbor Freight solar panels handy. If I used those to direct charge the lithium, the battery could only suck so much amperage. That would control the amps, as the panels can only produce so much.
Any reason NOT to try this? (Like destroying my panels?) Maybe I would need a big diode in there?
|