Charging ebike in the boonies

[Vic Harder]

Do you have access to another inverter for testing purposes? This is more than a little strange. If the battery on the ebike is totally flat, what does the manufacturer say the time required is to recharge? (that will give us some idea of the charging current). Inrush would be unlikely to be more than 2 or 3x that, I would hope. I'm betting it is way below 100A, which is what your renogy can put out for short while before overloading. Or maybe you have access to a clamp on amp meter? or some other way of measuring higher currents? Most multimeters tap out at 10A.

 

[buckland]

Vic I don't have another inverter...just the 1000 watt renogy. I have spent hours ( "you are number 23 in the queue") waiting on hold at Renogy... I have sent 2 emails to their support team over the last week... no reply and no callback as of yet. So no answers.
Trying also to find the tech details of the charger for Bafang Dolphin 52V 11.6 AH battery I bought for it. So far no answers.
When the battery is total flat (I have the 3 amp quick charger as opposed to the regular 2amp model) it reports 6 hours to charge from zero. I only own a Fluke meter if that would work. frustrating .... have also been looking for another charger that would not trip it.

 

[Vic Harder]

OK, so just guessing. Using the 3A quick charger at 52V, and assuming 80% efficiency (terrible!) = 3*52/0.8 = 195 Watts is what it is pulling out of your battery. 195/12.5 = 15.6A is what it should be pulling out of your inverter. There is no way a 195W load should be tripping any safety features on the Renogy. Something seems fishy.

Another test:
- Fully charge bike from your AC based charger
- Turn on inverter with no load
- Plug in charger to inverter without the bike battery attached
- Attach bike battery.

Does it error out?

 

[buckland]

I will do that tomorrow ... any direction/experiment is better than twiddling my thumbs and pondering as honestly I haven't a clue !

I will charge up and try. Renogy sent an email that they tried to call but was sent to voice mail..... no record of that on my phone... they did that before. The wait time is crazy long... 23 in the queue today... so feel abandoned

I sure wish I was "learned-up" on the magic of electronics... it is a puzzle but my puzzle solving skills lie elsewhere!

Thanks for your willingness to think about someone else's problem Vic!

 

[buckland]

Well ...Charged the battery to top in the house ... moved charger to camper ...plugged it into the inverter... turned on the inverter and then plugged in the fulled charged bike battery. No reaction by anything. all lights green. Not sure what that means but Renogy still has no returned mt request and neither email .... huh.

 

[Vic Harder]

OK, so having the charger plugged into the inverter did NOT trip the inverter's safety this time? I thought it did before? If this is consistent, then it can't be an inrush current... that would happen whenever you plugged in the charger. (does the charger have a power switch too?)

And with no load from the fully charged batteries, the inverter was happy too.

Not sure what is going on Lord Woodcraft! Please confirm what happens when you plug the charger (no battery attached) into the inverter... does it normally trip of not?

 

[buckland]

charger has no switch
No the charger does not trip the battery when plugged into the inverter w/o battery plugged in

I am in a seesaw contact with Renogy and have not had any real help.
their help lines are clogged as are their 0n line help.... really disheartening

w/o battery attached ... charger does not trip the inverter when plugged in

Something is not right in the inverter imho which is mostly uneducated

 

[Vic Harder]

OK, more troubleshooting. Let your your truck or another 12V battery discharge a lot. Plug your 120V to 12V battery charger into the inverter. All good so far I assume, based on what you just said. Ideally you will have a charger that is pretty hefty, not just a trickle charger.

Now, connect the discharged battery to the charger. Does it trip?

I'm not convinced it is the Inverter that is at fault. If you had or could borrow an Induction Cooktop, you could use that to apply increasingly heavier loads to the Inverter too... My Renogy 1000W would power my induction cooktop up to 1/2 power (900W).

 

[buckland]

I currently (no pun) don't have a spare 12v batter ...Just the 2 BB in camper and my truck battery...
The Renogy tech support has still not continued my case ...in fact now they have mixed up my case numbers and I have two... and neither of them seem to be responding... argh!

I do have an electric pan up to 400 degrees F( 205 C).... could that be used? ( instead of the 12v battery charger set up)

 

[Vic Harder]

Sure, you could test with the frying pan. What does the pan say it uses for power? Also, could you disconnect one of your bb batteries and use it as the test mule?

 

[buckland]

Pan is dial up to 205 C (400 F) 120V 1255 W .... too much ....... maybe at half temp?

 

[Vic Harder]

Perfect. Plug it in turned off or at its lowest setting. Watch your BMV as you dial up the heat. The Renogy should be able to supply 1000W, and even more for short time.

 

[buckland]

Tried not just now. plugged the pan into the inverter ... pan set on 1...lowest temp ... turned on inverter. Red light comes on and the alarm buzzes and fan comes on...then it shuts off..... 20 seconds later it tries again on its own and same result.
I have sent all this info to Renogy with the case number but no reply.
argh

PS I am also tearing up my shop floor ...all the joists right down to earth... have to rebuild due to flooding damage.
So somewhat tuckered out (those machine in there were very heavy getting them out) so I am a bit touchy from body aches!

 

[Vic Harder]

OK, that sounds like the inverter is no good.

 

[buckland]

Vic Thanks for the time you put in. I just got off the phone with Renogy.... I will never buy anything from them again. After hours on hold and multiple transfers and repeated tests... They say sorry not their fault... it is over the year warranty ...( I just installed it out of the box in early summer as I live in new England... nowhere to go in winter.... then no where to go with the pandemic.

I can't believe there wouldn't stand behind something that did not work from day one.... and I'm out $165!

I will now start looking for another company inverter to purchase.
I feel like screaming

Rob

 

[Vic Harder]

ugh, I feel your pain. I have been very happy with my AIMS 3000W unit. Cheapest among the big names, and the right size shape for where I put mine in the camper.

 

[buckland]

Really appreciate the suggestion as I am not savvy to the market…. I freaked when I googled Victron egads I like their stuff but whoa!!$$

I will check that out. I am gonna take the renogy apart and play with it …. After I get ahold of the schematics. Might fry me or it but I am curious!!
Rob

 

[Vic Harder]

I had a victron inverter. didn't last long. I learned to beware of products that have small dangly bits on the outside for attaching wires. The victron I had used a small green bit to attach the wires to. It snapped off. Otherwise, yes, I love Victron stuff!

 

[buckland]

One last question... I hope to find time this weekend to remove battery #2 and so get at the Renogy inverter to remove it. Thereafter is there any testing I can have done to find out what could be wrong? If I am gonna hack into it ...thinking of it as a LOSS $ anyway.... I'd like to find out why it petered out brand new!!! If you think of any components that could be culprit let me know.

Good news the border is open for vac'd folks..... hope you can get traveling again soon.
Rob

 

[Vic Harder]

Well, I would not write it off just yet. Get at it and see if any of the wires are loose. A bad connection could cause an issue too.