Just read all this, great idea, went to my box of bits and pulled out this boost converter I had used in the past as an led driver, looks like I’ll be making a portable charger as well😊
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Sometimes it will stop a little early if the current drops below about 60mA. You can just set it a little bit above your actual pack full charge voltage to get the last little bit of charge. Eg. I set my 12s to 50.5 and it usually charges to 50.3
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Finished 10s 3p range extender…
Loop key to power up and a separate key to connect the charge port. It mounts straight onto my charge port and charges my 12s4p at 4 amps. It adds a little over half of my standard range so a nice little boost.
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I checked out this thread a while ago and also wanted to go down the charging route at first. However, after thinking about it, and taking into account that charging batteries while they’re warm isn’t ideal, I decided to try a different way.
I’m currently working on finishing up the build and taking some pictures, but basically I’ve added a port to my board which connects to the output of my antispark switch. When I want to use the external pack, I turn the antispark off, cutting flow from the main pack, and I plug in the external pack which then connects directly to my vescs. This allows me to use each pack independently and prevent unnecessary wear on the cells, or any energy loss due to the use of a converter. Current limitation is the 30A continues rating of the port I’m using. Haven’t had time to extensively stress test it yet, but it seems it can handle regular cruising totally fine. I’d use this dual pack setup for long trips regardless with the intent of distance rather than crazy shredding. Even then, the external pack can be used for distance, and I can switch to the onboard pack when I want to dial up the amps.
That sounds like a good plan. I’d want a fuse in both the pack and between the anti spark and the port…
Got any after picks or reviews of your work
What did you spend on your battery extender if you don’t mind me asking
What did it cost you build if you don’t mind me asking