The PFC line of battery chargers
PFC-20 Rev 1 without charge controller
With charge controller (whoops knob missing)
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PFC-20 Rev 2
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PFC-20 Rev 3
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PFC-50
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Photo showing size difference between PFC-50 on left and PFC-20 on right.
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The PFC series of chargers are designed to be as versitile and as powerful as possible within the limits of residential power infrastrucure. Three models are available: The PFC20 that is designed to operate from a 20 amp 240 volt welder outlet, the PFC30 that is designed to operate from a 30 amp 240 volt dryer outlet, and the PFC50 that is designed to operate from a 50 amp 240 volt range outlet. They will operate at half power (same line current) from a 120 VAC source.
Extremely versatile input and output voltages
These chargers will operate on any voltage from 60 volts to 250 volts AC at either 50 or 60 Hz. Current is limited to ~20** amps input or output for the PFC20, ~30** amps input or output for the PFC30 and ~50** amps input or output for the PFC50. There are no switches to adjust to change the input voltage. The charger automatically uses whatever voltage is provided.
The charger output can be adjusted for any pack voltage from 12 volts to 360 volts with the twist of a 20 turn trimmer pot. There is no need to buy different chargers for the different electric vehicles you may need to charge. The charger can be reprogrammed to another pack voltage if you change the number of batteries in your system. There is no longer a need to buy another charger everytime you add or take batteries out of your system.
**The actual power delivered is a function of input and output voltage. Refer to the performance charts for the various products to see how much power to expect in your application.
Extremely powerful for an onboard charger
The essential ingredient for fast recharge times is to deliver high power to the battery. The key to polite opportunity charging is to be able to share outlets with other equipment and make efficient use of limited current. The PFC line of chargers have a throttle to allow the chargers to be turned down to operate on very limited power sources such as small generators. The PFC20 has demonstrated putting 2200 watts into a 156 volt battery pack from a 2400 watt generator. Efficiency and power factor are both better than 0.9.
The PFC20 can put 5 kW into a 360 volt battery pack from 240 VAC input or 2500 watts into a 180 volt battery pack from 120 VAC. The PFC20 does this while operating from a 20 amp circuit breaker.
The PFC20 weighs 16 pounds and resides in a box that is 13 x 9 x 5.5 inches.
The PFC30 weighs 17 pounds and resides in a box that is 13 x 9 x 5.5 inches.
The PFC50 weighs 42 pounds and resides in a box that is 19.5 x 10.5 x 6.5 inches.
PFC20 detail page
PFC50 detail page
Testimonials page (PFC-20 Betas October 2001 to May 2002)
Testimonials page (PFC-50 September 2002 to February 2003)
Specifications sheet with pictures (733 k Excel file)
Specifications sheet without pictures (21 k Excel file)
Output current chart
(18 k GIF image) This is the goal of our product line. It is not test data. Use this chart to figure out which
charger is appropriate for your needs.
This page maintained by Joe Smalley.
This page updated on 5 November 2003
