The PFC-20 Charger
PFC-20 Rev 1 without charge controller
PFC-20 Rev 1 with charge controller (whoops knob missing)
Note two air outlets and single pole breaker.
(Click for higher resolution image)
PFC-20 Rev 2
Note double pole breaker and removable feet.
PFC-20 Rev 3
Note the feet are different and there is more green panel showing above the blue panel.
(Click for higher resolution image)
Extremely versatile battery charger.
This charger is designed to charge any battery pack from 12 volts to 360 volts nominal (14.4 to 400
peak.) It is power factor corrected and designed to either put out 20 amps (if the battery voltage is lower than
the input voltage) or draw 20 amps from the line (if the line voltage is lower than the battery voltage.)
The charger will operate from any voltage from 60 to 250 volts AC at either 50
or 60 Hz. The charger has a throttle knob to allow the user to turn the current down when using shared or undersized
circuits. This charger is designed to operate at full capacity from a 30 Amp circuit.
The chart below shows the amps delivered by a beta test unit using the two most common line voltages.
Efficiency is 88% to 96% percent on the beta test units depending on input and output voltage.
Power factor is .92 to .9997 and depends on input and output voltage. Low output voltage from high input voltage
is the former. High output voltage from low input voltage for the latter.
Safety circuits:
The charger is protected from reverse polarity installation by an internal fuse.
Over temperature conditions cause the current to ramp back to prevent the internal temperature from going over 160F (more air makes more power.)
The charger is programmed to be a constant current source and will survive a short circuit indefinately.
There is a programmable timer to shut off the charger after a user selectable period.
The charger is BatReg aware (turns down or off if a BatReg gets hot.)
This charger is non-isolated. The negative terminal of the battery is connected to the negative terminal of a rectifier
bridge with the AC terminals connected to the incoming line.
Installation and Setup Instructions
The following link is the sheet of paper that is included with beta test
chargers:
http://www.manzanitamicro.com/installpfc20.doc
The charger weighs 16 pounds.
Photograph of revision 1 charger without charge control board installed.
Med resolution (~100kB) Front
The charge control board goes behind the blank panel. The panel that will be installed in the blank panel location
will be unique to each type of charge controller.
Photograph of a production case with Beta test power board installed. No units were shipped like this since the
beta charge control board would not mate to the front panel cutouts. This was only for power testing. High resolution
(~354kB) top
Photograph of a Rev 1 case with Rev 1 power board installed:
Left side (~576kB)
Photograph of the first revision 1 charger (two air outlets, single pole breaker, input cable on right). Production chargers come with a knob on the current control shaft. Front view (~719kB)
Photograph of unpainted revision 2 charger (one air outlet, double pole breaker, input cable on left). Production models have painted chassis. Front view (~769kB)
PFC-20 input and output current as a function of pack voltage for three common input voltages.
This is not buck enhanced. See the buck enhancer page for data on the buck enhanced units.
(the rest of this page is under construction)
This page maintained by Joe Smalley.
This page last updated on 2 November 2003
