Thursday, March 17, 2016

New Powerfinn charger installed



 
Corolla eFX got back on track with a new Powerfinn PAC-800 charger feeding its traction battery pack! 

I had noticed that two Finnish companies Powernet and Powerfinn would have suitable chargers to replace my faulty brandless chinese made charger. I made a query for both of them and was quickly replied from Powernet that they cannot sell to private persons. I cannot understand this kind of business approach although it is a very typical one within companies aiming for industrial markets. I was happy and also relieved when Powerfinn was ready to see if we could find a solution for my case:)

Powerfinn did not have a suitable charging curve ready to fit my top balanced 24 series connected LiFePO4 cell's so I made an order for a Powerfinn PAC-800 charger and software work to get a charging curve that I wanted:constant current until 87,6V end voltage with a 2A charge cut off current. The charger it self was nicely priced, but the software work doubled the price. If software work is not needed the PAC-800 is very competetively priced in my opinion. If there would be a simple user configurable version of the PAC-800, it would be a superb product for all EV builders;)


 
 
The charger itself is a very nicely built device. It has an active PFC which keeps the input current so low that I am able to use an indoor heater to heat up my car on winter while charging from a 16A schuko socket.

Mounting the PAC-800 was easy thanks to the well designed mounting plate. I like the chargers behaviour with slow turn on ramps, controlled fan and high accuracy. All the things that I have measured from it so far have been nicely in its specification so I am very pleased!

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