Pulse charger for car battery: diagram, instructions

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Pulse chargers for car batteries have gained wide popularity. There are quite a few schemes for such devices - some prefer to assemble them from improvised elements, while others use ready-made blocks, for example, from computers. The power supply of a personal computer can be easily converted into a completely high-quality charger for a car battery. In just a couple of hours, you can make a device in which you can measure the supply voltage and charging current. You just need to add measuring devices to the design.

Basic characteristics of chargers

There are two types of battery chargers in total:

1. Transformer - they have a very large weight anddimensions. The reason is that a transformer is used - it has impressive windings and hearts made of electrical steel, which has a lot of weight.
2. Pulse chargers for car batteries. Reviews about such devices are more positive - the dimensions of the devices are small, the weight is also small.

It is precisely for compactness that pulse-type chargers are loved by consumers. But besides this, they have a higher efficiency in comparison with transformer ones. On sale you can find only this type of impulse chargers for car batteries. Their schemes are generally similar, they differ only in the elements used.

Charger design elements

Using the charger, the battery is restored to working order. The design uses exclusively modern element base. The composition includes the following blocks:

1. Pulse transformer.
2. Rectifier unit.
3. Stabilizer unit.
4. Instruments for measuring charging current and (or) voltage.
5. The main unit that allows you to control the charging process.

All these items are small in size. The pulse transformer is small, its windings are wound on ferrite cores.

The simplest designs of switching chargers for Hyundai car batteries or other brands of cars can be done with just one transistor. The main thing is to make a diagramcontrol of this transistor. All components can be purchased at a radio parts store or removed from PC power supplies, TVs, monitors.

Features of work

According to the principle of operation, all circuits of pulse chargers for car batteries can be divided into the following subgroups:

1. Charging the battery with voltage, while the current has a constant value.
2. Voltage stays the same, but charging current gradually decreases.
3. Combined method - combining the first two.

The most "correct" way is to change the current, not the voltage. It is suitable for most of the batteries. But this is in theory, since chargers can only control the current if the output voltage is constant.

Features of charging modes

If the current remains constant but the voltage changes, you will get a lot of trouble - the plates inside the battery will crumble, which will lead to its failure. In this case, it will not be possible to restore the battery, you will only have to buy a new one.

The most benign mode is combined, in which charging occurs first with direct current. At the end of the process, the current changes and the voltage stabilizes. With this, the possibility of boiling the battery is minimized, and gases are also emitted less.

How to choose a charger?

ToThe battery lasted as long as possible, it is necessary to choose the right pulse charger for the car battery. The instructions for them indicate all the parameters: charging current, voltage, even circuits are given in some.

Be sure to keep in mind that the charger must produce a current equal to 10% of the total battery capacity. You will also need to consider the following factors:

1. Be sure to check with the seller whether a particular charger model can fully restore the battery to full capacity. The problem is that not all devices are capable of doing this. If your car has a 100Ah battery, and you buy a charger with a maximum current of 6A, then it will obviously not be enough.
2. Based on the first point, carefully look at the maximum current the device can produce. It will not be superfluous to pay attention to the voltage - some devices can produce not 12, but 24 Volts.

It is desirable that the charger has an automatic shutdown function when the battery is fully charged. With this function, you will save yourself from unnecessary problems - you will not need to control charging. As soon as the maximum charge is reached, the device will turn itself off.

Some tips for working with chargers

Of course, problems may arise during the operation of such devices. To prevent this from happening, you need to follow simple recommendations. The main thing is to achieveso that there is enough electrolyte in the battery banks.

If it is low, add distilled water. Filling with clean electrolyte is not recommended. Be sure to also consider the following parameters:

1. The amount of charging voltage. The maximum value must not exceed 14.4V.
2. The magnitude of the current strength - this characteristic can be easily adjusted on impulse chargers for Orion car batteries and the like. To do this, an ammeter and a variable resistor are installed on the front panel.
3. Duration of battery charging. In the absence of indicators, it is difficult to understand when the battery is charged and when it is discharged. Connect an ammeter between the charger and the battery - if its readings do not change and are extremely small, then this indicates that the charge has fully recovered.

Whatever charger you use, try not to overdo it - do not keep the battery for more than a day. Otherwise, a short circuit and boiling of the electrolyte may occur.

Homemade Devices

As a basis, you can take the circuit of a pulse charger for car batteries "Aida" or similar. Very often, in homemade products, the IR2153 circuit is used. Its difference from all the others that are used to make chargers is that not two capacitors are installed, but one - electrolytic. But such a scheme has onethe disadvantage is that it can only be used to make low-power devices. But this problem is solved by installing more powerful elements.

All designs use transistor switches, such as 8N50. The body of these devices is insulated. Diode bridges for homemade chargers are best used with those installed in personal computer power supplies. In the event that there is no ready-made bridge assembly, you can make it from four semiconductor diodes. It is desirable that they have a reverse current value of more than 10 amperes. But this is for cases when the charger will be used with batteries with a capacity of not more than 70-8-0 Ah.

Charger power circuit

In impulse chargers for Bosch and similar car batteries, a resistor is necessarily used in the power circuit circuit to quench the current. If you decide to make a charger yourself, you will need to install a resistor with a resistance of about 18 kOhm. Further along the diagram is a half-wave type rectifier unit. It uses only one semiconductor diode, after which an electrolytic capacitor is installed.

It is necessary in order to cut off the alternating component of the current. It is advisable to use ceramic or film elements. According to Kirchhoff's laws, substitution schemes are drawn up. AC mode capacitoris replaced in it by a segment of the conductor. And when the circuit is running on direct current - a gap. Consequently, in the rectified current after the diode there will be two components: the main one is direct current, as well as the remnants of alternating current, they must be removed.

Pulse transformer

The design of the pulse charger for car batteries "Koto" uses a special design transformer. For homemade products, you can use ready-made - remove from the power supply of a personal computer. They use transformers, which are ideal for charging circuits - they can create a high level of current.

They also allow you to provide multiple values of voltage at the output of the charger. The diodes that are installed after the transformer must be pulsed, others simply cannot work in the circuit. They will quickly fail when trying to straighten high-frequency current. As a filter element, it is desirable to install several electrolytic capacitors and an RF inductor. It is recommended to use a 5 ohm thermistor to ensure the reduction of surges.

By the way, the thermistor can also be found in an old PSU from a computer. Pay attention to the capacitance of the electrolytic capacitor - it must be selected based on the power value of the entire device. For every 1 watt of power, 1 microfarad is required. The operating voltage is not less than 400 V. You can use four elements of 100 microfarads each, includedparallel. With this connection, the capacities are summed up.