Mains powered charger for Lifepo4 battery.

dbhost

Well-known member
So I THINK I have the solar / travel charging for my 200 amp hour Chins Lifepo4 sorted. However there will be nasty weather socked in days I am sure where I will not be driving and will likely need to top the battery off using my small Sportsman 1KW inverter generator, and no I no longer know where the cables for its 12v output went...

So that leaves me with the question of how to connect this up and get a good charge. Can I plug into the charge controller since it is just raw voltage at whatever the 14.whatever the Sportsman puts out, or so I need a dedicated small charger to run off the 110v outlet of the generator that will charge Lifepo4?
 

4000lbsOfGoat

Well-known member
When you say "charge controller" I'm assuming that you mean the solar charge controller.

As long as the solar controller is rated to handle the output (voltage and amperage) of the generator then it should be fine. It doesn't know (or care) where the current is coming from, i.e. from a solar panel or from a generator, as long as the current is within the range it can handle.

If the voltage or amperage coming from the generator is higher than what the solar controller can handle then yes, you will need a dedicated AC charger.
 

DirtWhiskey

Western Dirt Rat
You need a mains charger to plug into your 120v outlets on the Geny. Most generators DC output is very low. Solar charge controller is for down converting DC to lower DC that the battery needs. I like the Victron Blue Smart IP22 charger. Get the three channel so you can charge multiple batteries at once. Not more expensive. Bluetooth is nice too.
 

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