Questions about HWC4-144-8amp charger

Battery & Chargers
1

I am about ready to hit the road, been working on my '99 Chevy S-10 since July 1; 144 volt pack of 24 6volt US-125 batteries.

http://www.evalbum.com/2004

http://www.nabble.com/file/p18992351/4bae_1.jpg

Purchased an all but new HWCA-144 volt 8 amp charger, installed behind the seat, wired with #6 wire via l6-30 plug behind the fuel door.
I have #6 wires running about 7’ to the engine compartment, fused with 2 30 amp glass fuses directly to the 2/0 traction pack cables, all totaled to about 18 feet of wire between charger and batteries.

Problem: the charger will not bring battery pack above 147.8 volts.
Reading the manual, the troubleshooting chart suggests that I have exceeded the 3 meter output cable length, and that I must reroute my wiring to shorten the charging wires. But this will put the charger connection between the batteries and the emeter shunt, it would no longer measure voltage into the pack while charging.

I need to learn: is it possible that this extremely (:confused:) long wire length actually is the cause of my low voltage results?

Or do I need to repair (interestingly, the manufacturer does not identify themselves - no contact info - ANYwhere) or replace the charger?
Thanks in advance.
Bob

2

Hi,
If voltage drop is a problem, you don’t need to shorten the cables, just increase the size of the cables, this will lower the resistance to help eliminate voltage drop.

Although I strongly suspect it is more likely to be a fault with the charger, they are not very well made in my experience, I had a 20A version that literally blew up 2 power diodes the first time I switched it on! (so much for quality control!)

I’d be more tempted to send it back…

3

Thank for the comments Fav,
I am convinced that it is not a cable induced voltage drop. It just seems to not put out enough to bring the pack back up to voltage.
I bought it used on ebay, so sending it back is not an option. I guess I need to find schematics or a service shop capable of getting it up to snuff. It goes through the motions, just doesn’t put out the juice!
I’ll keep looking, still open for advice.
Bob