Greetings,
We have a motorhome and recently I bought a Yosepower 36v 13ah 350w kit for my partner and fitted it to one of our hybrid bikes. We cycle a lot when abroad. She doesn't like the hills, I don't like waiting and neither of us like having a domestic! Neither of us are getting any younger and I foresee a time soon when I will also add the same kit to my bike. It's been a good purchase. However these large capacity bike batteries take some charging when you only have 12-13.5vdc to start with in 1200wh of leisure batteries.
So what to do? Of course you can simply use an inverter but this is weight and a loss of efficiency plus when you want to go out, 2a with the supplied charger means waiting about if you forgot to put the battery on charge.
I've ended up building/buying high output 12v to 42v cccv dc-dc chargers from standard cheaply available modules and components on eBay, some plywood, and teak Ronseal wood stain inspired by the eclectic mix of videos on YouTube. Next is an upgrade to the solar charging system to a 250w panel and mppt solar charger for the batteries on the motorhome. I'm amazed that 250w panels can be bought for around £100 if you shop about. I also found a ready made mppt solar boost converter charger for £28 but that seemed like cheating.
Only problem is I seem to be enjoying my partners bike kit and solving the charging problem more than she is or indeed riding the bikes.
I would be interested to hear what others are doing to address this particular challenge of in vehicle charging?
Kind regards Richard
We have a motorhome and recently I bought a Yosepower 36v 13ah 350w kit for my partner and fitted it to one of our hybrid bikes. We cycle a lot when abroad. She doesn't like the hills, I don't like waiting and neither of us like having a domestic! Neither of us are getting any younger and I foresee a time soon when I will also add the same kit to my bike. It's been a good purchase. However these large capacity bike batteries take some charging when you only have 12-13.5vdc to start with in 1200wh of leisure batteries.
So what to do? Of course you can simply use an inverter but this is weight and a loss of efficiency plus when you want to go out, 2a with the supplied charger means waiting about if you forgot to put the battery on charge.
I've ended up building/buying high output 12v to 42v cccv dc-dc chargers from standard cheaply available modules and components on eBay, some plywood, and teak Ronseal wood stain inspired by the eclectic mix of videos on YouTube. Next is an upgrade to the solar charging system to a 250w panel and mppt solar charger for the batteries on the motorhome. I'm amazed that 250w panels can be bought for around £100 if you shop about. I also found a ready made mppt solar boost converter charger for £28 but that seemed like cheating.
Only problem is I seem to be enjoying my partners bike kit and solving the charging problem more than she is or indeed riding the bikes.
I would be interested to hear what others are doing to address this particular challenge of in vehicle charging?
Kind regards Richard
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