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EDITORIAL.
Welcome to our March edition of DC
Supply.
We
have had several new subscribers this month and would like to
welcome
each and every one of you to our subscriber
list. We hope you find our
content beneficial and look forward to
helping you with your supplies.
You can obtain
copies of back issues of this publication from
our website or
by
sending an email to us with BACK ISSUE in
the subject line. Please
remember to tell
us which month or months publications you are
interested in.
This month we look at battery manufacturers
and battery installation.
There are quite a few battery manufacturers
in the world, some of whom
are probably familiar to you whilst others
are not. In this issue, we introduce
both well known manufacturers and the less
well known too.
Batteries must be installed properly
if you want to get the best
performance
from them. Connect them inappropriately and
problems will occur. Article
2 looks at series and parallel
configurations as well as mounting
security.
We
show you how to increase voltage or capacity by connecting the
cells
together in a variety of
combinations.
Please remember that we are always happy to
answer any questions you
may have
regarding your DC supplies and battery installations. Just
drop
us a
line and we will do our best to help you.
As
always, we welcome any comments you may have and hope you enjoy
this
months issue!
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Editor: Alan Fidler.
Alan is the owner and manager of CBC
Design, a leading battery management company
based in the UK. He has worked in the
industry for over eighteen years and has designed
charging equipment and battery monitors for some of the world
largest companies.
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ARTICLE: Battery Manufacturers. Author: Alan Fidler.
Most of
us are familiar with some of the worlds well known battery
manufacturers
such as
Sanyo, Panasonic, Yuasa, Chloride etc but there are some other
less
well
known manufacturers, to the general public at least, who produce a
variety
of
quality batteries too.
Yuasa
batteries manufacture sealed lead acid batteries in a wide variety
of
sizes
and ratings. The popular NP series is widely used in industrial
and
automotive applications. Long
life cells are also available for critical applications.
Chloride
are well known for their outstanding powersafe range, an
industrial
battery
with a long life which is the preferred battery in some
industrial
installations. They have an extensive
range for any application.
Sonnenschein are
a German company with a proven track record. They
have
been manufacturing
quality lithium thionyl chloride batteries since 1983
and
can produce custom
cells if required to suit most
applications.
Hoppecke
was founded in 1927 by Carl Zoellner and have been
manufacturing
high
quality industrial batteries ever since. They have recently opened
subsidiary
companies in the USA and
China.
Sanyo
are well known manufacturers of Nicad batteries in
popular domestic
sizes
from AAA to Super F. They also manufacture lithium ion and
ni-MH
cells.
Panasonic manufacture alkaline cells,
sealed lead acid batteries, lithium
cells, Nicad cells and Nickel Metal Hydride types too. They cater for
domestic
and industrial customers
worldwide.
We are
all familiar with Duracell. They manufacture long life batteries
that
outlast
comparable manufacturers products in most applications.
Duracell
have an
excellent reputation worldwide.
Ever
ready are one of the oldest and most respected companies in their
field.
The
energiser, a brand familiar to many of us has a
history that dates back
to 1886
when W.H. Lawrence formed the National Carbon Company
(NCC).
Ever
ready continue to manufacture quality batteries throughout the
world.
Vision
batteries are manufactured by Shenzhen Center Power Tech co
based
in
China. They have been developing lead acid batteries since 1985 and
have
been a
leading manufacturer for the Vision range in China ever
since.
DC
Supply does not recommend one manufacturer above another. All of
the
above
have reputations of manufacturing high quality dependable batteries
of one
type or another and you must
decide for your selves which best suits your
requirements.
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ARTICLE: Battery Installation. Author: Alan
Fidler.
One of
the advantages of batteries is that they can be installed in a
variety
of
configurations to provide almost any voltage at any given current
level.
To
increase capacity, batteries of equal ratings can be connected in
parallel,
+ to +
and - to -. To increase the voltage, the cells can be connected in
series,
+ of one
battery to - of the next battery in the chain. By using cells in a
series
parallel
configuration, both the voltage and the capacity can be
increased
simultaneously.
To
increase the voltage we can series connect as many cells as we
require to
obtain
our required DC voltage level. If a the negative terminal of a 12V
battery
is
connected to the positive terminal of a second 12V battery, the
total voltage
across
the cells will be 24VDC with the positive connection on battery one
and
the
negative connection on battery 2.
The
capacity is increased by connecting the batteries in parallel. If
the positive
terminal
of one battery is connected to the positive terminal of a second
battery,
and the
same connections are made using the negative terminals, we
have
doubled
the capacity of the configuration.
To those
of you who are familiar with battery installations, these are both
reasonably
simple
concepts to understand however there are limitations that must be
understood
before
batteries can be interconnected in either manner
described.
Batteries connected in series or parallel
must have similar characteristics.
You can
connect a 6V 100A battery in series with a 12V 100A battery of
the
same
type but not in parallel. You cannot connect a 6V and 12V
battery in parallel
but you
can series connect two 6V 100A batteries and connect them in
parallel with
a 12V
100A battery of the same type.
You must
never tap cells connected in series. This is bad practice and
causes
imbalance in one or more of the batteries.
If you have two identical 12v batteries
connected in series to provide 24VDC, you
cannot use one battery as a 12V
source
and both as a 24V source. You must use a dropper to reduce
24VDC
to 12V
if you want to generate a separate 12 and 24V supply. In other
words,
the
whole pack must be used as the power source rather than individual
segments
of
it.
Never
parallel batteries in differing states of charge. Even though they
have
identical ratings, they have different
characteristics where they are in this
condition and connecting them together
could be very dangerous.
finally,
make sure the batteries are fixed into position using straps or
some
other
appropriate method where they are installed into vehicles or
other
moving
objects. Many lead acid batteries use a liquid electrolyte that
damages
paintwork and wiring if spilt. Fixing the
battery securely will prevent this.
Whichever configuration you decide to use,
make sure you contact the battery
manufacturer if you are in the slightest
doubt about your installation. Remember
that
batteries can be dangerous if used inappropriately so why chance
it?
Here are
some numbers to help you calculate the number of cells your
require
for a
given supply voltage:
Fully
Charged Potentials.
Lead
acid batteries: 2.25V per cell. A 12V battery is 6 cells in
series.
Nicad
Batteries: 1.41V per cell.
Discharged
Potentials.
Lead
acid batteries: 1.75V per cell (Leisure) 1.55V per cell
(Traction)
Nicad
Batteries: Approx 0.8V per cell depending upon
application.
Remember: Look after your batteries and
your batteries will look after you!
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COMPETITION:
Subscribe to our ezine and you
will be automatically entered into our competition where you can win
a FREE Nicad "AA" battery pack.
Simply send your email
address (No free email) to cbc_design@btconnect.com with the words
"SUBSCRIBE" in the
subject line.
______________________________________________________________________
READERS QUESTIONS.
Questions from Kevin
Jones!
Question 1.
Can a sealed lead-acid battery be used upside
down?
Sealed lead-acid batteries can
be used in any orientation
subject to particular conditions.
Contact your battery manufacturer
for more
information.
Question 2.
Can
batteries of dissimilar ratings be connected in parallel or
series?.
Absolutely Not. You can only series
or parallel batteries of equal capacity.
Under no
circumstances must you attempt to combine batteries of
different
ratings.
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