94 DS 36V Charger Options

fishbones

My 94DS 36V came with what I believe is the stock charger.
I just finished
SR48500 kit and since my batteries are 3 years old supposedly I was thinking of leaving it 36V and see if it meets my needs to hunting / work cart before investing further and going to 48V.
Since I will be leaving this at my hunting property I was thinking that some how i need to auto / trickle charger it while I am not there.

I was looking at a small 36V trickle charger for $85, or possibly replacing the main charger. If I do that I was thinking it would be good to get one that does 36 or 48 and has auto / float capabilities so I could leave it plugged in when not there and also if I decide later to go 48 I wont have to replace the charger again. Does anyone have any suggestions about a good charger that can do both voltages and or any other options I may be over looking?

BGW

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Fairtax4me

Lester Summit II 650w Charger will do all of that.
This is the only charger I know of that is able to charge both 36 and 48v from the same charger. There may be others, I’m not sure, but usually chargers are specific to one voltage and can’t be changed.
It also has two different maintenance charge modes that can either float (continuous) charge the batteries or do periodic charging. These are selectable in Lester’s charger connect app. Along with changing charge profiles to match the specific battery brand and type that you’re using to get optimum charging and battery life.

fishbones

Thank you, I seen one of those on a google search.
Any idea if Lester makes a good charger? I know nothing about them or the brand.

NoleFan4Ever

They are the best of the best.

Fairtax4me

Yeah. That’s one of, if not THE best smart chargers on the market right now.
Lester has been in business for 56 years. https://lesterelectrical.com/about/

fishbones

thanks guys, their site is not bringing up the models for me.
Is the only dual voltage charger they make the onboard charger?

fishbones

How about putting a program able timer on the stock charger so it comes on every few days or so?

fishbones

Just an FYI and watch out for everyone.
I decided to go with the best and bought a lester II 48-36 charger.
Before connecting to AC I validated the charger profile was set to auto sense voltage so I plugged it into AC. From the app I then checked the status and to my surprise it was detecting my battery pack as 48V not 36V so I stopped charging. I then looked at my charging history, it was connected for 3 minutes, initial voltage was 37.2 and it said its final voltage should be 48V. Glad I caught this, the thing is not auto sensing voltage correctly. Contacting lester tomorrow but thought you should know to be careful and not trust their auto voltage sensing.

scottyb

I think you are mistaken. 48 volts divided by 18 cells = a very acceptable 2.67 volts per cell (aka vpc)

My Lester 1050 w charger finishes my 48v pack at 65v

I am a Lester Dealer. What make and capacity batteries are you charging?

NoleFan4Ever

As scottyb stated this is how the charger is designed to work. It has to run up to that voltage to get the cells (batteries) topped off. At the end of the charge profile your voltages will always be the highest and the amperage will be very low.