Power Source for E-Tank

J

Jeffrey R.

Well-known member
Just a heads up and looking for some new ideas.

I power my E-Tank with an 1980s Schumacher MANUAL Battery charger until yesterday. Only Manual battery chargers work for the E-Tank not the newer Automatic battery chargers.

So I have been on the hunt for a new Schumacher (USA Made) Manual Battery charger. Went to every auto, hardware, supply shop up here in Northern VT with NO luck yesterday. So yesterday being a Holiday some businesses were closed. So the Heads Part; As told from Schumacher that they do not make any Manual, or Manual / Automatic switched battery chargers. Why I asked, the Department of Energy has ordered / requested they only make Automatic battery chargers.
So best to find your replacement Manual battery charger.

Now looking for some ideas on other power source for the E-Tanks. Where are all the electronics folks we need you?

Just a bit cold up here for yard sales this time of year, but come yard sales season I will be looking for a few Manual battery chargers along with more :icon_thumbsup:iron.:icon_thumbsup:
 
Jeffrey,

I use a Voltec HY1520EX bench power supply. It is capable of 15V and 20A. Either constant voltage or constant current.

http://www.mastechpowersupply.com/v...ver-voltage-over-current-protection-p138.html
Or: https://www.amazon.com/Volteq-Variable-HY1520EX-Voltage-Protection/dp/B00OBSN0IQ?tag=cicollector-20

As you can see in this picture https://get.google.com/albumarchive...LAhyWZmAdXV20N?source=pwa#6138084356065412082 I'm running constant current at 20A. This tank just happens to drop 5 volts at 20A for a total of 100 watts dissipated in the e-tank. That keeps the tank warm even in my cold basement.

It is also useful as a general purpose 12V power supply for running 12V equipment when not in use on the e-tank.
 
I think a lot of the electrolysis boards and forums now talk about using power supplies from old personal computers and laptops... as they are readily available and relatively cheap.
 
ShawnE, I was thinking of you writing this post as I remember something you posted back some time ago about what you use. I will look into that. The only issue I see is that I like to set my charger up to 30A in the winter up here. The heat keeps things warm in a -20 cold barn.

The other reason I like the extra power is because I can clean 3 - 4 items at one time, just me.

D_Madden, I did give the that some thought, but way to many wires for me. I do not like jury rig electricity anything. I have a love / hate relation with electricity, Love plug and play.


I did purchase a 2nd hand Schumacher manual battery charger from a pawn shop out of state. Just hope it gets here before I have a BIG block of ice, it is 0* here now.

Thank you Both for the replies
 
Jeffrey,

Voltec makes a HY1530EX (15V, 30A) as well. If you look at the Mastec site that I referenced, you will find that they have a wide variety of power supplies. If you look at the electroplating or anodizing power supplies tab, you will find a wide variety of voltage / current and price. Since you use lye as an electrolyte, you probably don't need a large voltage, just large current. Using lye, large anode (ss drum as I remember) and multiple pieces your tank should have a fairly low resistance, therefore low voltage drop. I would recommend at least 15V as the bench supply would be more versatile for other things than e-tank.
 
ShawnE,

Voltex looks to have what I will need at some point, just need to do some homework. Need to know that it will work outside (unheated barn) year round, rain, sun, snow, dust.

Yes, you are right about needing only low voltage, as my 12 V worked great. I bounce between 10amp or 30amp. Anymore than 30amp with all the iron I will trip the charger fuse, then have to let it cool down and reset time lost. I generally use the 30amp for the winter for the extra heat to keep the ice at bay and also the lye works faster warm, or when I have a few things hanging in the E-Tank that are a bit crusty, give them a kick start to a new life. :icon_rofl:

I just went to an auction on Sat. so I am now backed up, and the temp last night was -17 block of ice in the making.
 
Jeffrey,

Glad to hear that you are backed up. With these bench supplies, you can set the current that you want and the supply will adjust the voltage to maintain that current. No fuse tripping.

My supply has been very reliable. The only thing to watch out for is to not backfeed the supply. i.e. if you are using it to charge a battery, don't have it connected to the battery without it being plugged in and switched on. I haven't used mine to charge a battery, but if I did, I would put a diode in series to prevent backfeed.
 
ShawnE said:
Jeffrey,

Glad to hear that you are backed up. With these bench supplies, you can set the current that you want and the supply will adjust the voltage to maintain that current. No fuse tripping.

My supply has been very reliable. The only thing to watch out for is to not backfeed the supply. i.e. if you are using it to charge a battery, don't have it connected to the battery without it being plugged in and switched on. I haven't used mine to charge a battery, but if I did, I would put a diode in series to prevent backfeed.
Click to expand...

Thank You, Yup $$ on the bench not in the bank.:icon_scratchchin:

I did spend a little time looking at the web site, nice. Still have some ?? And will address them with the Co. Did I say TY for the info.:icon_thumbsup:

Sometimes you need one tool just for one job. It would not be come a battery charger of anything else as I would hard wire it up to my e-tank for the + and a bank of 12 neg. wires with SS clamps. I like good connections with good wire that will move freely in sub temps.
 
I have a old power supply that was used for charging electric golf carts. It is 36 volt and does a really good job in use on the electro tank. The charger was orginaly a automatic charger. So I took it apart and just removed the circuit that controls the output current. You should be able to do that with any automatic charger. If you don't know how then anyone with some electronics experence could do it. The 36 volt charger works really good and I can completely clean a crusted skillet in only one day.
 
David P Fortin said:
I have a old power supply that was used for charging electric golf carts. It is 36 volt and does a really good job in use on the electro tank. The charger was orginaly a automatic charger. So I took it apart and just removed the circuit that controls the output current. You should be able to do that with any automatic charger. If you don't know how then anyone with some electronics experence could do it. The 36 volt charger works really good and I can completely clean a crusted skillet in only one day.
Click to expand...

Hi David P Fortin,

How many amps are you pushing with your set up?

TY

---------- Post added at 06:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:05 PM ----------
ShawnE said:
Jeffrey,

Voltec makes a HY1530EX (15V, 30A) as well. If you look at the Mastec site that I referenced, you will find that they have a wide variety of power supplies. If you look at the electroplating or anodizing power supplies tab, you will find a wide variety of voltage / current and price. Since you use lye as an electrolyte, you probably don't need a large voltage, just large current. Using lye, large anode (ss drum as I remember) and multiple pieces your tank should have a fairly low resistance, therefore low voltage drop. I would recommend at least 15V as the bench supply would be more versatile for other things than e-tank.
Click to expand...

ShawnE,

Just got off the phone with Voltec Re; HY1530EX (15V, 30A). The short of it they are made for inside a building, no snow, dust, water, sun. I will need to build it its own vented & filtered cabinet with a glass door. Need the think this out.
 
You might want to consider an outdoor LED lighting transformer. Their output is 12 Volts DC and can be had in the 8~12 Amp range for a reasonable price. Waterproof with thermal and short circuit protection is built in. I can't guarantee it'll work without trying it myself, but the only difficulty I can imagine would be the need of a resistor across the output to act as a dummy load if/when you don't have the e-tank's leads hooked up to the power supply when you plug it in. Some power supplies will shut off if they detect an open load. Heck, I may research this more and get one in order to save my Schumacher for the car.
 
Hi Ty L.,

Funny you say this as I was looking at them today. What I do not like about them is the fact that they are set at one amp setting. I like to push my amps up to 30 in the winter for the extra heat to keep the ice at bay, and normally run at 12 V 10AMP. At this point I am leaning towards the VolteQ HY 1530EX. Just have to build it a home as I posted earlier.

I am ordering new diodes for my dead work horse charger.

---------- Post added at 06:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:23 PM ----------
ShawnE said:
Jeffrey,

I use a Voltec HY1520EX bench power supply. It is capable of 15V and 20A. Either constant voltage or constant current.
Click to expand...


ShawnE,

If you do not mind. How long have you had yours, and also how long do you have it running?

My eTank needs to run 24 /7, one to stay warm two to keep up with my load. I am thinking it should run 2 eTanks.:eek:
 
Jeffrey,

I've had my HY1520EX for 4 or 5 years. It's one of my many bench supplies that I use for electronics work. I just re-purposed it for use in my e-tank instead of buying something. I've used these type of Chinese supplies for many years at a number of companies as well as on my own electronics bench. They tend to be pretty reliable. I haven't run this one 24/7 but I have run others in this class 24/7 for years.

That being said, they are electronic and electronics have the annoying tendency to let their smoke out at seemingly random times. :-)
 
ShawnE, TY, answer I was looking for, "I have run others in this class 24/7 for years."

Doug D. You are looking at the same power source as ShawnE posted in replay #2.

I'm very tempted also.
 
Well, time for an update. Looks like I will hold off at this time of the VolteQ HY 1530EX. To many unknowns with something of this cost, cold, dust, moisture could spell doom sooner than I care.

So I ordered new diodes and 12V x 100A circuit breaker and am making bubbles and heat in the eTank. This morning it was 14 degrees and my eTank was 78 degrees. :covri:
 
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