dieselmo34
New Member
Hi all, I'm new here. I'm more of a mechanic than an electronics person, but I know some about electronics, I took 2 years of electronics tech in high school. Anyhow, I need to charge a 12v automotive style battery from power coming from a 32vdc generator. In case your wondering, I work on steam locomotives (the real things, not models), and they have 32v lighting. We use 12v VHF radios, and I'm trying to come up with a simple way to charge a 12v car battery to run the radio. Right now, we just charge the battery at night and hope it lasts all day. I saw this charger circuit you some of you were talking about:
**broken link removed**
Can this charger take 32v input? Does it have any overcharge prevention? I would probably have the radio running off the battery at the same time the battery is charging. We use 50 watt motorola spectra radios. I can buy a dc to dc converter/13.8v power supply, but I'm afraid of overcharging the battery. How can I charge the battery without overcharging it? I'm handy with a soldering iron and thought it would be neat to build my own circuit if I could. Also, how can I make this (or other circuits) locomotive proof? Steam engines are hot, dirty, and wet, and they vibrate severely sometimes. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
**broken link removed**
Can this charger take 32v input? Does it have any overcharge prevention? I would probably have the radio running off the battery at the same time the battery is charging. We use 50 watt motorola spectra radios. I can buy a dc to dc converter/13.8v power supply, but I'm afraid of overcharging the battery. How can I charge the battery without overcharging it? I'm handy with a soldering iron and thought it would be neat to build my own circuit if I could. Also, how can I make this (or other circuits) locomotive proof? Steam engines are hot, dirty, and wet, and they vibrate severely sometimes. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks