Using solar charge regulator as a AC charger regulator

[daliati]

Hi all!

I have a simple 8amp AC battery charger, and a 12V, 100amp hours deep cycle battery. At night, I would like to charge the battery with an AC charger, since the 85W solar panel does not generate enough amps throughout the day (the battery is used only throughout the day in a mobile home - kombi, at night we have regular electricity). The battery charger does not have any charge control, i.e., it would continue charging the battery if not controlled manually.

I thought to connect the output of the charger to the solar charge controller replacing the solar panel (as we won´t be using it at night). The panel generates similar current to the AC charger - it is rated as 18V, and the solar charge controller is showing 8.5Amp right now, and 14V (which is more than 85W, but that part I still need to figure out).

The question is:
* Is it ok to connect the 8amp 12V (the measured voltage was about 13.4) AC charger output to the solar charge controller instead of the solar panel? Will I get nothing burned, and will the solar charge controller stop the load to the battery?

Thanks!
Dalia

[inetdog]

Hi all!


The question is:
* Is it ok to connect the 8amp 12V (the measured voltage was about 13.4) AC charger output to the solar charge controller instead of the solar panel? Will I get nothing burned, and will the solar charge controller stop the load to the battery?

Thanks!
Dalia

Probably nothing will burn, but since the output of the AC charger may be rectified AC, you need to measure the unloaded output to find both the DC and the AC components to see whether the maximum voltage is above what the controller can take.

Also, to work properly the controller will need an input voltage 2 or more volts above the 14-15 volt minimum it needs to deliver to the batteries. Based on that, it probably will not be able to charge the batteries properly. Sorry about that.....