If you’ve got a big LiFePO4 battery, a strong charger may additionally make sense. This isn’t necessary, particularly when you have the batteries on a photo voltaic charger anyway, however it may be sensible for “upkeep”.
Power Queen presents numerous chargers appropriate for LiFePO4 batteries. We have 4 fashions right here, 10A, 20A, 30A and 40A.
We wish to take a fast have a look at the 40A mannequin on this check. How nicely does it work? Does it actually supply 40A? How loud is the charger?
We wish to reply all of those questions within the check!
Power Queen 14.6V 40A LiFePO4 charger within the check
With an output of 40A, which is 584W at 14.6V, the Power Queen AP-PF900CH011460400 charger is in fact fairly a bit.
The charger measures 28.5 x 14.2 x 9 cm and weighs a whopping 2.4 kg. This is definitely partly because of the steel housing of the charger, in addition to the highly effective cables.
The charger’s energy cable is detachable. Here now we have the standard AC energy cable that we all know from computer systems and so on.
On the output facet we initially have a brief completely linked cable. This is extraordinarily thick, at over 12 mm! At the tip of the cable we discover a plug. The scope of supply features a corresponding adapter, which ends on M8 rings.
M8 is the acceptable connection for many LiFePO4 batteries.
The charger doesn’t have any buttons or switches, aside from a common on/off change on the again.
Display and indicators
On the entrance of the charger we discover a small LC show + numerous standing LEDs. This show reveals you the present voltage, present and capability.
We even have LEDs that inform you concerning the present system standing (charging, completed, error).
Performance
As the title suggests, the Power Queen 14.6V 40A LiFePO4 charger presents an idle voltage of 14.6V and an output of 40A.
Unfortunately, it’s not doable to artificially throttle efficiency. The charger will all the time attempt to cost your batteries with 40A.
Accordingly, the charger is primarily appropriate for LiFePO4 batteries with 100 Ah or extra!
How lengthy does it actually take to cost?
I examined the Power Queen charger with a 200 Ah LiFePO4 battery (which is virtually extra like 207 Ah). I logged the facility consumption of the charger.
The charger took approx. 5:18 hours to cost the 200Ah battery. These values match!
The charger begins with an influence consumption of 507 W, which is then regulated as much as approx. 630W. Again, values that match.
Fan
There is a reasonably highly effective fan constructed into the charger. This isn’t a surprise given such excessive efficiency.
The fan is clearly audible throughout operation. This has a “nice” heat sound; with my outdated LiFePO4 charger the sound was considerably larger and shriller. However, the charger is louder than a PC beneath full load or comparable.
Efficiency
Finally, let’s discuss concerning the effectivity of the charger. I measured this with an digital load. Unfortunately it solely works reliably as much as 30A, however this nonetheless provides us a reasonably good overview.
Here the effectivity fluctuated between 81% and 91%, relying on the load. These are believable values for an influence provide/charger of this class.
Conclusion
If you’re searching for an additional highly effective LiFePO4 charger, then the PowerQueen mannequin is very advisable.
This did a beautiful job for me in testing and achieved the marketed output of 40A. A 200 Ah (extra like 207 Ah) battery was charged in simply over 5 hours. The output was due to this fact a reasonably fixed 40A.
The fan within the charger is clearly audible (and never precisely quiet), nevertheless it’s nonetheless considerably tolerable for a charger like this.
There are plus factors for the show, which reveals you energy, voltage and capability values.
The solely factor I discover a bit unlucky is the shortage of choice to throttle the efficiency for smaller batteries.
Apart from that, the Power Queen 14.6V 40A is a completely helpful and highly effective LiFePO4 charger.