Weir Lambda WR1300 power supply

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Found the perfect charger for Hawker Genesis/Odyssey batteries.

1300Watt, Microprocessor controlled, switched mode power supply, designed to supply 32Volts at up to 32 amps. Weighs about 7kg. Two fans are built into the case for cooling. Should be able to charge a pair of 13Ah batteries from flat in just over 30 minutes. They would be 80% charged in around 15 minutes!

The recommended voltage for fast charging the Hawker batteries is 14.7-15 Volts for a 12V battery. adjust.jpg (16133 bytes)Fortunately the power supply has a small amount of adjustment available and can be easily set to put out 30 Volts using the multiturn pot arrowed, making it perfect for charging two batteries in series. Make sure you use an insulated screw driver when adjusting - there be high voltages in there! If anyone knows what the other pot does, let me know.



I've measured it when charging at 32 Amps and it delivers less than 2mV rms ripple, with less than 10mV voltage drop. Nice!

Note that you shouldn't charge normal lead-acids e.g. Yuasas at these voltages and currents. They ain't built to take it. The Hawker documentation states that there is effectively NO LIMIT on peak charge current, as long as the 15Volts limit (2.5V per cell) is adhered to. To quote from the Genesis Application Manual: 'We recommend the highest practical and economic current limit possible'. Check the Application Manual for the recommended charging procedures.

All that is needed to use this as a charger is a high power resistor of 0.1 to 0.2 Ohms to limit the maximum current to around 32 amps. e.g. two 50 Watt, 0.05 Ohm RS part no 160-859 attached to a suitably large heatsink.

A power supply like this would normally cost over £1000, but Bull Electrical in the UK are currently selling them for £49. See the Power Supplies page.