Charger from a transformer ts 160. How to charge a car battery from a transformer

02.07.2020 Safety

Good day gentlemen radio amateurs! In this article I want to describe the assembly of a simple charger. Even quite simple, because it does not contain anything superfluous. After all, often complicating the scheme, we reduce its reliability. In general, here we will consider a couple of options for such simple car chargers that can be soldered to anyone who has ever repaired a coffee grinder or changed a switch in the corridor)) From my own experience, I can assume that it will be useful to anyone who has at least something to do with technology or electronics. For a long time I was visited by the idea of assembling the simplest charger for the battery of my motorcycle, since the generator sometimes simply cannot cope with charging the latter, it is especially difficult for him on a winter morning when you need to start it from the starter. Of course, many will say that it is much easier with a kick starter, but then the battery can be thrown out altogether.

Electric circuit homemade charger

What do you need to charge the battery? A source of stable current that would not exceed some safe value. In the simplest case, it will be an ordinary network transformer. It should give out on the secondary the current that is needed for the standard charging mode (1/10 of the battery capacity). And if, at the beginning of the charging cycle, the load starts to draw a current of a larger value, there will be a voltage drop on the output winding of the transformer, which means that the current will decrease. There are two types of rectifiers:

The last scheme will allow you to change the value of the charging current, due to a change in the voltage on the battery. If you do not trust the transformer, then the current stabilizer function can be assigned to a regular 12 volt car light bulb.

In general, I decided to make charging quite powerful for myself, as a basis I took the TS-160 transformer from a Soviet tube TV set, rewound it to fit my needs, the output came out 14 volts per 10 amperes, which allows you to charge a battery of a sufficiently large capacity, including any automobile.

Charger case

The body was assembled from zinc sheet, as I wanted to make it as simple as possible.

A hole for the fan was cut out at the back of the case, for greater reliability I decided to add active cooling, and there were a lot of valves, let them not lie idle.

Then he began to make the filling, screwed on the transformer, he also took the diode bridge with a margin - KRVS-3510 Fortunately, they don't cost much.

I made a hole in the front panel for a voltmeter, and also screwed a crocodile nest.

It turned out just what I wanted - simple and reliable. Basically, this unit is used to charge the battery and power 12 volt LED strips.

Well, as a last resort, for setting up automotive converters. And in order to have less interference, after the bridge I put a pair of capacitors with a total capacity of about 5 thousand microfarads.

Outwardly, of course, it could have been done more accurately, but the main thing for me here is reliability, the next in line is a laboratory power supply, in which I will embody all my design skills. All the best, I was with you columnist!.)

Discuss the article CAR CHARGER OWN HANDS

Car battery charger

In this article I want to give a simple assembly of do-it-yourself car battery charger. Even very simple, it does not contain anything superfluous. After all, often complicating the scheme, we reduce its reliability. In general, here we will consider a couple of options for such simple car chargers that can be soldered to anyone who has ever repaired a coffee grinder or changed a switch in the corridor. For a long time I was visited by the idea of assembling the simplest charger for the battery of my motorcycle, since the generator sometimes simply cannot cope with charging the latter, it is especially difficult for him on a winter morning when you need to start it from the starter. Of course, many will say that it is much easier with a kick starter, but then the battery can be thrown out altogether.

Charger circuits:

What does it take to charge a car battery? A source of stable current that would not exceed some safe value. In the simplest case, it will be an ordinary network transformer. It should give out to the secondary such a current that is needed for the standard charging mode (1/10 of the battery capacity). And if at the beginning of the charging cycle the load starts to draw a current of a larger value, there will be a voltage drop on the output winding of the transformer, which means that the current will decrease.

There are two types of rectifiers:

Rectifier with voltage-current regulation:

Charging circuit with a ballast lamp:

In general, I decided to make charging quite powerful for myself, as a basis I took the TS-160 transformer from a Soviet tube TV, rewound it to fit my needs, the output came out 14 volts per 10 amperes, which allows you to charge a battery of a sufficiently large capacity, including any automobile.

Charger case

The body was assembled from zinc sheet, as I wanted to make it as simple as possible.

A hole for the fan was cut out at the back of the case, for greater reliability I decided to add active cooling, and there were a lot of valves, let them not lie idle.

Then he began to make the filling, screwed on the transformer, also took the diode bridge with a margin - KRVS-3510, since they do not cost much:

I made a hole in the front panel for a voltmeter, and also screwed a crocodile nest.

It turned out just what I wanted - simple and reliable. Basically, this unit is used to charge the battery and power 12 volt LED strips. Well, as a last resort, to set up car converters. And in order to have less interference, after the bridge I put a pair of capacitors with a total capacity of about 5 thousand microfarads.

All motorists got into such an unpleasant situation. There are two ways out: start the car with a charged battery from a neighbor's car (if the neighbor does not mind), in the jargon of motorists it sounds like “light it up”. Well, the second way out is to charge the battery.

When I got into this situation for the first time, I realized that I urgently needed a charger. But I did not have an extra thousand rubles to buy a charger. I found a very simple circuit on the Internet and decided to assemble the charger on my own.

I simplified the transformer circuit. Windings from the second column are indicated with a stroke.

F1 and F2 are fuses. F2 is needed to protect against a short circuit at the output of the circuit, and F1 - from overvoltage in the network.

Description of the assembled device

That's what I did. It looks so-so, but the main thing is that it works.

Transformer

Now about everything in order. A power transformer of the TS-160 or TS-180 brand can be obtained from old black-and-white Record TVs, but I did not find one and went to the radio store. Let's take a closer look at it.

Here are the petals where the transformer winding leads are soldered.

And here, right on the transformer, there is a plate on which petals what voltage. This means that if we apply 220 Volts to petal No. 1 and 8, then on petals No. 3 and 6 we will get 33 Volts and a maximum current strength of 0.33 Amperes and so on. But we are most interested in windings No. 13 and 14. On them we can get 6.55 Volts and a maximum current of 7.5 Amps.

In order to charge the battery, we just need a lot of current. But we don’t have enough voltage ... The battery produces 12 volts, but in order to charge it, the charging voltage must exceed the battery voltage. 6.55 volts will not work here. The charger should give us 13-16 volts. Therefore, we resort to a very tricky solution.

As you noticed, the transformer consists of two columns. Each column duplicates another column. The places where the outputs of the windings come out are numbered. In order to increase the voltage, we simply need to connect two windings in series. To do this, we connect the windings 13 and 13' and remove the voltage from the windings 14 and 14'. 6.55 + 6.55 = 13.1 Volts. This is the voltage we get.

Diode bridge

In order to rectify the alternating voltage, we use a diode bridge. We assemble a diode bridge on powerful diodes, because a decent current will pass through them. To do this, we need diodes D242A or some others, designed for a current of 5 amperes. Through our power diodes direct current up to 10 amps can flow, which is ideal for our homemade charger.

You can also buy a diode bridge separately as a ready-made module. The KVRS5010 diode bridge is just right, which can be bought on Ali at this link or in the nearest radio shop

A fully drained battery has low voltage. As it charges, the voltage on it becomes more and more. Consequently, our current strength in the circuit at the very beginning of charging will be very large, and then it will decline. According to the Joule-Lenz Law, with a large current strength, the diodes will heat up. Therefore, in order not to burn them, it is necessary to take heat from them and dissipate them in the surrounding space. For this we need radiators. As a radiator, I dismantled a non-working computer power supply, cut a tin into strips and screwed a diode to them.

Ammeter

What is an ammeter for? To control the charging process.

Remember to connect an ammeter in series with the load.

When the battery is completely discharged, it starts to eat (I think the word “eat” is inappropriate here) current. He eats about 4-5 amps. As it charges, it eats less and less current. Therefore, when the arrow of the device shows 1 Ampere, then the battery can be considered charged. Everything is ingenious and simple :-).

crocodiles

We display two crocodiles for the battery terminals from our charger. When charging, do not reverse the polarity. It is better to somehow mark them or take different colors.

If everything is assembled correctly, then on crocodiles we should see such a signal shape (in theory, the tops should be smoothed, since it is a sinusoid), but can you present something to our electricity provider))). Is this the first time you see something like this? Run here!

Constant voltage pulses charge the battery better than pure direct current. And how to get a clean direct current from an alternating one is described in the article How to get a direct current from an alternating voltage.

Conclusion

Do not be too lazy to modify your device with fuses. Fuse ratings on the diagram. Do not check the voltage on the charger crocodiles for a spark, otherwise you will lose the fuse.

Attention! The scheme of this charger is designed to quickly charge your battery in critical cases, when you need to urgently go somewhere in 2-3 hours. Do not use it for everyday use as it charges at maximum current, which is not the best charging mode for your battery. When recharging, the electrolyte will begin to “boil” and poisonous vapors will begin to be released into the surrounding space.

Those who are interested in the theory of chargers (chargers), as well as normal charger circuits, then without fail we download this book on this link. It can be called the bible of chargers.

Buy car charger

There are really good and smart chargers on Aliexpress, which are much lighter than ordinary transformer chargers. Their price is on average from 1000 rubles.

The market is literally filled with various technical innovations. Therefore, purchasing a charger for a battery, especially since the price of such products is quite affordable, is not a problem today. But many motorists still prefer to get by with the simplest chargers. There are two main reasons - some do not believe in the reliability of modern devices, while others do not need their many functions, and they consider it a waste of money.

The simplest "charging" for a 12 V battery is easy to make from a power transformer, which is found in many old models of household appliances.

What is needed Tr? It is clear that the primary winding is 220. The secondary can be one or more; this is unimportant. The main thing is that it is possible to “remove” U 2 = 13 ± 0.5 V from the transformer. More or less - the circuit will not function correctly, if this term is appropriate in this case. Ideally, a power transformer from TV receivers of old (still lamp) models (TC-180) is suitable for the manufacture of memory. Yes, and in the first color TVs there is Tr, which has the necessary conclusions of the secondary windings.

What should be done?

Measure the voltage on all windings. Even if they are indicated in the passport, on the case, it is worth checking their performance. With regard to the TS-180, two “incandescent” ones are taken (they give out 6.3 V each), and connected in series with a jumper. The result is the required minimum - 12.6.

Assemble the diode bridge. For example, based on p / p devices of the D242A series. They can be found in the same used TV, soldered and used. As an option, buy a ready-made diode assembly in a store (KBPC10005 or similar; the seller will tell you if you explain what it is for).

Build a radiator. It is necessary so that the bridge does not overheat during prolonged charging. For diodes, a ribbed design made of aluminum (or duralumin) plates is suitable. It is enough to fix the purchased bridge on the base, placing only one under it, after applying a layer of thermal paste on it. It can be bought at the same radio shop.

Assemble the diagram. It can be seen from the figure that there is no need to be a “great electronics engineer” here - everything is extremely simple and clear.

To make a charger according to this scheme is possible even for those who only approximately understand what electrical engineering and its laws are. More "advanced" motorists are likely to like others. They are more complicated in execution, but their advantage is the ability to regulate the battery charging process.

It often happens that you need to go, but the battery has “sat down”, and, according to a well-known law, there is no charge at hand. In such force majeure circumstances, a primitive circuit of a lamp and a diode can become a lifesaver.

Since the load current is relatively small, a 1N4004 diode or equivalent can be used. It is connected to the circuit by the cathode (its output is indicated by a strip on the case) to the “+” terminal of the battery. But the battery must be completely disconnected from the vehicle's on-board network in order to avoid further problems with its electronics.

The principle of operation of the circuit is easy to understand. The current is regulated by the lamp itself, since its filament has a certain resistance (I \u003d P / U). The power of the lighting device can be selected by calculation, although to simplify the task it is enough to give some examples. They are quite enough to understand how to assemble the circuit.

A 60 W light bulb provides a current of 0.27 A in the circuit. Taking into account the diode (it passes only one half-cycle of the sinusoid), the load is equal to 0.318 x I. To get I charge \u003d 0.15 A, you need to include a hundredth lamp in the circuit.

Naturally, you should not constantly use such a primitive circuit to charge a car battery. But in a difficult situation, when there is no other solution, she will help out very much.

2017-07-20

Sometimes it happens that the battery in the car sits down and it is no longer possible to start it, because the starter does not have enough voltage and, accordingly, current to turn the engine shaft. In this case, you can “light it up” from another car owner so that the engine starts and the battery starts charging from the generator, but this requires special wires and a person who wants to help you. You can also charge the battery yourself using a specialized charger, but they are quite expensive and you don’t have to use them very often. Therefore, in this article we will take a closer look at a homemade device, as well as instructions on how to make a charger for a car battery with your own hands.

Homemade device

Normal voltage on a battery disconnected from the vehicle is between 12.5V and 15V. Therefore, the charger must provide the same voltage. The charge current should be approximately 0.1 of the capacity, it may be less, but this will increase the charging time. For a standard battery with a capacity of 70-80 Ah, the current should be 5-10 amps, depending on the specific battery. Our homemade battery charger must meet these parameters. To assemble a charger for a car battery, we need the following items:

Transformer. We can use any of the old electrical appliances or those bought on the market with an overall power of about 150 watts, more, but not less, otherwise it will get very hot and may fail. Well, if the voltage of its output windings is 12.5-15 V, and the current is about 5-10 amperes. You can see these parameters in the documentation for your part. If there is no required secondary winding, then it will be necessary to rewind the transformer to a different output voltage. For this:

Thus, we have found or assembled the perfect transformer to make a DIY battery charger.

We will also need:

Having prepared all the materials, you can proceed to the very process of assembling a car memory.

Assembly technology

To make a charger for a car battery with your own hands, you must follow the step-by-step instructions:

We create a homemade charging scheme for the battery. In our case, it will look like this:
We use the transformer TS-180-2. It has several primary and secondary windings. To work with it, you need to connect two primary and two secondary windings in series to get the desired voltage and current at the output.
With the help of a copper wire, we connect pins 9 and 9 'to each other.
On a fiberglass plate we assemble a diode bridge from diodes and radiators (as shown in the photo).
Conclusions 10 and 10 'we connect to the diode bridge.
Install a jumper between pins 1 and 1'.
Using a soldering iron, we attach a power cord with a plug to terminals 2 and 2 '.
We connect a 0.5 A fuse to the primary circuit, a 10-amp fuse, respectively, to the secondary circuit.
In the gap between the diode bridge and the battery, we connect an ammeter and a piece of nichrome wire. We fix one end of which, and the second should provide a movable contact, thus the resistance will change and the current supplied to the battery will be limited.
We isolate all connections with heat shrink or electrical tape and place the device in the case. This is necessary to avoid electric shock.
We install a moving contact at the end of the wire so that its length and, accordingly, the resistance are maximum. And connect the battery. By decreasing and increasing the length of the wire, you need to set the desired current value for your battery (0.1 of its capacity).
In the process of charging, the current supplied to the battery will decrease by itself and when it reaches 1 ampere, we can say that the battery is charged. It is also desirable to directly control the voltage on the battery, however, for this it must be disconnected from the charger, since when charging it will be slightly higher than the actual values.

The first start of the assembled circuit of any power source or memory is always carried out through an incandescent lamp, if it lights up at full heat - either there is an error somewhere, or the primary winding is closed! An incandescent lamp is installed in the break of the phase or neutral wire that feeds the primary winding.

This scheme for a home-made battery charger has one big drawback - it does not know how to independently disconnect the battery from charging after reaching the desired voltage. Therefore, you will have to constantly monitor the readings of the voltmeter and ammeter. There is a design that does not have this drawback, but its assembly will require additional parts and more effort.

A good example of a finished product

Operating rules

The disadvantage of a homemade charger for a 12V battery is that after the battery is fully charged, the device does not automatically turn off. That is why you will have to periodically glance at the scoreboard in order to turn it off in time. Another important nuance is that it is strictly forbidden to check the memory “for a spark”.

Additional precautions include:

when connecting the terminals, make sure not to confuse “+” and “-”, otherwise a simple home-made battery charger will fail;
connection to the terminals must be carried out only in the off position;
the multimeter must have a measurement scale of more than 10 A;
when charging, you should unscrew the plugs on the battery, in order to avoid its explosion due to boiling of the electrolyte.

Master class on creating a more complex model

That, in fact, is all that I wanted to tell you about how to properly make a charger for a car battery with your own hands. We hope that the instruction was understandable and useful for you, because. this option is one of the simplest types of homemade battery charging!

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