PFC-20, PFC-30 & PFC-40 Charger Owner’s Manual Rev 3.1 ©2013 Manzanita Micro LLC The information date is: 06/07/2013 Manzanita Micro reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
CONTENTS IMPORTANT SAFETY WARNINGS .. 3 IMPORTANT BATTERY SAFETY INFORMATION 4 GENERAL OVERVIEW 5 KEY FEATURES LIST . 6 DIMENSIONS AND SPECIFICATIONS 7 CHARGER OPERATION . 8 - Photo of Charger Face With Callouts . 8 - Volts Trim ~ Adjusting the Peak Charging Voltage Limit .. 9-10 - Volts Trim using optional Digipot Push-Button Adjuster .. 10-11 - Reg Bus ~ Basic Info ........ ..
READ THIS FIRST! ADDITIONAL NOTES AND PRODUCT MANUALS AVAILABLE AT: www.manzanitamicro.com CAUTION: Your PFC-Charger uses High Voltage DC and AC electricity. The chargers have been designed to be adaptable for use with many different battery types and voltages. It is the responsibility of the end user to properly set up the charger making necessary adjustments so that it can work with their unique system.
BATTERY NOTES! CAUTION: Your PFC-Charger can output over 400 volts DC and many thousands of watts of electrical power! It is imperative that the end user have a clear understanding of how to safely charge their particular battery! Manzanita Micro sells very flexible charging systems that can be used with almost any type of battery. Manzanita Micro chargers are used in all sorts of applications.
PFC-20/30/40 SERIES BATTERY CHARGER MANUAL REV 3.1 General Overview The Manzanita Micro PFC chargers are a unique group of powerful, efficient battery chargers. The chargers will operate on any voltage from 100 up to 240 volts AC. The chargers can be set to run automatically when plugged in, yet they also have far more user adjustable functions than other electric vehicle chargers. Every model is user adjustable to charge batteries from 12 to 450 Volts DC.
between 0 and 1. The closer to 1 the better. Manzanita Micro PFC chargers generally have a very high power factor number which means less wasted energy.
•Chargers with 8A or newer control board have 2 additional peak voltage set points and one additional amperage set point which can be enabled via the 4pin RJ connection on the blue face plate Dimensions, Specifications and Mounting The PFC-20, PFC-30 and PFC-40 chargers weigh approximately 18 pounds (8.2 kg) The maximum outermost dimensions including foot flanges and protrusions are approximately: 14” L x 10.5” W x 5.
yellow limits light starts blinking and the charger's current cuts back, it is likely more airflow is needed. The fans push the air out through the front of the charger, therefore, mounting the unit such that the control face is pointing upward is probably the most efficient since heat rises. Charger Operation figure 02.
User Control Panel The user interface panel is the long blue panel with white or yellow text near the top of the PFC charger. It is important to familiarize yourself with the LED indicators, the VOLTS TRIM potentiometer (if so equipped) and the adjustable AMPS knob. Below are explanations of each feature in order from left to right. Refer to figure 02 or the 8A Control Board section (figure 13) for specific locations.
Final tuning is best accomplished when the battery pack is fully charged. The lower the state of charge, the more the user will need to monitor and adjust the unit during the first charge cycle. 1. Turn the amps knob all the way down (full counterclockwise). 2. Make sure the charger is plugged into the battery pack and that there are no open breakers or open fuses in the DC battery circuit. 3. With the charger’s AC breaker switch in the OFF position, plug the charger into the AC power outlet. 4.
This critical push-button potentiometer controls the peak DC voltage ceiling that the charger will allow the batteries to reach before limiting the current. Unless specified otherwise, the voltage limit is set by Manzanita Micro to 48 volts. In the event that adjustment is desired, please refer to Figure 05 and follow the instructions on the next page. When the battery pack voltage hits the peak limit the yellow LIMITS LED will come on along with the flashing blue TIMER LED and the charger cuts back.
When the battery pack voltage hits the peak limit the yellow LIMITS LED will come on along with the flashing blue TIMER LED and the charger will cut back. NOTE: If the battery pack is not heated for any reason such as outdoors in a cold climate, the peak charging voltage threshold will likely need to be raised in order to assure a complete charge. This is especially true for lead acid batteries.
Anderson connectors (DC line) from your charger while it is charging! If the battery pack is disconnected while the charger is putting out power the charger can be damaged. Failure to heed these warnings may result in significant internal damage to the charger which is not covered under your warranty! “AMPS” Knob The AMPS knob allows the user to adjust how much current the charger will move.
“TIMER ADJ” This stands for timer adjustment. This is a small 16 position rotary switch which allows the user to adjust the amount of time that the charger takes in constant voltage mode, while cutting back current at the end of a charge cycle before it shuts off completely. If the switch is at ‘0’ then the timer will time out instantly - do not use this setting. (‘0’ is the 3-o-clock position when viewed from the front).
the auto restart feature which is set by VR6 behind the front faceplate (see figure 13). NOTE: Dip switch #6 can be useful if you have a Manzanita Micro BMS because you can momentarily switch it on and the yellow lights on all the regs should come on. If any do not illuminate, you can use this feature to narrow down which regs are not communicating with the charger or find bad reg bus communication cables.
figure 07: DC Battery Side User-Built Example Power Cable Now you should have a gray SB-50 connector with a positive and negative wire coming out. (See figure 07) Use the appropriate lug or connector for your battery terminal and connect it onto the other end of each cable. Connect the positive cable to the most positive terminal of the battery pack. Connect the negative cable to the most negative terminal of the battery pack.
figure 08 Connecting the Charger to the Wall Looking at the charger chassis where the big black cables are attached you will see the letters AC printed next to one of the cables and this is for the incoming power for the charger. A great feature of the Manzanita Micro PFC line of chargers is that they are capable of operating easily from 110,120, 208, 220, 230 or 240 volts of single phase AC power.
adjustment on the charger is the big “Amps” knob on the front. Turn this knob up or down depending on the amperage available from the outlet. With the “Amps” knob in the most clockwise position a PFC-20 can draw up to 20 amps, a PFC-30 can draw up to 30A and a PFC-40 can draw up to 40A. EXAMPLE: A PFC-40 plugged into a standard 120V outlet at 15 amps would be able to draw about 1,800 watts (120x15 = 1,800).
10. If you wish to make an adapter cord to connect your PFC-40’s input cable to a 220/240V three prong plug (like a NEMA 10-30, 10-40 or 6-50), use a 14-50 receptacle and simply disregard the white wire and the middle straight neutral prong. Run the green wire to the ground prong and then the red and black wires to either of the two hot prongs. The PFC-30 and PFC-40 chargers come with a 4 wire AC input cable but do not ever use the White neutral wire for anything.
figure 09.
figure 10.
Reg Bus Wiring The Reg Bus Interface: The REG BUS communicates to the charger when any BMS regulators are regulating and also if any regs are too hot. The charger uses this information to determine when to turn down the charge current and when to turn off the charger. The interface contains six wires connected with their respective pins as follows: 1. WHITE : Power supply (+5 volt DC) 2.
How hot to run the BMS regulators during the final absorption phase of charging is a function of the ambient temperature and how fast the vehicle needs to get back into service. Higher heat sink temperatures will make the absorption phase take less time but is more risky to the regulators. When the upper thermal threshold on a regulator has been reached, the reg will pull the hot reg line to +5 volts.
figure 11. Correct RJ Cable Orientation Step 6: Double check that the blue wire is to the right side with the tang down and then take the RJ crimping tool in your right hand. With your left hand push the cable with un-crimped plug into the 6-pin die on the crimping tool. Step 7: While using your left hand to make sure that the RJ cable is firmly held all the way into the connector, squeeze the crimping tool all the way with your right hand to complete the crimp.
figure 12. Side View of Proper RJ Cable New 8A Control Board Additional Features Manzanita Micro improved the original charger control interface board and began integration into production models in mid 2010. If your charger is equipped with the new control board it will be evident by the new front faceplate which has an extra 4 pin RJ port in between the ‘POWER’ and ‘WARN’ indicators.
NOTE: If an attempt is made to activate more than one of the voltage channels at the same time, the pin that was first activated will be the only channel that is active. NOTE: Because the 4 pin RJ port is mounted to the bottom of the control board the pin count reads from right to left as if backwards (see figure 13 below). figure 13.
makes it very easy to adjust the big amps knob to safely get the maximum number of amps out of whatever you're plugged into. There is now also a new and improved Multifunction Meter available as an upgrade for any PFC charger model (see figure 14 below). The new Multifunction Meter can display input voltage, input current, total power being consumed (in kilowatts), and the real-time Power Factor. Below the main display are 4 round LEDs which indicate which function is being displayed.
by Manzanita Micro's special remote current knob (RCK) unit or by the Manzanita Micro Smart Box. The Smart Box, accepts and interprets the SAE J1772 communication signal from external EVSE devices such as those found in modern public charging stations.
to a mostly flat surface such as a vehicle instrument panel or dashboard. Please refer to figure 16 for hole sizes and locations. The operation of the RCK is very simple. Make sure the RCK cable is plugged in to the rear port on the Manzanita Micro PFC charger (the white arrow on the cable connector should line up with the white triangle on the charger's connector).When looking at the RCK's main control face, the toggle switch is on the left below the green LED and the amperage control knob is to the right.
figure 17 : Remote Current Knob Older Charger Front Image figure 18.
Auto Restart Set Point Adjustment Manzanita Micro PFC chargers both new and old have an auto restart function built in which can be activated and adjusted by the user. Because of the possibility of thermal runaway from a battery pack, module or cell that is over-charged, Manzanita Micro does not ship PFC chargers with the Auto Restart Switch enabled. If the end user wishes to use this feature, they take full responsibility for any consequences resulting from a charger which keeps re-starting.
Steps For Setting The Auto Restart Set Point 1. Unplug anything connected to either of the RJ data ports on the front of the charger. (This includes unplugging even any Manzanita Micro BMS from the reg bus port. 2. SET THE MAIN VOLTS TRIM TO YOUR PEAK OUTPUT LEVEL FIRST!!! 3. Remove the blue faceplate from the front of the charger as described earlier in this section. 4. Ensure that dip switch 8 is moved to the ON (down) position to enable the auto restart feature. 5.
voltage and this time leaving the charger's “Amps” knob turned up and watching to make sure the charger restarts charging again when the pack gets down to the desired restart voltage level. NOTE: A new charger's auto restart level is usually set to somewhere around 130 VDC before shipping from Manzanita Micro. If certain rates are desired, these may be communicated to Manzanita Micro prior to order completion. Manzanita Micro can easily tune to specific levels for large orders of multiple units.
