Campbell Scientific PS200/CH200 12 V Charging Regulators - Manual (Page 25)

PS200/CH200 12 V Charging Regulators
An AC/DC converter charge source could be connected to either the CHARGE
– CHARGE input terminals or the SOLAR - G
input terminals. The best input
terminals to use with a given AC/DC converter should be based on the
converters output current capability. For example, the CHARGE – CHARGE
input terminals provide a user programmable current limit, with a maximum
limit of 2.0 A DC for the charging source. Whereas the SOLAR - G
input
terminals have a fixed 3.6 A DC typical current limit, providing faster battery
charging for a charge source that can deliver up to 3.6 A DC current without
damage.
The SOLAR – G terminals are optimal for solar panels because of the high-
current charging capability when solar resources are available. A Maximum
Power Point Tracking algorithm is also utilized when the PS200/CH200 detects
the charging source is connected to the SOLAR input. Whereas, powering
from the CHARGE – CHARGE terminals is preferable if a continuous charge
source is available because of better overload protection of the charge source
and less aggressive battery charging which is preferable for a continuous
charge source.
The +12 V output terminals are intended to power a datalogger and any
peripherals. Power to these output terminals is controlled by a toggle switch,
with the total output current limited by a 4 amp self-resettable thermal fuse (see
Section 4.1, Specifications, for hold current limits at various temperatures).
The A105 Additional 12 V Terminals Adapter may be used to provide extra 12
V and ground terminals where the power supply is used to power several
devices, noting that the hold current limit on the 4 amp self-resettable thermal
fuse still applies.
Each battery family has a unique charging algorithm which takes into account
battery temperature to calculate the correct charging voltage to maintain the
battery. The source of the temperature used by default is the temperature of the
charger itself with the assumption that the charger resides in the same
enclosure with the battery and the two temperatures will be similar. If the
battery used by this system is located in separate enclosure it is advised to put a
temperature sensor on the battery, or close to it, that is read by a datalogger
connected to the PS200/CH200 and send this temperature information to the
module using the appropriate SDI-12 (see Section 6.2.3.1, Write Remote
Battery Temperature to PS200/CH200, and Section 6.2.3.2, Restore Internal
Battery Temperature Measurement) or RS-232 (see Section 6.3.3.2, Write
Remote Battery Temperature to PS200/CH200, and Section 6.3.3.3, Restore
Internal Battery Temperature Measurement).
The PS200/CH200 have two flashing LED indicators, the CHARGE LED and
the CHECK BATTERY LED. See TABLE 3-1 and TABLE 3-2 for details on
the various conditions and associated colors for these two indicator LEDs.
Communication with the CH/PS200 is accomplished through the COMM port
to either a datalogger or computer. Datalogger communication can be done via
a SDI-12 interface cable (item# 20769) as indicated in FIGURE 6-6, or an RS-
232 TX/RX interface cable (item #25356) as indicated in FIGURE 6-7.
Communication to a computer requires a RS-232 interface cable (item# 20770)
that terminates in a standard 9-pin connector. See Section 6.2, SDI-12, and
Section 6.3, RS-232 Interface, for details of using these cables and
programming examples where required.
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