Charging ahead – Rogue Engineering 1950-149 User Manual
Page 2
Charging Ahead
Rogue Engineering Inc.
3860 S. Jason Street
Englewood Colorado 80110
1-800-364-0659 (Toll Free) 1-303-734-0706 (Phone)
1-303-734-0517 (Fax) www.rogue-engr.com
[email protected] or [email protected]
WIRING
GND -Negative battery terminal
+BAT -Positive battery terminal
GND -Negative terminal of the solar panel
(or other source of charging power)
+IN -Positive terminal of the solar panel
(or other source of charging power)
JUMPER SETTINGS
To gain access to the jumpers, remove the plug-in connectors and the four screws from the
corners of the cover. The cover snaps into the box and will need to be levered up using a blade
between the cover and the box.
12V / 6V
There are three sets of jumpers across the bottom. The leftmost set has three pins. Place
the jumper accross the middle and left pin for 12 Volt operation (this is the factory default
setting). Place the jumper across the middle and right pin for 6 Volt operation. If this jumper is
not installed, the charger defaults to 6 Volt operation.
FAST CHARGE
The middle set of jumpers is used to enable the fast charge mode. With this jumper in place the
charger will immediately go into a bulk charge mode when the battery voltage falls below 12.6V
(6.1V). The charger will fast charge the battery to 14.7V (7.2V) and enter a compensation mode.
When the charging current falls off indicating the battery has been charged, the fast charge
turns off. This mode of charging is enabled by jumper when it is received from the factory.
FLOAT CHARGE
The right set of jumpers is used to enable the float charge mode. With this jumper in place the
charger will maintain a battery voltage 13.9V (6.8V). This will hold the battery in a fully charged
state. The charge controller enters this state automatically whenever the Fast mode shuts off.
This mode of charging is enabled by jumper when it is received from the factory.
At least one of the jumpers for Fast/Float must be shorted for the charger to operate.
Normally, both jumpers should be left shorted to enable the charge controller to select the best
charging method for the battery.
TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION
The charge controller has built-in temperature compensation. The charger should be mounted
in the battery box near the battery for optimal compensation.
REVERSE BATTERY INDICATOR
If the battery is wired with the positive and negative terminals reversed, the Red Reverse Battery
LED will light. The controller is internally protected from damage from reverse wiring on both
the solar and battery terminals, but must be wired correctly to charge the battery.
The graph above shows a charging cycle typically found when an SLA battery has discharged
overnight. The red line (upper) indicates the battery terminal voltage and the green line (lower)
indicates the charging current supplied to the battery.
With the battery below 2.13 Volts per cell, the charge controller enters the bulk charge mode. The
charger will supply the maximum current possible to the battery until the terminal voltage reaches
2.45 Volts per cell. As the battery approaches a fully charged state, the charger enters a compensation
charging mode and the charging current will taper off. When the current reaches a steady-state value,
the controller will switch to the float charge mode. The controller will both supply current to the load
and maintain the battery at 2.35 Volts as long as charging power is available.
SPECIFICATIONS
Battery Voltage 6V/12V (Jumper selected)
Maximum 5 Amps
Charging modes Fast (Jumper selected)
Float (Jumper selected)
Fast/Float (Jumper selected)
Fast/Compensation Mode ON Voltage 12.3V (6.2V)
Fast/Compensation Mode OFF Voltage 14.4V (7.1V)
Float Mode Voltage 13.6V (6.7V)
Self Consumption <400 uA (not charging), 2mA (charging)
Temperature Compensation -3.3mV / deg C / Cell
Operating Temperature -40 to 60 deg C
Environmental Encapsulated
Pluggable Connectors 12 AWG Max Wire Size
NOTE: Due to the low noise linear charge method used by the Rhino-5 line of products, it is possible to overheat a
unit by using a power supply or solar panel with a working voltage much higher than the battery voltage. Maintain
power dissipation in the charger below 4 Watts by using a panel or power supply with an appropriate working
voltage, i.e., 16-17V for 12 Volt models.