Had some trouble with the cutoff switch staying in place in the original charger port on/off switch and location so i bought a new switchable C14 port for charger use. This piece is fused and good up to 240v and 10 amps. a bit overkill for my 72v system but i like the idea of the charging port not being live all of the time.
Picture of the new charging connection (C14 style) along with the 2-point mounting bracket that fits under the right side panel.
So after a few months of using the SAE connection on the charger there’re a few shortfalls I figure I need to change connection type to address.
First problem was having the rubber protective cover to put over then ends slide off sometimes. Not really a big deal if the end of the cable is on the ground but not really good if the end is above the batteries and the exposed metal touches frame or battery metal.
Second problem was noticing that every time I plug it in there’s a spark between when the metal connectors meet.
Third problem is that the SAE connectors are only rated for 30 amps at 12v/24v, not for 30 amps or even 10 amps at 84v, which is the charging voltage. While the connectors held when charging at 10 amps, and the batteries charged faster, the plastic/rubber ends became soft and really warm to touch. When charging at 5 amps the plastic/rubber ends become really warm, but not melty warm.
The C13/C14 connectors are rated for 10 amps at 250V so not thinking there should be a problem using in this application as the 5/10 amp charger came with one with 16 ga leads to use as an adapter to other connectors – and unlike the SAE connectors it did not get melty warm when charging at 10 amps or even warm when charging to 5 amps.
As the SAE solar type connection limited charging to 5 amps I finally got around to upgrading the charging port to a standard C14 connector. This allows me to use any standard C13/C14/C15 extension cable from my chargers and to easily make a female connector for any future charger. The C14/C15 port is rated for 10 amps at 240 volts so it should handle 10 amps at 84 volts fine (it does, the SAE connectors become melty when charging at 10 amps as they are only rated for 30 amps at 24v max, or 8 amps at 84 volts).
