Upgrading electrics - Fogstar mains charger question

[fred_jb]

I am currently installing a Fogstar 300Ah battery and matching mains 50A charger. I am also fitting a new Renogy combined B2B/MPPT unit to replace both the current Renogy 20A MPPT controller and the Schaudt B2B. I am also fitting a Renogy shunt and upgrading the current 1000W Renogy Inverter to the 3000W model, so there will be some bits for sale soon!

The reason for the question is that due to some space constraints I could do with getting the charger bolted into position before getting everything else wired up so I won't be connecting it to the battery just yet. It will be mounted vertically and I want the fan which is fitted in one end of the unit to work in the same direction as the natural bottom to top convection airflow rather than working against it.

I therefore asked Fogstar what I thought was a simple question - which way does the fan work - does it blow air out or suck air in. If it blows out I will put the fan at the top and if it sucks air in I will put the fan at the bottom. I tried powering it up with no battery connection, but the fan does not operate - I suspect it is thermostatically controlled to only run when needed.

Unfortunately despite much back and forth with Fogstar support I have not got an answer to this - the best they could suggest was plug it in and observe the airflow which I had already tried.

So, does anyone have one of these critters and can tell me whether its fan blows out or sucks in?

 

[MichaelT]

So didn't plugging it on tell you?

 

[fred_jb]

So didn't plugging it on tell you?

As I said in my post no it didn't. It seems the fan does not operate unless the unit is connected to a battery and under load. I'm not in a position to do that yet.

I think I have an answer from looking at some YouTube tutorials on PC fans where it seems that the direction of curve of the fan blades indicates airflow direction. Although difficult to see on this small fan it looks like the fan blades will be sucking in air so I will need to mount it with the fan at the bottom to boost the natural convection airflow.

 

[MisterB]

Could you reverse the fan, either physically or if it's a two wire fan, will changing the wires over reverse the fan? That way you can fix it all in and change things by leaving access to the fan or just the wires to the fan?

 

[headlight]

As I said in my post no it didn't. It seems the fan does not operate unless the unit is connected to a battery and under load. I'm not in a position to do that yet.

I think I have an answer from looking at some YouTube tutorials on PC fans where it seems that the direction of curve of the fan blades indicates airflow direction. Although difficult to see on this small fan it looks like the fan blades will be sucking in air so I will need to mount it with the fan at the bottom to boost the natural convection airflow.

You are in for a shock when you do connect it to battery and use it.
It is by far the loudest charger I have heard and far to loud to use in a van !
I used mine once and took it out.
That is of course assuming that they haven’t rectified the noise problem.

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[fred_jb]

Could you reverse the fan, either physically or if it's a two wire fan, will changing the wires over reverse the fan? That way you can fix it all in and change things by leaving access to the fan or just the wires to the fan?

Good suggestions, but that would involve dismounting it to remove the end panel and flip the fan over, but I would be concerned about opening it up for warranty reasons. I think I will just rearrange the cables which are in the way to make it easier to get out and then turn it over if I have guessed wrong!

 

[fred_jb]

You are in for a shock when you do connect it to battery and use it.
It is by far the loudest charger I have heard and far to loud to use in a van !
I used mine once and took it out.
That is of course assuming that they haven’t rectified the noise problem.

Oh dear, that sounds worrying. I was a bit concerned when I saw it had a fan! It will be inside the dinette seat which has a thick cushion, but I can imagine getting some grief from the OH if it is still buzzing by bedtime. I will have it powered from a switched mains socket, so can always switch it off if necessary.

 

[headlight]

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fred_jb This is how loud the 30 amp Fogstar charger is.

 

[fred_jb]

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fred_jb This is how loud the 30 amp Fogstar charger is.

Thanks, but I don't have a Facebook account. It is only a small fan, same size as,the ones in my inverter and we have not noticed any noise from that.

 

[headlight]

Thanks, but I don't have a Facebook account. It is only a small fan, same size as,the ones in my inverter and we have not noticed any noise from that.

It's a lot louder than any inverter fan I have ever heard.

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[headlight]

fred_jb on the Fogstar owners group I see that there is mention that a new quieter charger has been developed.
So if you've just bought yours it might be quieter than mine.
Mine is certainly to noisy to use when in the van.

 

[fred_jb]

fred_jb on the Fogstar owners group I see that there is mention that a new quieter charger has been developed.
So if you've just bought yours it might be quieter than mine.
Mine is certainly to noisy to use when in the van.

Thanks for that info - I have just bought it so hopefully it will be the improved version!

 

[fred_jb]

fred_jb on the Fogstar owners group I see that there is mention that a new quieter charger has been developed.
So if you've just bought yours it might be quieter than mine.
Mine is certainly to noisy to use when in the van.

I have just got all the new stuff hooked up and yes the charger is noisy though putting the seat base and cushions in place over it should subdue it a bit. I am sure it will still be too loud to leave running overnight, but I wired it to an easily accessible switched mains socket, so can switch it off.