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Function
Precharge Operation
Components
AdesignguidetoDCprechargecircuits. Reliability

Wheninitiallyconnectingabatterytoaload
withcapacitiveinput,thereisaninrushof
currentastheloadcapacitanceischargedupto
thebatteryvoltage.Withlargebatteries(witha
lowsourceresistance)andpowerfulloads(with
largecapacitorsacrosstheinput),theinrush
currentcaneasilypeak1000A.
Aprechargecircuitlimitsthatinrushcurrent,
withoutlimitingtheoperatingcurrent.

Aprechargecircuitbetweenabatteryandits
loadisrequiredifanyofthefollowingare
issues:

Theloadhasinputcapacitorswillbedamagedbythe
inrushcurrent
Themainfusewillblowifaskedtocarrytheinrush
current
Thecontactors,ifpresent,willbedamagedbythe
inrushcurrent
Thebatterycellsarenotratedfortheinrushcurrent

Function

Theprechargecircuitconsistsattheminimumof:

Aprechargeresistor,tolimittheinrushcurrent(R1)
Acontactor(highpowerrelay)acrosstheprecharge
resistor(K2)tobypasstheresistorduringnormal
operation

Additionally,theprechargecircuitmayhave:

Aprechargerelay(K1),tokeeptheloadfrombeing
poweredthroughtheprechargeresistorwhenthe
systemisoff

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Acontactorinlinewiththeotherendofthebattery(K3)
toisolatetheloadwhenthesystemisoff

Typicalprechargecircuit.

Inthetypicalprechargecircuit,theprechargeresistorison
thepositiveterminalofthebattery,thoughitcouldjustas
easilybeonthenegativeterminal.
Whileyouarefreetouseanydesignatorsyouwish,theones
inthisschematic(R1,K2,K2andK3)appeartobeindustry
standard,soyouareencouragedtousethemaswell.

Operation

Inthemostbasicform,theprechargecircuitisoperatedas
follows:

Off:Whenthesystemisoff,allrelays/contactorsare
off
Precharge:Whenthesystemisfirstturnedon,K1and
K3areturnedon,toprechargetheload,untiltheinrush
currenthassubsided
On:Afterprecharge,contactorK2isturnedon(relayK1
maybeturnedofftosavecoilpower)

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Typicalprechargewaveforms.

Additionally,theprechargecircuitmaybeusedin
combinationwithsensorstodetectproblemswithground
isolation,shortcircuitacrosstheload,andproblemswith
componentsintheprechargecircuititself.
Suchmethodsarespecializedandareusuallyproprietaryto
themanufacturer.

TheElithionLithiumatecanbeprogrammedtoperform
suchtests.

Componentselection

Herearesometipsoncomponentselection.

Contactors

Inawelldesignedsystem,undernormaloperation,the
contactorsarenotrequiredtointerrupttheoperating
current,becausethesystemwillreducetheloadcurrentto0
beforethecontactorsareopened.Therefore,onlythe
carryingcurrentratingneedstobesufficientfortheaverage
loadcurrent.
Forexample,acontactorwitha50Abreakingcurrentrating
anda100Acarryingcurrentratingwillworkwithaloadthat
draws100Aaverage.

Thecontactorsmustberatedforthemaximumbattery
voltage,asthatvoltagewillbeacrossthecontactswhenthey
areopened.

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ThecontactorsmustberatedforDCoperation.ACrated
contactorsrelyonthefactthatthecurrentwaveformgoes
through0Aateverycrossingfrom+to,tointerruptarcing
acrosstheopeningcontacts.Thatisnotthecasewith
batteries.Instead,aDCcontactorincorporatesotherwaysof
quenchingthearcthatformsatturnoff.Onemethodisa
magnetthatcreatesafieldacrossthepathofthearc,
bendingitandbreakingit.Inthatcase,thecontactsofthe
contactorsarepolarized(oneterminalislabeled'+')connect
thecontactorsothatnormally(thatis,whiledischarging)the
currentflowsintothe'+'terminal.

Contactormanufacturersinclude:

Curtis/AlbrightOpencontactor,longtimestandardin
DIYEVconversions
GigavacHighvoltage,highcurrent,sealedforhigh
reliabilitysomemodelsuse2coils(morereliablethan
aneconomizer)
KilovacSealedstandardinlowvolumeEVspoor
customersupportpoorreliabilityintheeconomizers
PanasonicRecommendedforautomotiveinhigh
volumes
OmronRecommendedforautomotiveinhighvolumes

Prechargerelay

Theprechargerelayneedstoberatedforthefullbattery
voltage,because,whenthesystemisoff,thefullbattery
voltageappearsacrossitscontacts.

AnACrelaymaybeusedbecausebythetimeitisturnedoff
thecurrentthroughithasgoneto0A.

Therelayneedstobeabletohandlethepeakoftheinrush
currentbut,sincetheaveragecurrentislow,andthe
breakingcurrentisnearlyzero,thecurrentratingoftherelay
isnotcritical.

Resistor

Theresistanceoftheprechargeresistorischosenbasedon
thecapacityoftheloadandthedesiredprechargetime.The
prechargesurgecurrentreaches1/eofitsinitialvalueaftera
timeof:
T=R*C
Thecurrentisreducedtoamanageablevalueafter
approximatelyatimeof5*T.
So,ifthedesiredprechargetimeis500ms,andtheload

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capacityis10,000F,then:
R=T/C/5=500ms/10,000F/5=10Ohm

Theprechargeresistorneedstodissipateasmuchenergyas
theenergystoredintheload'sinputcapacitors.So,for
example,witha100Vbatteryvoltageanda10,000F
capacitance,theenergyinthechargedcapacitors(and
thereforetheenergydissipatedbytheprechargeresistor
duringturnon)is:
E=(C*V^2)/2=(10,000F*100V^2)/2=50Joules.
Thepowerdissipatedbytheprechargeresistorduring
prechargeisthatenergyovertheprechargetime.For
example,withaprechargetimeof500ms:
P=E/T=50J/500ms=100W

Attheverybeginningoftheprecharge,theinstantaneous
powerwillbequitehigh:
P=V^2/R=100^2/10=1000W!

Now,overthelongterm,theprechargeresistorwillnotneed
todissipateanysignificantpower(itwillnotgethot).But,
duringtheprecharge,theprechargeresistorwillbestressed
bythathigh,suddenpower.Thatiswhytheprecharge
resistorneedstobeverysturdyandhighpower,yetit
doesn'tneedaheatsink.

Somemanufacturersspecifythepeakpowerdissipation.For
example:"Overload:5timesratedwattagefor5seconds.".
Inthatcase,a50Wresistorwillbehandle500W(well
abovethe100Woftheexampleabove).
Ultimately,youshouldasktheresistormanufacturerifa
particularresistorwillworkinyourapplication,andtrythe
resistorintheapplication.

Wirewoundresistorsarerecommended,typicallyencasedin
ceramic,cementorextrudedaluminum.Inductiveresistors
areOK.
Forexample:

Tubularwirewound:Ohmite270series,Vishay/DaleNL
series
Cementwirewound:XiconPWRCseries
Aluminumextrusionwirewound:Ohmite89series,
StackpoleKALseries

Analternativetoaresistorisanincandescentlightbulb,
whoseresistanceincreasesasitgetshot,thereforemakingit
abletodriveashortedloadwithoutaproblem.(Thankyouto
LeeHartforthetip.)

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Reliability

Notethat,shouldtheprechargecircuitfail(theresistoris
open,ortheK1relayisnotclosing),theimmenseinrush
currentwilloccurattheendoftheprechargeperiod,
damagingthecontactors,theloadcapacitors,andpossibly
blowingthemainfuse.Therefore,thereliabilityofthe
prechargecircuitisparamount,oritsproperoperationshould
beconfirmedbeforethecontactorsareclosed.

TheElithionLithiumatecanbeprogrammedtoperform
suchtests.

2008~2017DavideAndrea.Allrightsreserved,exceptwherenotedbyCCmark.PagepublishedonFeb182016.Graphic
designbymorninglori

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