Multiple battery chargers are sometimes employed in dc power systems to provide redundancy. Two (2) or more chargers of the same voltage rating can be connected in parallel, each of them capable of powering the connected dc load(s) and charging the battery. When two (2) or more chargers operate in parallel, they normally will not share the load current equally. Since any two (2) chargers will usually have slightly different connection paths, one of the chargers in a system will typically have a slightly higher dc output voltage, and will therefore assume more of the burden of providing the necessary load current.
ATevo’s forced load sharing feature supports a single ‘Primary’ charger, and up to three (3) ‘Secondary’ chargers. The Primary charger communicates with Secondary chargers over a serial connection. Each charger requires a Serial Communications Adapter (A13) set for RS-485, wired to all other chargers, to create the forced load sharing communication network.
The ATevo Forced Load Sharing feature is supplied in a bagged kit (p/n EJ5306-##). It can be ordered with ATevo, or supplied later for field installation. In addition to the A13 pc boards, and a signal interconnection cable, the kit also contains a separate user Installation & Operating Instructions (p/n JA5054-50). An abbreviated version of that text is listed in the following sections.