Hi,
First post. Below is email I sent a few weeks back and hoping for some help. I was advised by Brendon to seek assistance on the forum. If people a making proton beam weather Stations, I think I’m in the right place. Just imagine what going to be created by the time Covid isolation is over.
Thanks
Mat Mat
Mar 24, 22:22 AEDT
Hi,
I have a makita 18v battery charger powered off 240v. They make a 12v version (Dc18se) to charge the 18v batteries. I’m wanting to chop out the 240v circuit and wire in your 18v boost reg. Has anyone your familiar with done something similar. I’m assuming the charge circuit is the same with both units just the step down/up side is different. The 110v version can be easily converted with different caps and resistors.
I’ve made a list of products for you that should be appropriate that I’ve linked below. There’s also been a tutorial on setting up a Weather Station on the Core Electronics website which I’ve added a link to as well. I’ve personally never made a modification like that to a high-powered device such as that charger, so please make sure that you’ve got the correct licence to work on that high potentially dangerous voltage and be extremely careful when you do. All the best with it!
Also, what was the SKU of the 18v boost regulator that you wanted to use?
Hi Bryce,
I think you misread my post. I don’t want to make a weather station. I was nearly pointing out that there is some really cool stuff made/mod on here and it was probably the best place to seek assistance.
The sku: 018-DCDC-BOOST-150W.
The other mods I have seen for the charger convert 110 to 240v or visa versa which is above the required 18 volts. I didn’t think swapping out a few capacitors and resistors would work in this instance as the supplied voltage will be 12v, give or take a volt. I thought this boost converter would do the trick. I haven’t seen inside a genuine charger but I’d assume there is some sort of a boost setup in there.
Hi Mat,
Re your charger mod. I have done something similar in the past,although it was quite an old Makita and was only 9.6v [from memory],so was easy to remove the 240v section,and connect 12v to the regulator input.All quite safe as there is then no 240v involved.In the case of your 18v charger,it should be a case of locating the input to the regulator part of the circuit[which is also the output of the 240v part] and wiring your DC-DC boost converter to it.Hi powered boost converters are very cheap on Ebay these days,and very reliable, and I would think they would be much cheaper than the Makita part. I’ve used quite a few of them in different projects with no problems.To help any further I would need to see a circuit or the unit itself.I’m happy to help if you need.Cheers-Ian
