Originally Posted by Gregor
Came across this the other day. I've noticed with my car running and Powerlab8, the charger triggers a safety function that occurs when the voltage functions are beyond the designer's safe levels. A some amount of fluctuations can be absorbed by the chargers input capacitor. But large amounts, over time can be hard on the capacitor.
<http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1082910>
That's kind of strange, especially when the Powerlab 8 is rated for between one 12 Volt battery and two 12 volt batteries in series. I've connected mine to a variable 24 Volt 25 Amp supply, set to anywhere between 12 and 24 VDC. No problems.
Have also run it off of my auto battery but don't do that when I'm charging a 6S4P A123 pack at 28 amps! (That's pulling 51 Amps out of the 12 Volt Battery)
So, this is my "Portable 65 Amp 12 Volt DC Supply" Take a look:
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66066