Inside the ALDI/Ferrex 20/40V battery charger
Added 2022-12-29 05:21:29 +0000 UTCMost of the work in this charger is done by a dedicated chip that may be a standard microcontroller with custom numbering.
There are some possible identification clues. Pins 1 and 3 are 0V and pin 2 is 5V. The first ten pins of the 20 pin chip may be largely comparator pins, since that side seems to deal with current and voltage monitoring and control, with the power supply's opto feedback possibly coming directly from a comparator.
This was super-frustrating to reverse engineer due to the thick and hard layer of conformal coating on the surface mount components. Very intermittent connections, even with very sharp probes. Extra exciting when probing for voltages with the board live. The lack of data on the chip deterred me from trying to draw a schematic, as it would involve lots of vague resistor and capacitor networks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I86r0APvuxc
Comments
I actually watched the schematic version first by accident. Wow. I'd say would say great job here. That infernal "chip" without it's data sheet leaves a lot of questions I suppose but I thought this was a great dive into the complexity of this thing. Still way over my head but I learn little bits here and there with every video you produce (very well done I might add) Thanks Big Clive.
Dave Frederick
2022-12-31 05:07:23 +0000 UTCQuite complex, and given the possible failure points, it's reassuring that Aldi gives a Three year warranty on it's electrical items.
Mike Hughes
2022-12-29 12:34:24 +0000 UTC
