25 Years of Serving Clients Around the World, Still 100% Canadian

Soneil Battery Chargers at Econogics

Last updated 2023.09.05

Econogics and Soneil

Econogics has been carrying the line of Soneil intelligent battery chargers for over 20 years. We provide a unique combination of knowledge, value-add service, keeping inventory in stock and offering very competitive prices on chargers for lead-acid batteries.
While we can also provide any charger or battery from Soneil's product line, we generally recommend that people buy their lithium-based batteries and chargers from the same vendor, and ensure the warranty covers your usage based on the same party providing batteries, chargers, a Battery MANAGEMENT System (BMS), not just a monitorying system, and a charging regime they will honour. This is tricky, as there are a number of lithium chemistries, each with specific maximum charging voltages and currents and minimum voltage cut-out voltages, usually to be implemented at the cell level, not the battery module level.

Customer First

We don't just mean our customers come first – everyone that retails says that. What we mean is that we were Soneil customers before we chose to become distributors for their line of compact, intelligent, affordable battery chargers.

We have used electric vehicles, on-road and off-road, for over four decades, and we found one thing even more limiting than the limited energy storage of lead-acid batteries for most of our applications: the lack of an affordable charger sufficiently intelligent that we could plug in our vehicle, and then just walk away and not worry about the charger cooking the batteries, or under-charging them, or a range of other quirks we came to know and dislike over the years (additional watering, the hydrogen-sulphide smell, vehicles not ready for operation when needed, etc). We spent a lot of time looking for a smart, affordable charger.

We were fortunate to discover the Soneil line when we needed a charger to keep our tractor charged at a remote location, where we could only attend to it about once a week. With the factory charger, this essentially guaranteed an extra 3 hours for each trip as we did a top-up charge on arrival and waited for that to complete prior to operation. The Soneil 3610SRF changed that. Just plug in on departure, and the tractor was fully charged and ready to go on next arrival. We put that charger through a year of Canadian operation (including winter), and were so satisfied with it, we wanted to bring it to other EV'ers. So we became a distributor. What more can we say? We liked the product so much, we wanted to share it with others. This is the first product from another company that Econogics elected to carry.

We want to communicate with you prior to the transaction to ensure that you are getting the charger that is appropriate to your application, including the right connector(s), when we make a sale. Just to toot our own horn a bit, here's an email we received in August 2021:
"Hi Darryl,
The charger arrived today. Thank you for such prompt service and great
communication. We really appreciate your reasonable pricing also, when
faced with what feels like gouging from local brick & mortar suppliers
(who wanted two-and-a-half times as much for the same product and couldn't
guarantee it would arrive within a month).
Mark C."

Our prices and service will make you smile.

Our Recommendations on Applications

If you know what you need, use our on-line ordering page. If you have questions, say about connectors, e-mail us.

Modular EV Chargers

Many EV users want to charge each battery in their pack separately, so that batteries are maintained individually, not undercharged or overcharged because of the overall pack condition. The compact, lightweight and intelligent Soneil chargers are ideal for this application. Which specific charger you select will depend on the nominal voltage of your battery modules (e.g., 6 or 12 volts), and the rate at which you want to charge them, and possibly the capacity of your mains charging circuit. Contact us with your specifics, and we will figure out which Soneil charger is most appropriate for your vehicle. (We use the Soneil 1212SR in our latest on-road EV project, one on each of our twelve Orbital XCD34 batteries. They all run off a single 15-amp, 120-volt circuit.)

12 Soneil 1212SR chargers in our electric car conversion (6 behind bumper, 6 on bulwark wall)
Close-up of mounting of 2 chargers and power bar that shares one circuit to all 12 chargers)
Front bank of chargers viewed from above
Close-up of one charger showing green (charged) LED)
Energy meter showing AC voltage at 120 volts (top line), and current draw for 12 chargers (batteries all charged) at 0 watts (second line).

Electric-Assist Bikes

We love electric bikes; in fact we successfully campaigned to get them legalized in Ontario. (A 3-year pilot project was announced on October 4th, 2006, which covers most electric assist bikes, provided you are 16 years of age or older, and wear a bicycle helmet.) On most electric bikes, the objective is to have a small, light battery pack to drive the electric motors, but not exhaust the rider. So why use a bulky, heavy charger? The Soneil chargers are small enough and light enough to bring along on the commute, so you can recharge the pack at work as well as at home, and smart enough not to overcharge the batteries with the additional charging opportunities. Of course, you might find them so affordable, you'll have two. With one at work and one at home, no need to carry the charger with you. Which charger will be most appropriate will depend on your pack voltage (e.g., 12, 24, 36, 48 or 72 volts), desired recharge rate, and budget.

We have a Soneil 3602S for our home-built 36-volt electric bike. Affordable, and it can recharge the 7 amp-hour pack in about 7 hours, ideal for charging at both ends of a commute.

Unfortunately, with many electric bikes, the charger that is supplied with them is the cheapest thing that will push electrons. If you want to protect your battery investment, or if your OEM charger fails, consider getting a Soneil charger as a replacement.

If you have a Schwinn electric bike that's a couple of years old, and this spring it doesn't have the get-up-and-go you remember, it might not be the battery pack - or at least not completely. We are seeing a number of charger failures on these machines, especially the 24-volt models (such as were sold by Canadian Tire). If you are having this problem, we recommend either the Soneil 2409SR (for bikes getting a lot of use or needing relatively fast charging) or the 2404SX (for less demanding charging requirements). (Please keep the battery connector from your existing charger for re-use as we have not yet found a source for the odd plugs used by Schwinn on those machines.)

Of course, we also have 36-volt models (like the 3605S and 3602S) for bikes using that voltage, be it lead-acid, nickel-metal-hydride, or even some LiFePO4 packs (depends on recommended maximum cell voltage from the manufacturer - always use a BMS on lithium batteries).

If you know what you need, use our on-line ordering page. If you have questions, say about connectors, e-mail us.

Electric Motorcycles

If you need a replacement battery charger for an electric motorcycle that uses lead-acid batteries, we can hook you up. Even if you have an EVT R30 or Z30 and can't find a charger for it anywhere else. We have the Soneil 5807SR which was built for us specifically for those unusual 60-volt battery systems.

Electric Tractors and Golf Carts

Most of these machines are 36-volt nominal. For these, we recommend the Soneil 3610SRF charger for reasonably fast charges (overnight), while eliminating the guesswork of setting timers, and reducing gassing and the need for watering. (You can keep your existing bulk charger for faster charging and the occasional equalization charge. We have used our Soneil 3610SRF in parallel with the OEM bulk charger for even faster charging of our electric tractor on occasion.)

Here's what one long-time, repeat customer wrote to another electric tractor owner with a charger problem:
"The EGT100 charger, like all the chargers of the period, is actually not very good - so this my be a blessing - even better it an easy fix -- replace it with a Soneil!!! I would recommend very very highly this charger from a Canadian company unit Soneil model 3610SRF. The unit is about 5''X3"X2" and weight just over 500 grams. If you are handy you can mount the unit on the EGT100, but it could also be as simple as connecting two spring clips to the 36-volt pack. It also only draws about 5 amps a full charge may take a little longer than with the old one, but it will still full charge overnight, and it is smart - in fact you will want to have it connected whenever the tractor in not in use. With the Soneil and a little bit a battery care your battery life could be decades.

"Don't let the size fool you this is an amazing unit --- it very smart and almost completely fool proof, I have several units. But I have many many tractors. They are affordable, a cool thing is that being Canadian you have no duty or tax issues and they are small enough to be shipped Canada Post.

"Check out http://soneil.com/ and buy it from http://www.econogics.com/index.html

"Hope this helps. You can fix the old charger but they are so hard on the battery pack it not worth the trouble and unless it is just a wire the cost of parts and repair will set you back around $100. in the end you will still have a crappy battery "boiler" charger."

I could not have said it better.

Another option is to use three 12-volt chargers or six 6-volt chargers for modular charging of the batteries.

For units with a 48-volt system, we recommend the Soneil 4807SR or Soneil 4812SR. Some of the new electric tractors are using 48-volt systems (e.g., the Ariens AMP Rider).

If you know what you need, use our on-line ordering page. If you have questions, say about connectors or if we can accommodate your requirement for a charger for a specific make and model of cordless mower, line-trimmer, tiller, tractor or other yard tool (primarily using lead-acid batteries), e-mail us.

Battery-powered Yard Tools

In recent years, a number of companies (Ryobi, Canadian Tire) have introduced lines of yard tools like lawn mowers and rototillers that run on batteries. Many of those batteries are lead-acid composition and in 24 and 36-volt configurations (e.g., Brill Accu, Epic EP21H, Earthwise, Hudson Star, Recharge riding mower, Sears Craftsman, Sunlawn EM-2, Worx Eco). Some of the more recent entries (e.g., MTD, Troy-Bilt Model 188, White Model 188) are introducing 48 volt versions. However, owners are learning that in some of these units, the charger is the weak link with these products. Our guess is that the manufacturers have elected to use low-priced chargers to keep their costs down, knowing that when those chargers kill your batteries, the warranty will have expired. With luck, they'll even get to sell you the replacement batteries. Depending on what product you have, 12-volt modular chargers, or 24-volt (e.g., Soneil 2409SR), 36-volt (e.g., Soneil 3605S) or 48-volt Soneil chargers (e.g., Soneil 4807SR) may be appropriate replacements. These may give some new life to your existing batteries, but will definitely improve the lifespan of your replacement batteries.

Unfortunately, most of the manufacturers have used unusual and proprietary connectors, so please keep the old battery connector from your old charger and use it with your new Soneil charger to facilitate the connection.

Earthwise & Homelite Cordless Lawn Mowers

We have had several people contact us about getting better chargers for their Earthwise 60120 and Homelite UT13122 24-volt mowers, as the original chargers have failed, or are not charging the batteries properly. After a fair bit of work to deduce their wiring, we have successfully mated up a Soneil 2409S to the original charging cable, so you can have a superior charging solution for your Earthwise or Homelite cordless mower. If a longer (slower) charging time works for you, we also have the Soneil 2404SX. For a small additional fee, we'll attach a connector or modify your charging cable. (If the original batteries are damaged due to overcharging, a new charger will not be able to recover them - they will have to be replaced, along with the charger.)

Don't let your clean-air mower sit idle just because of the inadequacy of the original charger. E-mail us about a better charger solution.

Black and Decker

It appears Black & Decker are not immune from the disappointing charger syndrome either. We were gifted a dead 24-volt cordless B&D mower last summer. The batteries were dead flat - 0 volts. We hooked up the existing charger to a couple of middle-aged batteries - no charger output - dead charger. So, we put a Soneil 2404SX into the mower along with the used batteries and ran it through a few cycles. [Update: 4 years later. Working like a champ for several years now (at our neighbour's house) on the same used batteries.] [Update: October 2022 - after 9 years of service on the used and abused batteries we got with the gifted mower, the neighbour announced the batteries are dead. Charger still in good operating condition, and mower now operating with another pair of 'scrap' batteries we rescued a couple of years ago. Note: the current batteries were 'dead' when rescued, and while now mowing our lawn, they certainly are not operating like new batteries - the Soneil charger is only a partial miracle.]

YardWorks

Specifically regarding the YardWorks line of tools using the 24-volt, lead-acid batteries, our family has found the chargers for this line to be thoroughly disappointing. They have uniformly overcharged (cooked) the batteries to death, in same cases within a matter of months. Some of the batteries have been deformed as a result of the degree of overcharging. Other owners have reported that their batteries were always undercharged. We have arrived at the following solution. We have replaced the original batteries in the battery case that were destroyed by the original charger with new units of known brands (presumably better quality). Then, we replaced the original charger with a Soneil charger (usually a 2404SX, but in one case a 2409SR for faster charging).

This is what one satisfied customer wrote to us about his YardWorks mower.

"Hey Darryl,

"Just wanted to drop you a line about my experience with the new charger.

"I have a Yardworks 14 inch 24 volt lawnmower that I bought used because the previous owner could not cut his whole lawn.

"When I first got it I could not get through my entire lawn. I replaced the two 12 volt 10 ampere hour gel cells with equivalent AGM Power-Sonic cells.

"With the new batteries and the stock charger I could just cut the lawn and the charge indicator was red.

"Anyway, I received the Soneil 2404SX and hooked it up this week and let it charge one cycle.

"Yesterday I cut the whole lawn and the battery charge indicator was still green!

"Thanks for the site and the service, I now am confident that I can use this thing for years to come."

from LG

If you know what you need, use our on-line ordering page. If you have questions, say about connectors, e-mail us.

High Current / Fast Charging Applications

We are pleased to announce the recent addition of high current chargers to the Soneil product line for 12-volt (up to 50 amps constant current), 24-volt, 36-volt (up to 30 amps constant current) and 48-volt (up to 20 amps constant current) lead-acid battery systems. If your application demands high current, fast charging, these units deliver it, with an intelligent charging algorithm, in a small, lightweight package. (The constant current ratings apply to the initial bulk charge phase. Current during the charge maintenance phases is lower as appropriate to the stage.)

12 volts
1224SR - 12 amp constant current
1230SR - 15 amp constant current Specifications Charging Curve (others similar)
1240SR - 20 amp constant current
1260SR - 30 amp constant current
1280SR - 40 amp constant current
12100SR - 50 amp constant current

24 volts
2424SR - 12 amp constant current
2430SR - 15 amp constant current
2440SR - 20 amp constant current Specifications Charging Curve (others similar)
2450SR - 25 amp constant current
2460SR - 30 amp constant current

36 volts
3620SR - 10 amp constant current
3630SR - 15 amp constant current
3640SR - 20 amp constant current
3650SR - 25 amp constant current Specifications Charging Curve (others similar)

48 volts
4820SR - 10 amp constant current Specifications Charging Curve (others similar)
4840SR - 20 amp constant current

We don't usually stock the high current chargers due to limited demand. Soneil continues to add chargers to the mid-range and high-current ranges. However, we would be happy to answer your questions, or get them for you. Just ask.

Special Requests, Handling, Shipping

We provide most connectors as requested by our customers for a small fee (e.g., ring terminals, quick disconnects – male or female) for their convenience. Unusual connectors, Gerbing connectors and Anderson connectors incur an extra charge. For XLR connectors (male on the charger), please specify your pin-out connection requirements. We normally ship expedited postal delivery (three or four business days delivery), but will ship whatever way you want. We will try to accommodate any special shipping or handling requests. All shipping charges are extra. All applicable taxes are extra. Canadian residents pay GST or HST as appropriate.

For your convenience and confidence, we accept payment via Interac E-mail Money Transfer and PayPal. (We still want to talk to you about your application first, so feel free to e-mail before ordering.)

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