what converter/charger should I buy?...I need help

prlandry wrote:
Hi guys,

I'm the new owner of an older class A MH... a 1996 triple E commander DP and the house batteries are shot and I knew before buying it that they would need to be replaced.

I just ordered 4 t105's and I'm in the middle of picking out the right charger for me.

What I'm looking for in a new charger is that it can charge the batteries in the least amount of time off the 5kw onan onboard gen. And it would be way more convenient if I could run the charger off of a 15amp shore power (unless it will require a charger that won't be as effective to quickly charge the t105's)

I have pretty much made up my mind so far to go with the iota chargers due to them being able to push 14.8v as required by trojan.... I just need to decide what size I should go with. 45,55,75amps???

I plan on mostly boondocking with my rv and when my parents use the rig they will probably be hooked up to shore power more often then not.

I can't seem to find a quick answer and most of the long explanations I have found are over my head. Someone on here should be able to give me a quick answer.

I want to order my new charger in the next few days as my new batteries will show up monday.


This is a great site with plenty of good info... looking forward to what you guys suggest I go with amp wise.



Thx
Peter

I replaced my original with this one, couldn't be happier with it's performance and it should suffice for you also...CONVERTER CHARGER

If you are going to use the on board generator, then get the biggest converter you can, to recharge the batteries. If you will use a 2,000 Watt invertor generator, it may overload it at times, dropping the generator off line. We had a 75 amp converter, and as it started going bad last year, I replaced it with a 55 Amp converter to keep from overloading the small inverter generator.

prlandry wrote:
I just spoke to Randy at bestconverters and I'm going to go with what he recommended.... I'm gonna order a powermax pm4 75amp. it's what he recommends for boondocking the most and he seemed very knowledgeable to what dry campers need and buy the most.


Thanks everyone for the great info... I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future as I'm still learing alot about rv'ing.



Peter

I didn't think those had a manual bulk mode but you do get the higher capacity for a few bucks less than the progressive dynamics. In any case it will be better than what you have now.

I just spoke to Randy at bestconverters and I'm going to go with what he recommended.... I'm gonna order a powermax pm4 75amp. it's what he recommends for boondocking the most and he seemed very knowledgeable to what dry campers need and buy the most.


Thanks everyone for the great info... I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future as I'm still learing alot about rv'ing.



Peter

prlandry wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
4 T-105's = 460 amp hours times 0.3 = 138 amps max charge rate
or 46 amps at the Trojan recommended 10% c/20 charge rate.

so I'm better off with an 80amp charger versus a 60amp one?

I can get a new iota55 for around 150$ from a canadian seller on ebay... and should only take a few days to get here if I go that route.

..... sure

With a PD and charge wizard, you can force bulk mode if you really need to slam more amps quickly into a battery that has entered the absorption stage. It's not the best thing for the batteries but you may find it useful on occasion.

wa8yxm wrote:
4 T-105's = 460 amp hours times 0.3 = 138 amps max charge rate
or 46 amps at the Trojan recommended 10% c/20 charge rate.

so I'm better off with an 80amp charger versus a 60amp one?

I can get a new iota55 for around 150$ from a canadian seller on ebay... and should only take a few days to get here if I go that route.

Quote from link: "Section 310.4 provides specific information and requirements for paralleling of conductors and should certainly be the first reference that a user would choose for an understanding of the basics for paralleling conductors. The first paragraph in this section permits aluminum, copper-clad aluminum and copper conductors that are at least 1/0 AWG or larger to be connected in parallel if these parallel conductors are electrically joined at both ends to form a single conductor."

http://www.ecmag.com/section/systems/conductors-connected-parallel

At hand we are talking about #6 AWG.

smkettner wrote:
IOTA really only goes 14.6 then you have 15 minutes before it drops to 14.2 volts. The 14.8 is only the max if you hit it during that 15 minutes. Still an excellent converter.

With #6 wire (how long?) I would stick with 55 amps. I am not big on parallel conductors and neither is RVIA and NEC. Low battery will still take a solid three hours to get to 90%. Larger wire is better. Since you are pulling wire I recommend going #4 even #2 if it will fit the connectors. Also the 15 amp outlet limits you to the 55a version.

Im an electrical contractor, and Im wondering where in the NEC does it mention that they are not OK with parallel conductors.

4 T-105's = 460 amp hours times 0.3 = 138 amps max charge rate
or 46 amps at the Trojan recommended 10% c/20 charge rate.

So, Progressive Dynamics 9280 is, I think the largest 9200 made (am checking)

http://www.progressivedyn.com/power_converters.html had all the links you need, Best converters has the product for sale (Google them) if you have an existing power panel/converter combination change 92 to 46

The PD 92201 reomte pendent is optional

Or you can get the 9180 with the optional wizard.. Depending on when you buy that pair might be less expensive than the 9280/92201 combo, and electronically the difference is non-existent (the 9180 is the 9210 w/o built in wizard, the wizard plugs in, like the remote pendant, and provides the same functions as the remote as well)

When I got my motor home I did a lot of research on power converters.. I found a few common ones like the old Magneteks and most of the Parallex line where upgrades are recommended.. Upgrading from the 9200... NOT POSSIBLE, You can find some that for most of us are equal to a 9200, but you won't find one better.

The top converters
Progressive Dynamics 9200 with remote
Progressive dynamics 9180 with wizard/remote
4600 series with remote
All of these are the same electronically and functionally, different physically.
Iota with IQ-4
9200 w/o remote
(Again these two are, though not identical, so close as to make no difference)
All other 3-stage plus
All other 3-stage
All lesser converters
Magnetek 6300 (UPGRADE THIS ONE)

prlandry wrote:

smkettner wrote:
IOTA really only goes 14.6 then you have 15 minutes before it drops to 14.2 volts. The 14.8 is only the max if you hit it during that 15 minutes. Still an excellent converter.

With #6 wire (how long?) I would stick with 55 amps. I am not big on parallel conductors and neither is RVIA and NEC. Low battery will still take a solid three hours to get to 90%. Larger wire is better. Since you are pulling wire I recommend going #4 even #2 if it will fit the connectors. Also the 15 amp outlet limits you to the 55a version.

I haven't measured the exact length but I'm guessing around 12 feet... I can double up the cables as these are pretty good quality and are free.

I was originally looking at the pd9260 but then read about the iota pushing just a bit more volts that would be better(I think) to charge up my new t105's as per the charging recommendations.

If I went with a bigger converter say the iota 75... would this be more efficient at quickly charging my batteries while not being to harsh on them?

The harsh part would be in the microprocessor that handles the charging. The converters you are looking at with at least 3 stages should be fine. 75 amps DC should be ok on a 15 amp 110v circuit as it will likely pull about 10 amps max on the 110 side. Running parallel wires obviously isn't as good as a single heavy gauge but... it does work. I wasn't aware of any complications besides 110 draw, wire thickness and battery specs in limiting the DC amperage capacity to charge faster.