Battery Charging Help

Question

Okay I searched a little bit but I did not see someone asking just what I was looking for. I have a Class A that I have added 2 more 6 volt batteries to the original 2 total of 440 AH at 12V. The Charging unit is a WFCO WF-9865 it has the standard 3 stage charger 13.2, 13.6, and 14.4. It will only hold the 14.4 for 4 hours by design. I have also installed a meter that shows me the amps going either direction, the battery %, and total AH. The problem I am seeing is that the batteries get to 70% and then then it is only charging at 4-7 amps so I have to run the generator for hours to get the batteries charged. Should I use a separate deep cycle charger? I would guess I would need to unplug the onboard charger so the other charger doesn’t get fooled? Has anyone else ran into this problem? Is there a better on board charger that has a separate charging and 12V supply?
Thanks for any help

azrving · Answer

If you don't want to fiddle with things and just want to turn on an actual battery charger you could consider a brand called quick charge. Others will know more about inverter/chargers that may have good battery charging capability. If you want to spend minimal money and be hands on, search mega watt and mean well.

Many use golf cart batteries but there is little on here about actual golf cart battery chargers. Many use black and decker portables for top charging

time2roll · Answer

Does the WFCO actually charge at 14.4 volts?Four hours should get you over 70% if it is actually in boost mode.WFCO is notorious for just hanging around in normal 13.6 mode.

ah64id · Answer

I would try a different converter, not too many good things are said about WFCO's... except that they do a great job filling up a trash can.

sandia_man · Answer

WFCO converters have a poor reputation for bulk charging (14.4) if they even get into that phase. There are other converter brands that will significantly improve battery charging particularly when attempting to do so via generator.

I don't attempt to fully charge my batteries using our genny, rather I expect our Iota DLS converter to bring batteries back to the 80-90% range within a couple of hours as the remaining percentage could take an additional few hours.

You can connect an additional portable charger (BD 40 amp is popular choice) along with your converter to help speed things up while charging via generator, but a good start since you just added a pair of batteries is to upgrade your converter. Call Randy @ BestConverter.com for a easy upgrade to your existing system.

beemerphile1 · Answer

When charging with a generator it is inefficient to attempt achieving 100% charge.  Most people are satisfied at 80%.  When sizing a battery bank it should be calculated at the 80% starting point. Get it to 100% when shore power is available or use solar.

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Battery Charging Help

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