/ CHARGING RATE
I currently charge my twin group 27 deep cycles with a six amp manual charger via HONDA EU 1000. With the six amp charger hooked up am I charging both batteries at 6 amps or 3 amp each? I want a fas...
Forum Discussion
NinerBikes wrote:
Been there, done that, with the Honda Eu1000I generator, which in your case, is the limiting power factor here, the weakest link.
You really need 14.8 volts, period. The Progressive Dynamics 9245 at 45 amps, runs fine on the Honda EU1000i, but it runs to 14.4V with the pendulum added. It's amps drop off quickly, but it will make the little Honda work pretty hard up front, so warm the generator up first, before plugging it in and running it in regular mode for a bit before plugging in the charge controller.
A better option would be the Iota DLS30 with the IQ4 smart controller, which will give you 14.8 Volts in bulk mode.
No matter how you slice it, when you are running on a generator, to a limit, about 14.8 to 15V.... Voltage with a modicum of amps pushed behind it, is what it takes to save generator run time, without overloading the generator.
Before you go spending money on a new (gotta have this brand X or you are living in the stone ages)converter, buy yourself a good DC clamp on meter and measure your charging current with the converter. I have a single SCS 200 GR27 Trojan battery and run my EU1000 for about 3-4 hours every morning. It is run in econo mode when I first plug the trailer into the generator the generator speeds up some but before long the engine sound has tapered off as it sips fuel. The initial charging current for the single battery is typically 10-12 A and I let it charge until it gets below 3A. We dry camp for about 8-10 days using this technique when we are in the Smokies. We use about 2 gal. of fuel. Is it the absolute fastest? No. Does it meet our needs? Absolutely. We have been doing this for years and it works well. Our first trailer (Casita)had an old style converter that hummed and made the lights flicker when connected to ac power but I used the same technique even then. Our current trailer has the dreaded (per this forum) WFCO converter and it never goes into bulk mode but it is no big deal.
You may find that your converter is adequate for your style and much faster than your 6A charger unless you want to get your charging done in much less time.
Dick
