Adding Inverter/Charger.Questions

time2roll wrote:
Forget the boondocker unless you want a manually operated converter.
The automatic boondocker gives a boost charge to about 75 percent, then a trickle at 13.6 volts similar to WFCO.

Go with the first link, the Progressive Dynamics.

Time2Roll is self spring-loaded to point this out, but never mentions what SOC you would get to anyway for the amps size of the charger vs the AH size of the battery bank. Higher charging rate (amps vs AH size of bank) means lower SOC when you reach Vabs. The trick now is to stay at Vabs for long enough to be useful. That "depends."

Also whether you are doing 50-80s or 50-90s off- grid or whether you have solar to follow that up the rest of the day.

The PD has its own "issues" for not being able to hold constant rated amps, which can mean tapered amps, and longer gen time, so it can be no better than the regular, non-ADJ PowerMax by the end of the recharge, however long you leave the gen running.

Overall, I would pick the PD over the PowerMax if I weren't that much of an hands on guy, and I would pick the PowerMax ADJ models over their regular line of converters if I were a hands on guy for charging batts. (The new PowerMax LKs have an adjustable voltage pot you can get at, so that makes it easy for the hands on guy)

EDIT-- ISTR Parallax now also has one of those power centres with their newer, fancy 4400 series converter included (has temperature compensation) --don't have a link, but you can find it.