Adjusting a Magnatec 950 converter
I have an old Magnatec 950 converter that is slowly losing its charging voltage. 11 years ago it used to charge at 13.6v or so and is now down to 13 v. can these old converters be adjusted? Manual say...
Forum Discussion
Gjac wrote:
My understanding is that 50 amp output goes to the house for the 2 A/C's, MW etc. but only 8 amps are available to the charge the battery. Am I not understanding this correctly?
You are confusing the two electrical systems in the RV. The converter can supply up to 50A to the 12V system, which can get divided between charging the battery and any 12V loads, and this happens automatically by the basic laws of circuit analysis. If more than 50A are required, the voltage in the 12V electrical system will drop somewhat as the battery supplies the excess power.
The converter requires up to about 8A at 120VAC to produce its 12V output, the exact input requirements naturally depending on how much power it is outputting at the time. Other AC appliances (microwave, air conditioner, etc.) also use power, up to the limits of the shore input or generator or whatever. If you do try to exceed those limits a circuit breaker will trip somewhere...or, at least, we certainly hope one will trip.
The converter can in theory supply all 50A of its output to charge the battery. At a nominal operating voltage of around 13.5V, however, much of the time that will not be happening, as the charge rate (for a given battery and state of charge) depends upon the voltage supplied to it.
