opnspaces wrote:
I know the PD has a decent following as it works for people. But I'm wondering how much of the higher cost is really goodwill or perceived value and not anything to do with reliability or longevity over any other brand.
If you are looking for a "set and forget" converter, hands down the PD series will do that for you. I do like the lower storage voltage mode of the PD at 13.2V because my RV sits unused for long periods of time plugged into shore power. Very low water use which means I don't have to check the water levels every month as I would if I had a converter that only settled down to 13.6V.
PD should also switch to bulk mode automatically when you apply shore or gen with a partially depleted battery. I know mine does that.
PD does have one strike against it, that is the PF or power factor is not as ideal which means it tends to draw a bit more power than other same amperage other brands. That can be an issue with using a smaller generator. A PD9160/PD9260 can draw more than 1000W at full output because of the PF. May be a bit close with your 2000W gen if you have other 120V items running. For that reason some folks have used a lower amperage PD with small gens.
Iota because of it's higher voltages might deliver a slight advantage to charging a bit faster, it takes more voltage to push more amps back into your battery.. However, the battery will tend to self limit just how much it will accept so any advantage there sort of depends on your type and size of battery.
Both PD and Iota are pretty much set and forget, in most cases, should never have to force modes, just allow them to do their jobs and all will be good.
If you have the need to constantly tinker with charging your batteries then something like the Power max which has the means of manually adjusting the voltage might be your ticket.. Some folks love to tinker with batteries as a hobby (battery maintenance hobby) and some like myself would rather spend time doing other hobby things..
