Battery Life and Low Temps
I have been having a ball up at Iris Meadow off of Rock Creek Road, Close to Mammoth Lakes, CA. It's the steeper side of the Sierras just East of Yosemite. It's a little known area comparably, but v...
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Hi Rmack1,
You can run your generator forever and the batteries still won't fully charge unless the voltage is increased beyond what a standard converter will provide.
If you are unlucky you may have a WFCO converter, which may rather rarely ever get to "boost mode". That means charging voltage is most probably 13.6.
The solar if it is equipped with a temperature compensation probe on the battery will work in conjunction with the existing converter. Solar will cover the parasitic loads during the day and provide some charging as well.
I do have two temperature compensated methods of charging. Two nights ago when it was 4 c (39 f) the voltage being presented to the battery bank was 15.1. Amps were 78.
BTW I kept my PD 40 amp converter in place so that I have a back up way to charge. It, at least, can be set via the wizard to provide 14.4 volts.
You can run your generator forever and the batteries still won't fully charge unless the voltage is increased beyond what a standard converter will provide.
If you are unlucky you may have a WFCO converter, which may rather rarely ever get to "boost mode". That means charging voltage is most probably 13.6.
The solar if it is equipped with a temperature compensation probe on the battery will work in conjunction with the existing converter. Solar will cover the parasitic loads during the day and provide some charging as well.
I do have two temperature compensated methods of charging. Two nights ago when it was 4 c (39 f) the voltage being presented to the battery bank was 15.1. Amps were 78.
BTW I kept my PD 40 amp converter in place so that I have a back up way to charge. It, at least, can be set via the wizard to provide 14.4 volts.
Rmack1 wrote:
1. OK, let me remember. I have a factory converter, I think, that charges my 12 volts when I'm hooked up to shore power or running a gennie. It would probably be impractical to swap it out with a more advanced unit, if indeed I need this. This is a very nice 2013 Rockwood Mini Lite, and it probably has the latest gear.
3. That's interesting, but this happened after running the gennies all day long, till about 20:00 hours, and then we went on the batts. running a 12 volt fan and a furnace, etc.
