Benefit of replacing converter/charger with larger one

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

It will work--but there are better solutions. PD units have 0.7 power factor which is not great.

I'd look at Power Max myself.

camper19709 wrote:
After lots of research and helpful info from this forum, I have decided(almost) on a PD9280 with the Charge Wizard. And the pendant.

The PowerMax units with pf correction start with the 75 amper on up, so the 60 amper doesn't have it (and doesn't need it---unless you have only a 1000w gen, in which case you would like some pf correction!)

Hi,

It will work--but there are better solutions. PD units have 0.7 power factor which is not great.

I'd look at Power Max myself.

camper19709 wrote:
After lots of research and helpful info from this forum, I have decided(almost) on a PD9280 with the Charge Wizard. And the pendant.

Sounds like a great choice to me Glen.

why not use a 4 stage conv? I just swapped my crazy wfco 55a with a Powermax Boondocker 55a 4 stage. After talking to Randy this is what he thought I needed with 2 GC2's @ 232ah. Haven't had a chance to go out yet but after trying it out here @ home it seems to get the job done. I also have a 15w 7a solar trickle between trips. I am hoping I have made a good choice.

Note that the PD9280 needs a 20amp circuit to plug into and that it is a power hungry item to run from a generator. There are conflicting reports whether a Honda 2000 can run one.

You might consider the PowerMax 75amper which is power factor corrected instead that can run on a 15amp circuit. However it has a fixed charging profile with no manual override with a charge wizard gizmo if that matters to you.

Also in any case, the converter to battery wiring and the fuse will need changing going up from 55 to 75-80 amps.

After lots of research and helpful info from this forum, I have decided(almost) on a PD9280 with the Charge Wizard. And the pendant.

There are two separate aspects to this business.

The OP didn't say whether he wants faster charging but did say his pair of 6s were not getting fully charged. I ran through my "learner" set of 6s when finding out that the single stage 13.8v converter was not getting them fully charged no matter how long they were on with shore power. They got sulfated beyond recovery.

You need the high voltage as shown in the above link, but the amps don't matter so much-- if you are on shore power, it will get done.

People here report that their 6s do quite well on converters that only go to 14.4v. But those don't do the last part of the recharge at 14.4, they do it at 13.6. I cannot confirm from own experience if that is true, but I doubt those folks are lying! Maybe it just means the batts will last longer than at 13.8 and that is long enough for them, even if they would last even longer if they saw 15. I don't know.

So you can possibly solve the main problem of getting a full charge on shore power by just using a higher voltage charger/converter. That will help but not necessarily solve the second problem of fast charging off the generator when doing "50-90s." For that you also need a high charging rate (charging amps wrt bank capacity in AH)

My reason for replacing my converter/charger was to go with the SMART MODE Charging technology to be able to re-charge my battery bank with a DAILY three hour Generator run time period and to provide enough DC current to give 15-20 AMPS of DC Current for "EACH" of my installed batteries in the battery bank to use when being charged.

My current three each 85AH 12VDC battery bank draws around 52 AMPS DC current when my PD9260C Converter/charger unit first hits them with 14.4VDC Boost charge mode. This is what makes my battery bank re-charge to the 90% charge state within three hours of smart charge mode charging.

At the 90% charge state I can use my battery bank for at least 12-14 cycles of 50% to 90% charge states and not do damage to my batteries. After the 12-14 50% to 90% charge state cycles then I have to do a complete 100% charge state which takes around 12 hours for me to complete and not do internal harm to my batteries.

Roy Ken

Replace with a SMART (3 stage) charger, not necessarily one of more amp capacity unless you will be adding batteries. 55 amp is PLENTY for your 220 amp-hr batteries.

Do you have an ammeter on the output of your 55 amp ? Do you know if it has ever done 55 amps in its life ?
If you replaced it w/ a PD45 amp, there is a big chance you will see faster charging than you ever saw w/ the 55 amp, besides staying w/ in the charging capacity of a 1000 watt generator.