Best battery charger options

SoonerWing03 wrote:
Generally speaking, is there an all around good "smart" charger that I could use both when boondocking with an inverter generator and at home when connected to shore power between trips?

Yes. I recommend you replace the converter.

http://www.bestconverter.com/PD-9260C-148-60-Amp-RV-ConverterCharger

Probably going with the 3KW generator so that I have the ability to run the AC if need be. Not sure if 2 of the 2KW in parallel will get the job done. Would probably prefer to do that if possible for versatility.

how fast you can charge is highly dependent on the generator and battery type. Most 2000W generators can run a 60A converter a few a 75A with nothing else on before they overload.

If you have a 3KW generator you could run a 100A converter.

Next check what the battery can take. I have 4 GC-2's and run a PD75A and PF 55 in parallel at times and start an intial charge at 120A or so. Basically the same as 60A on a pair.

Progressive dynamics or Iota are FAR FAR FAR better than a WFCO. The WFCO will likely never give you more than about 15-20 A charging current regarless.
And it won't get you a full charge at home.

And in any case you can get the batteries up to about 80%SOC pretty quick. The last 20% will take hours regarless of converter so when the batteries hit 80% cut the generator. For the last 20% solar is a good choice, or full charge at home.

Flooded GC2's. As long as I can run a few lights and the AC if needed then I think we will be good. I say I think because this will be our first real boondocking trip. Maybe just going with a generator for this trip is my best bet and then I can see how much we wish we could use X, Y, and Z and for how long. I don't really want to be sitting in the camper much anyhow.

Generally speaking, is there an all around good "smart" charger that I could use both when boondocking with an inverter generator and at home when connected to shore power between trips?

I really like the idea of boondocking as it opens so many other camping possibilities that I think that we would greatly enjoy. I love tent camping because you can really get in there with nature but I don't love waking up in a tent when it's 25 degrees outside or going to bed in a tent when it's 90 degrees. So if I can find that happy median then that would be ideal for me. My wife is pretty nervous about the whole idea of boondocking so I really want this "test run" to go as smoothly as possible. If my batteries croak on this trip it will not look good for future boondocking trips.

Sooner,

You have an interesting situation....
It seems that the first thing you have to do is run a spreadsheet all about your power consumption. If you can't manage with what you have, change what you are doing....
Yes, bury the WFCO, I have never seen one perform to spec....
Don't count for much from the TV charging as the cable will be too small and too long to do much good.
Having AGMs helps because they could be charged faster, and if you talk to either Progressive Dynamics or Iota, they can set a unit up to match the battery.
The weight of the copper is all important. You only have to buy it once, but if you go short on it, you will pay for that forever.
Yes, Solar is always on - except in Michigan (Sun is rare)- it can even work when underway, but it takes a lot of square feet to do very much good. It is still often a decent ROI.

Good Luck there.

Matt

Too little information - are these GC2s you have flooded or AGM? If the latter they'd benefit greatly from temperature compensated charging which very few converters are capable of. If they're Trojan brand batts they'll need a 14.8 volt bulk charging rate, not 14.4 volt which is the conventional standard for most converters. Any WFCO is an especially poor choice because although it's spec'd to do 14.4 volt bulk charge almost no one ever sees that but something closer to 13.6 volts which just isn't going to do it. Do you insist on fully automatic charging or are you willing to babysit a manually controlled charger? Lots of questions need answering to make the right choice for your particular situation. ;) And FWIW, you won't get much put back into these batts with your vehicle by just driving around - if that's important to you then you should be investing in a DC > DC charger such as those offered by CTEK and Redarc.

SoonerWing03 wrote:

This is probably a dumb question but what is the difference between using a battery charger and switching out my WFCO converter in favor of a PD4655L MBA Wildcat? Does the Wildcat have a built in battery chargers?

The converter also functions as a battery charger.
I vote for getting a better converter, since it will do better at charging no matter what your AC input source is.

There really is no good reason to use a separate charger to charge with a generator.

Consider solar for your charging needs. Sun's out, it's always on.