Charger selection help please

BFL13 wrote:

hammick wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

My guess is that running in AGM mode will do exactly nothing to speed charging--and in fact it may be the exact opposite.

How much solar do you have?

hammick wrote:
But I have some hope that running the AGM plus mode after a normal mode might hold it at higher volts long enough.

My thought on AGM plus 15.5v mode wasn't to speed charging. It was to get them fully charged after running the regular charge cycle. It looks like getting them fully charged every day is not what most people do because of long generator run time to accomplish this.

Not sure what I'll try at this point. I do have the built in Onan 4000w genset but I hate running it just for charging. It's loud and thirsty. But if a 75a charger is what I get I'll use the Onan rather than buying another Yamaha. Right now the Onan is reserved for Microwave use and the rare occasion that we need the AC. If I had to do it over I would skip the built in genset. Just too loud to use on a regular basis.

Your Yamaha might well be able to run the 75 amper, since some people can run theirs with Honda 2000 at sea level. But----see below.

You don't need to run the generator to run a microwave. You can run one of those with a 2000w inverter. You would want four batteries instead of two in order to keep the input voltage to the inverter above the 11v inverter alarm.

If you are interested in that for off-grid (you can run the microwave, toaster, whatever during quiet hours too, when the generator is not allowed), then you could also check out inverter/chargers since you are looking for a charger too.

Some of those inverter /chargers have programmable chargers, which is what you want, and they can be a decent size in amps. 2000w inverter with 100 amp charger EG.

So spending your money here :) you just bought an inverter/charger, a remote for it, and two more 6s. Plus some heavy wiring and a big fuse or two. Now you are all set to go off-grid sunshine or no sunshine.

If we camped more or spent more time in the trailer I would look into this. Quiet hours aren't really the issue as we mostly camp where nobody is around. Not disturbing the wildlife or us is the main priority. I have a small cheap inverter for the TV but it rarely gets used unless its raining hard.

We have pretty set routines and are away from the trailer a good part of the day hiking. Late afternoon or evening when the sun is still out is when I do my charging with the very quiet Yamaha. Beer or bourbon in hand and I like to keep busy so no need for a timer. When we camp in Colorado or Montana it's mostly in the summer and we are out in the open so the solar takes care of everything (single 160w GoPower panel that came with the trailer. I changed the CC to a Blue Sky 30a PWM so I could custom set the charging voltage).

If I decide to only charge to 90% I can do that pretty easily with several of the replacement converters available. However, I don't understand whey they all have absorb voltage at 13.6 volts. Hell my crappy Wyco will do that all day long and gets me no where. And equalization at 14.4 volts. That's not even close to what my batteries need for Absorb. Clearly these PD charges don't have GC2 batteries in mind. I would still need a separate charger to periodically get to full charge in the winter.

Also most of our camping is at elevation. Sometimes over 10,000 feet and rarely under 5,000 feet. Winter camping is the exception when we will camp at Missouri elevations. Too **** hot to camp in Missouri in the summer. So I would hate to get a 75a converter/charger and not be able to use my Yamaha at elevation.