Converter In-Rush Thermistors etc, UPDATE -4

ken white wrote:
BFL, are you connecting and disconnecting the batteries while while the converter running open circuit?

The batteries are four 6s in series parallel and I have the converter acting as a portable charger with the output wires with clamps on them( cut off from a set of jumper cables in fact)

I clamp to the pos and neg of the whole bank in a balanced manner as with two 12s in the approved style.

So first I turn on the converter with it not clamped to the batteries. I check the output voltage to make sure I have it set where I want it. Then I clamp on and the converter starts charging at its rated amps which means a sudden in- rush and a hit on the Honda gen till things settle down, which is right away.

You could tell the in-rush was over quickly by the way the red spot
appeared then went out quickly and the smoke stopped rising when I did get a red spot the other day. :)

That is preferable to the red spot growing until flames appear, which must have happened to the other charger, where you can see the brown spot on the chassis next to the remains of the thermistor in that photo. I guess the thermistor can only take so many events where it cracks open and then it just burns the next time.
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I don't know the circuitry to say where the voltage pot fits in, but they make a version of the same converter with the pot in the same place as with the internal pot, but adjustable from the outside with a knob on the lid. wires from under the lid go over to where the internal pot is on the other one (at the top of the vertical small circuit board seen in one of the photos)

I hear you on running the charger with no thermistor. I think it is still working even though it is missing a chunk. I am willing to lose this charger if I am wrong about that, since I have another, plus my Vectors, so it would not cripple my camping in any way.