Converter Question

2112 wrote:

time2roll wrote:
IOTA 14.8 is a bit of a misnomer. The trigger point in Bulk mode is 14.6 volts that triggers a drop to 14.2 volts for Absorption. However there is a 15 minute timer so there is a possibility voltage could rise from 14.6 to 14.8 volts during that 15 minutes. IOTA does not hold voltage at 14.8 volts for any real length of time.

That's good to know. Thanks

Iota starts at 14.8 no matter if the battery is already full and stays there for 15 minutes. If the battery is lower ( I don't know how low) then it stays there till the battery reaches 14.6 and drops to 14.2 for (ISTR) 8 hours then if no activity will go to 13.2 (ISTR)

Boondocker (supplied by PowerMax, same as LKs) will stay at 14.6 for the first half hour even if the battery is already full (instead of 15 minutes) then drops to 13.6 for 12 hours then drops to 13.2 if no activty. If the battery is low enough that it is under 14.3 on start-up (ISTR) it stays at 14.6 until battery gets there and then drops to 13.6 for the 12 hours.

I don't know where Iota decides to stay at 14.8 past the first 15 minutes. Has to be a built-in program for that in the IQ4.

An interesting variation on this is the Boondocker/PowerMax complete power centre you can buy, which has a converter as its "lower portion". That converter is slightly smaller in physical size (so a standard lower portion won't fit), but it has a different charging three-stage profile where it stays at 14.6 for two hours instead of just for half an hour. IMO that would be a better profile than the half hour one, but "it depends" of course.

All the worries about too high a voltage for the voltage stages only applyto temperatures above 77F. At 50F the voltages are too low. Adjustable voltage takes care of all that (ie PowerMax) but you have to be there and do the adjusting.