Flooded Batteries on Float

I think Mena went ahead with the "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead with a $50 33 amp Mega Watt Power supply, like I did, from the guy down the road from us, after Mexi gave us the Ebay lead, and I contacted him directly and bought one. To my knowledge, at least around here, I was the guinea pig on this Mega Watt. Granted, one T-1275 does not make me an expert, but that battery will eat up 14.8 or 15.0V and pull the full 33 amps right at first start up on a Eu2000i, according to my DC amp meter.

Understand, though, I dry camp, and I want things done quickly on the battery, first thing in the morning. I camp 6 - 8 times a year, sometimes for a week or so, sometimes 4 or 5 days. I don't camp full time, or use full hookups any more. Dry camping is more my style, and near a good river with some nice fly fishing. My charging needs are unique, to me only. YMMV if you use a pedestal and full hookups on a 30 amp or 50 amp power jack. My power comes from gas, a Honda inverter generator, and a 120watt solar panel.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Ambient. It had better be ambient.

JMHO

I'm positive those specs are ambient. It wouldn't make any sense to even publish them otherwise.

Why would s manufacturer advertise as a specification other than ambient temperature limit.

"Oh yeah, lookie at our Perverter specifications! Dazzle your eyes with our phenomenal MOSFET junction to case temperature specification".

IOTA says 40C and I believe them.

Ambient. It had better be ambient.

JMHO

Salvo wrote:
Ask Iota what mod can be made to make it operational for your environment.

Great idea! I'll contact them and see if there's anything that can be replaced. It was always hotter than 104F when I noticed the unit was shut off so I don't have an exact temperature on the shutdown. Thanks for your help on this BTW.

There are thousands of Iota converters installed in RV's. If this is a generic problem, we would have heard about it. You're not the only one living in a hot area.

My first Iota was defective. It would boost charge for only 15 minutes. I contacted them and they sent me a new converter.

The spec says the converter must be operational at 104F. Have you verified with thermometer when it quits? It's defective if it quits at or below 104F. If it quits above 104 then we can't call it defective. In this case, you should be able to change the temperature setpoint. Ask Iota what mod can be made to make it operational for your environment. It's probably just a resistor change.

You could also go with the 'damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead' mentality and just disable the temp shutdown function.

Salvo wrote:
I suspect the 60C spec for the power supply is not ambient temp but heatsink or case temp.

Your Iota is the only one that has this anomaly. I haven't heard any other reports of shutting down. I know my Iota has been operating at 104F. Perhaps yours is defective?

I'm off to Baja. That environment should test the Iota. Never had it stop in the heat.

Let me clarify, by shut off I mean it stops charging. The fan is still running, there's just no voltage coming from the unit. At night and in cooler daytime temps, this doesn't happen. I called Randy about it when it happened and he verified that was what it was supposed to do when it reaches its upper limit (BTW I didn't buy this from him, it came with the rig, and he offered advice anyways AND didn't try to sell me something). I never read about this either but it seems most people with Iota's don't live where it's as hot as it is here during the summer. As least not as consistently hot. It could be defective by why only defective during 100+ temps (near its upper temp limit) and works perfectly in other temps?

Salvo wrote:

I'm off to Baja. That environment should test the Iota. Never had it stop in the heat.

Please give me a heads up when you return. I won't rule out a bad unit just yet.

I suspect the 60C spec for the power supply is not ambient temp but heatsink or case temp.

Your Iota is the only one that has this anomaly. I haven't heard any other reports of shutting down. I know my Iota has been operating at 104F. Perhaps yours is defective?

I'm off to Baja. That environment should test the Iota. Never had it stop in the heat.

mena661 wrote:
If it doesn't have overheat protection I'll never see it since its upper limit is at 60C. The Iota is just absurdly low.

Iota has a functional credibility problem. I hope they resolve it - the market needs good reliable chargers. Love to get a glance at their returned merchandise cargo platform dock.

BTW I just had a good read of the proposed adjustable BOGART ENGINEERING PWM charge controller manual. The design makes perfect sense. If I need one and this one is on the market I'll buy it.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Many forum participants know of my fetish for "Anti-B.S."

When I suspect an OEM is playing
Pinocchio, with data specification claims the link takes you to a reliable polygraph...


http://www.ptc1.com/thermometer_templates.htm

Thanks Mex. I have an IR thermometer and have measured the power supplies case temp. It's never been more than ambient.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Thanks for the heads-up Mena, I won't let an Iota get near me. I don't like wasting my time...

You're welcome Mex, I'm just glad I didn't actually buy this (it came with the rig). I'd be pissed. Right now, I'm just mildly annoyed.

I once worked for a company that sold metric tons of aluminum extrusions and aluminum die cut pressings sold solely for the purpose of dissipating heat from Transistors and other electrical circuits, including heat dissipating black box designs to house electronics at up to 8G ratings. Hell of a business, getting rid of heat, so that electrical devices function as their engineer planned and designed them. Always wondered why we never had any alcohol cooled systems? Can't wait for 4:30 this afternoon, so I can cool my jets.