Help with Converter problem, please.

sjturbo wrote:
Thanks smkettner, it sounds like the Iota drops off quickly. What about the PD?

PD holds 14.4 volts for four hours.

Both IOTA and PD will work great.

sjturbo wrote:
NinerBikes,thanks again for the inputs. You have given me other information on my other post "am I shortening my battery life". On that subject you indicated a Top Charge of 14.5 for my two Crown CR235's in series. For additional information I will be using four Crown CR235 (470 Ah total, Series/Parallel). If I were to place the Iota as a stand alone I would no longer have the use of the WFCO 8955 Power Center as a 12v fuse center, is that correct? I hope this helps clarify my situation.

If you use the Iota, and you have a lot of battery there... and that they are Crowns... look at this:

Trojan VS Crown.


And to further muddy the waters... please, please, please, print this out, and engrave it on your forehead before you decide to buy an amperage rating for your charge controller and/or top charger/equalize charger.

Crown battery charging requirements.... THE BIBLE

I'd like you to reread and post up here the last 2 sentences in that PDF, and then post up here what those voltages NEED to be for your Crown batteries, to Top CHarge, and to Equalize, something you need to do with your batteries isolated from the rest of your 5th wheel when doing so. Once you understand those NEEDS, then think about how you are going to get there. ;-)

There is a lot for you to learn before you start spending your hard earned money on charge controllers and power supply units... ie understanding how to top charge, how to equalize and how to maintain your batteries... refer to that engraved print out on your forehead and make sure you understand it 100% before spending a penny.


Myself, I'd let that WFCO sit right where it is, if you dry camp a lot, and use whatever charge controller you go with as a stand alone. I don't subscribe any more to the WFCO family of charge controllers unless I happen to spend one night in a RV park with full hook ups so I can dump tanks, use the laundry room, top off with another 30 gallons of water, dump by grey and black tanks, and clean up/flush them.

If you are running 470 Amp hours... you are going to need a lot of generator and a lot of charger to get those topped off. Myself... I'd be more inclined to buy two of those Mega Watt 40 amp Jobs for $65 shipped, and run one on each set of batteries, if you need to charge all four batteries up at once. And I'd do the Mexico Wanderer timer thing in conjunction with it. I'd also then run 14.8V out to the batteries. Timed. With those Mega Watt switched power supply units.

But that's me, I like manual all the way, I'm a control freak. Automated never does as well as a well functioning mind with the ability to reason.

Thanks smkettner, it sounds like the Iota drops off quickly. What about the PD?
I did check the 40amp fuses and they are good. I was unable to get out early and it is going to be a hot one so additional measurements will need to wait!

NinerBikes,thanks again for the inputs. You have given me other information on my other post "am I shortening my battery life". On that subject you indicated a Top Charge of 14.5 for my two Crown CR235's in series. For additional information I will be using four Crown CR235 (470 Ah total, Series/Parallel). If I were to place the Iota as a stand alone I would no longer have the use of the WFCO 8955 Power Center as a 12v fuse center, is that correct? I hope this helps clarify my situation.

IOTA does not really charge at 14.8 volts. IOTA bulk is 14.6 volts. IOTA shifts down to absorption voltage 14.2 within 15 minutes of reaching that 14.6 set point. Only during that 15 minutes voltage is limited to 14.8 volts. The 14.2 is held for an extended period and should work well.

Sounds like you have covered everything. I have the 8900 series converter, I went through a similar problem and after finding the converter checked the leads coming out also saw the 2 - 40 amp fuses above them 1 was blown. replaced it and it came alive cooling fan and all. good luck

AFAIK the IQ4 is not like the PD's Charge Wizard in that the Iota's IQ4 does not give you a manual boost whenever you want like the PD and CW do. All the IQ4 does is make the Iota do that charging profile instead of being a single stage converter at 13.6.

The PowerMax has no additional gizmo but acts more like the Iota with the IQ4, except instead of dropping to 14.2 for Absorb, the PM drops to 13.6 for Absorb.

Bunch of lurkers buyint the******outta them from here. I posted up and 2 of them sold in 5 minutes.

You need an IQ4 to get 14.8V if you run lead acid open cell batteries.

IOTA iq4

So, is current based or voltage based better. And looking at the Iota units I could not find a model number that put out 14.8v. The WFCO I have is a 8955 (55amp). So what model number should I be looking at in the Iota or PD or PM?