How Does a Converter Hold its Voltage?
A solar controller uses PWM but how does a typical RV converter do it? How much play is there up and down to hold it there? I have a 12v mystery draw I am chasing down, but in the middle of this, ...
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I think most converters these days are basically voltage regulated switching power supplies. The regulation may not be absolutely perfect with changing loading, but it should be pretty close until you start to run into current limiting or power limiting and the voltage sags. Line to load regulation should be very good, a feature inherent with switching power supplies in general. The regulation would be of the voltage at the converter output, not at the battery, unless you have some setup with remote voltage sense lines and I haven't run across a converter that supports that.
This is, of course, separate from any higher-level charge algorithm that's changing the voltage setpoint. My PD will cycle between three different setpoint voltages, including several minutes of higher voltage (14.4V) every several hours when it's in float mode (13.2V), which they stretch the truth to call equalization. Other makers have different algorithms, but will cycle between stages according to some program.
If you have some wiring impedance, it's possible that the battery floating at the converter's float voltage could discharge a bit and later charge a bit as the overall 12V load changes, due to the relative impedance between the load and the two voltage supplies. That's not something to worry about in itself IMHO (well, aside from wanting to have good low-impedance connections).
This is, of course, separate from any higher-level charge algorithm that's changing the voltage setpoint. My PD will cycle between three different setpoint voltages, including several minutes of higher voltage (14.4V) every several hours when it's in float mode (13.2V), which they stretch the truth to call equalization. Other makers have different algorithms, but will cycle between stages according to some program.
If you have some wiring impedance, it's possible that the battery floating at the converter's float voltage could discharge a bit and later charge a bit as the overall 12V load changes, due to the relative impedance between the load and the two voltage supplies. That's not something to worry about in itself IMHO (well, aside from wanting to have good low-impedance connections).
