How much converter/charger is really needed?
I have a pair of NAPA 9824M Marine/RV batteries with a 20 hr rating of 79AH each, wired in parallel. Is there, really, any advantage in going from a 45 amp (PD4645V) converter/charger to a 55 amp (...
Forum Discussion
BFL13 wrote:naturist wrote:
Bigger is not always better. It is possible to have too much charger, drastically shortening battery life. Two batteries each capable of absorbing 35 amps would be fine on a 55 amp charger. One such battery, however, would be in trouble.
My understanding is that battery will only absorb what it can and it will not be damaged. The converter will only supply what amps the battery will take. No harm done.
The waste is if the converter you bought for a bunch could supply 100 amps and the battery will only accept 40 amps when a 40 amper costs a bunch less than the 100 amper..
Certainly with any halfway modern converter (and the PD units all certainly qualify), the converter basically just acts as a regulated voltage source with current limiting. A 70A converter and a 45A converter both putting out 14.4V will charge a little battery at exactly the same rate, since the charge voltage is the same; the 70A one will just be underloaded and loafing along more than the 45A one.
In short, the battery will not be damaged. You could hook the biggest converter up to a motorcycle battery and it would be okay. It might stay in bulk charge mode a little longer than necessary, given how the PD algorithms seem to work, but there's no great harm there.
