PD or Iota for my upgrade?

Salvo wrote:
The problem with the PD is that when in boost it will not supply rated current. It never supplies rated current because output voltage is unable to rise to 14.4V. Raising the voltage setpoint (as you suggested) will not help. If it's not capable of getting to 14.4V (at rated current), it will certainly not get there at 14.8V.

I believe the converter's problem is its front end. As you mention, the diodes peak charge to 170Vdc. The converter has an extremely hard time holding this voltage at max power. Voltage will drop and as a result the converter is not capable of holding 14.4V. The ac peak current gets very high. I haven't seen any PD that's capable of holding 14.4V at rated current when charging a battery.

If you're interested in charging at 14.7V then the Iota is the only low cost converter that I know of that does the job.

I really appreciate this comment. I read some of your other excellent posts on this subject, but it was too late, I was already committed to the PD. I admit I was seriously leaning that way anyway, as I had so much info about the PD from the patents - info that's almost impossible to get without tracing circuits, which is fraught with error. I really prefer to know how my equipment works, but few manufacturers will provide circuit diagrams.

I'll see if I can test your theory about the front end - I'll put a scope on it under load.