PD9260 Convertor Never Goes To 14.4V

otrfun wrote:
You must have a long run of smaller gauge wire to only have 13.0 volts at the battery. Voltage aside, 51 amps is a good, respectable charge current.

Well, the run isn't very long. The batteries are at drivers side front corner and the PD9260 is over front axle, curbside, probably 17 feet,certainly no more than 20 ft. I'm pretty sure it's 6 AWG cable. When I have time and feel like it, I could change to 4AWG cable. Shouldn't need more than that.

Ouch... that 1.3 volt drop is really going to hurt your charging performance and could be restricting the boost mode. You said you had #6 wire but how long is it? If it is an easy pull you may consider going #4 or #2. But first check any connections such as fuses, circuit breakers, switches etc. along that path for a bad connection adding to the voltage drop in the wire.

Ron Nielson wrote:
Finally! Drew down to 11.9, turned on PD9260 and got 14.27 volts within a minute at the device, still only 13.0 volts at the battery itself. 51 amps going to the battery. So I think the device will work if the battery is low enough. And another thing, this is the 1st time I have ever heard the fan turn on. Now I know it works if needed.

Good news! It'll be a lot easier to go into bulk/boost mode with the pendent :)

You must have a long run of smaller gauge wire to only have 13.0 volts at the battery. Voltage aside, 51 amps is a good, respectable charge current.

smkettner wrote:
How much battery do you have?
Leave the lights on as you plug in.

There are 2 Grp 29 batteries from Walmart, one dated in 2010, the other in 2013. The 2010 battery was used a little to power a trolling battery; the 2013 battery was used by a friend who decided it wasn't up to the job for him and gave it to me. I believe that batteries are in the 110 amp-hour range each, though it's difficult to find the exact specs for the batteries.

Finally! Drew down to 11.9, turned on PD9260 and got 14.27 volts within a minute at the device, still only 13.0 volts at the battery itself. 51 amps going to the battery. So I think the device will work if the battery is low enough. And another thing, this is the 1st time I have ever heard the fan turn on. Now I know it works if needed.

Ron Nielson wrote:
I drew battery down to 12.1, started charging. Started out 13.3 then 13.6. Amps were dropping; first 51 then down to 35 still at 13.6. So apparently not enough to get to boost mode. Unplugged from shore power, all lights turned on now and will get down to 12.0 or less before trying again.

Pendant ordered and will be here Tuesday.

It's interesting you're getting 51 amps of charge current with your PD9260C in 13.6 absorption mode. Assuming 51 amps, how much did you expect it to increase in bulk/boost mode? At 51 amps, you're only 9 amps shy of it's rated output.

I only get 58 amps (and 13.65 VDC) of initial charge current in bulk/boost mode (batteries discharged to 20-30%)--2 amps less then it's rated output. It drops down to 30 amps (while voltage increases to 14.03 VDC) after one hour--still in bulk/boost mode. FWIW, if I force my PD9260C into absorption mode (charging the same batteries at 20-30% SOC) I get approx. 1/2 the charge current I normally get in bulk/boost mode, approx. 30 amps initial charge, 15 amps after one hour.

How much battery do you have?
Leave the lights on as you plug in.

I drew battery down to 12.1, started charging. Started out 13.3 then 13.6. Amps were dropping; first 51 then down to 35 still at 13.6. So apparently not enough to get to boost mode. Unplugged from shore power, all lights turned on now and will get down to 12.0 or less before trying again.

Pendant ordered and will be here Tuesday.

Yes it is a HUGE DIFFERENCE and that's why I'm trying to figure out why my PD9260 does not go into boost mode. I have no clamp-on amp meter, but amps do show in my Trimetric. I haven't looked at amps in the Trimetric other to see that they are higher when the converter 1st starts, then tapers off as time goes on. My battery was about 35% discharged, a significant amount. I expected the PD9260 to start out in boost mode, then drop back to absorption rate, but it doesn't.

Do I have to discharge the battery 50% to get boost mode, or 60%, or 70% ??

I totally empathize with your frustration. Before I purchased the PD9260C, I tried everything to get the WFCO8955 into bulk/boost mode. It was so frustrating to have to spend almost $200 just to get the bulk/boost mode the WFCO8955 was designed to deliver in the first place.

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand. Seems we started out trying out to determine whether you were in bulk/boost or not, but now it seems to have gravitated towards why the PD9260C hasn't gone into bulk/boost mode on its own.

I believe the Charge Wizard Pendent will go a long way in addressing both of these issues. When the PD9260C is OEM packaged, the pendent is included with the PD9260C. The small pendent (with 5-6 ft of wire) plugs into a small RJ type connector on the side of the unit. It does two things, one, it tells you what charging stage/mode is currently active (LED steady on, bulk/boost; LED blinking quickly, absorption; LED blinking slowly, float), and two, it allows you to push a button and manually change the charging stage/mode to one of your choosing.

The PD Charge Pendent is only $10-$20. I'd recommend purchasing one. That's a small price to pay to know what the PD9260C is thinking--even for troubleshooting purposes. Plus, if you disagree with it's logic, literally, you have the option of changing it. That's a lot of flexibility for less than $20!

My two cents . . .

Ron,

Quote: "When I look at the information here http://progressivedyn.com/charge_wizard.html, seems that it should start out at 14.4, then go to 13.6 then 13.2."

This is what it actually says: "The Charge Wizard constantly monitors battery voltage and battery usage then SELECTS one of the following four operating modes to properly charge and maintain the battery.