Problems with Boondocker 60 amp converter

windviewer wrote:

NinerBikes wrote:
3590S-2-501L-500-Ohm-BOURNS-Rotary-Wirewound-Precision-Potentiometer-Pot-10-Turn-

Great, thks for the link

Is there any difference in using this 500 Ohm versus the 1K Ohm versus the 2K Ohm variants? From reading all the threads I see all three potentiometers used at various times (albeit on different PSU's).

You guys seemed to be having a good time building these things :)

Sensitivity to settings. The 500 ohm is most sensitive, range wise, making it easy to maintain voltage either way of the locked setting. The 1000 ohm is a little touchy, the 2000 ohm even more touchy, to having to be exactly on the mark to get the regulated voltage you want. Turned all the way up, the Megawatt will deliver 15.56V, turned all the way down, I think it got down to around 11.5 or 11.6V, useful if used as a power source for a 75 watt Ham radio like my Kenwood 2 meter unit, just set it at 12V and call it good, and don't burn up any parts on the radio being overdriven.

What I can say is that the 500 ohm unit works fine and keeps my 30 amp MegaWatt in complete regulation, at both ends of adjustment. Verified and measured by SCVjeff with a Fluke Digital multimeter, when placed under load.

You do need to know what you are doing, wire wise, heat sink wise, and solder wise, pulling the old pot off a circuit board, and resoldering in the new wire. Someone wise with Ham radio's at your local Ham radio club and modding them probably has all the right equipment to do such type of work on electronic circuit boards, and do it right the first time. If need be, pay them for their services. Add a RC watt meter in line for recharging batteries, it's a valuable addition to knowing exactly what is going on with your batteries while recharging, once you gain some experience with it. Some might call it geeky, I consider it a necessity, knowing how many amps the battery is taking while recharging, and voltage also, as well as cumulative amps recharged.