Should I Change My WFCO Converter?
Opinions have often been expressed, both on this and other RV forums, that most stock RV converters are inadequate to properly charge and maintain batteries and are often of poor quality. It is frequ...
Forum Discussion
Generator charging is a whole different beast compared to when one hooks up to a pedestal.
No converter will do a true equalization. The PD marketers got together and decided the word 'equalization' was much more impressive than destratification and better for their bottom line, and have subsequently brainwashed the Non battery nerds into thinking one is the other.
There is a huge difference between 14.4 and 14.8v when one is running a generator, and if a battery manufacturer says feed them 14.8v but your converter thinks a 14.4v one size fits all is fine and dandy, and such a converter rarely can even be forced to even goto 14.4v, then every time you run the generator you are getting a fraction of the amp hours returned into a depleted battery bank compared to if the converter were trying to get and hold the batteries to 14.8 with its maximum output.
What you spend now on a better converter which can be forced to at least 14.4, will save you in gas, noise fumes and extend your battery life.
True equalization requires some different tools and a bit of monitoring at even higher voltages and is required more often on chronically undercharged batteries and it will take longer to ge them equalized.
By most reports, the Wfco is a recipe for chronic undercharging when doing anything other than plugging into a power pedestal for as long as it takes 13.6v, or perhaps even 13.2v to fill the battery bank to a 1.275 or higher Specific gravity.
I've a single group 31 battery which when depleted maxes out my meanwell rsp-500-15 at 41 amps until battery voltage climbs to within 0.3v of the voltage I set the Meanwell unit at before connecting it to the battery. The higher the voltage, the higher the amp flow.
13.6v is a waste of generator gas and most reports say the Wfco is a female dog to get to deliver the 14.4v, even with thick cabling and depleted batteries.
Seek to meet Trojan's 14.8v recommendation and don't fear hitting them with high amp rates.
Low and slow can be for when at home or hooked to a pedestal. When you're off grid and cycling nightly, hammer them with a high amp rate and they will gobble it up and thank you for it.
No converter will do a true equalization. The PD marketers got together and decided the word 'equalization' was much more impressive than destratification and better for their bottom line, and have subsequently brainwashed the Non battery nerds into thinking one is the other.
There is a huge difference between 14.4 and 14.8v when one is running a generator, and if a battery manufacturer says feed them 14.8v but your converter thinks a 14.4v one size fits all is fine and dandy, and such a converter rarely can even be forced to even goto 14.4v, then every time you run the generator you are getting a fraction of the amp hours returned into a depleted battery bank compared to if the converter were trying to get and hold the batteries to 14.8 with its maximum output.
What you spend now on a better converter which can be forced to at least 14.4, will save you in gas, noise fumes and extend your battery life.
True equalization requires some different tools and a bit of monitoring at even higher voltages and is required more often on chronically undercharged batteries and it will take longer to ge them equalized.
By most reports, the Wfco is a recipe for chronic undercharging when doing anything other than plugging into a power pedestal for as long as it takes 13.6v, or perhaps even 13.2v to fill the battery bank to a 1.275 or higher Specific gravity.
I've a single group 31 battery which when depleted maxes out my meanwell rsp-500-15 at 41 amps until battery voltage climbs to within 0.3v of the voltage I set the Meanwell unit at before connecting it to the battery. The higher the voltage, the higher the amp flow.
13.6v is a waste of generator gas and most reports say the Wfco is a female dog to get to deliver the 14.4v, even with thick cabling and depleted batteries.
Seek to meet Trojan's 14.8v recommendation and don't fear hitting them with high amp rates.
Low and slow can be for when at home or hooked to a pedestal. When you're off grid and cycling nightly, hammer them with a high amp rate and they will gobble it up and thank you for it.
