My power converter has apparently bit the dust, lights flickering for past couple of years now no charge to batteries...Anyhoo, we do a lot of dry camping, where we need to daily boost the batteries back up for a couple of hours. I am considering upgrading our power converter to a higher amperage but am concerned about stock wiring. I think our current converter is a 55 watt. Progressive Dynamics has an Intelliwizard 60 amp that I was going to replace with, which I think should be okay. They also have a 70 and 80 amp unit that looks interesting.Two questions, 1) will a higher amperage unit charge the batteries any faster? and 2) What amperage upgrade is too much for stock wiring?Thanks, Tim***EDITED TO SHOW 55 amp vs 45 amp converter on original unit.***

1. yes2. depends on the size of the wire

I replaced my Paralax 45 amp converter with a PD 9245. I mounted the remote on the front of the front of the kitchen cabinet just under the counter/sink.You can set it to boost mode manually.I didn't see any advantage in a higher current unit for my usage but higher is okay except for more cost.

Your generator also has to be able to handle the additional power input for a higher amp charger. We can say what the amps limit would be for your gen.You can get higher amp converters that are power-factor corrected (PDs are not) that you can run with less generator than the same amps, not PF corrected.You can choose a deck mount converter placed close to the batteries with short fat wire instead of using the spot where you converter is now.

Thanks for the replies. I charge with a honda 2000i. I do have two of them that can be set up to run in parallel, if needed for more umph. The wiring is my biggest concern, whether it can handle a bigger unit, i.e. 70 amp or 80 amp units.I edited my original post to show that my original converter is 55 amp

This came up before and somebody said you could still run the higher amp converter, but if the existing wire is too thin, it just wouldn't let all the amps through. Be interesting if we can get more info on that.The thin wire resistance is "seen" as just more battery resistance by the converter, so it just thinks the battery is more full than it really is, and with that info, the converter tapers its amps.OR, since the battery acceptance is what is supposed to be reducing the amps, that is all hogwash, but in any case you won't get the extra amps through unless the wire will let it.You want to know if the wire will overheat in that situation. It needs a fuse for its ampacity, not the amps of the converter if that is more amps than the wire can handle.You need the existing wire's length and gauge to get its ampacity. Hard to get the true length. In our trailer, they went up the front back along above the ceiling to the rear, down and back up for the disconnect switch at the back (crazy!) then forward again to the middle above the fridge, then down to under the fridge where the converter is.---70 something feet!!! So you can't just ASSume the wire goes from the battery to where the converter is by the shortest route.

upgrading power converter | Good Sam Community

64thunderbolt
Explorer II
Apr 16, 2014
conv to batt cables
AH64ID
Explorer
Apr 14, 2014
I started a new thread.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27651123.cfm
BFL13
Explorer II
Apr 14, 2014
red31 wrote:
I tried to add ah64id to my charge % graph but I can't decipher the current scale to get charge % of ah capacity. ....

55a on 300ah is a 18.3% charging rate. His goes a bit longer in bulk per charging rate because my ugly graph was done with Vector chargers, which start tapering at 14v while his goes to 14.4.

However, Vectors do not hold their voltage during stage 2 such as at a 14.4Vabs, but the voltage rises slowly from that 14v point to 14.6 or 14.8 by the end, so that holds the amps up during the absorption taper. I have a graph of that somewhere back about page 5 give or take of this thread, comparing a 103a PM3-100 with 105a worth of Vectors doing a 50-90.
BurbMan
Explorer II
Apr 14, 2014
My OEM set up was a WFCO 8955 with about 25' of #6 wire to the batteries, with the ground path to the frame. A while back I changed out the WFCO for a PD 4655, and at the same time upgraded the wiring. I couldn't get to the existing #6 wire so I ran a #4 in parallel, and if you add up the cross sections a #6 and a #4 together equal a #2. I ordered the pendant to go with the 46755 but have not connected it yet....

Seems like we don't dry camp here in KY as much as we did on LI, but was just out this past weekend. The batteries are a pair of Interstate 6V that were new in spring of 2006, so they are getting a little tired....an evening of watching the LCD TV and paying Scrabble with the LED lights on in the TT brought me to about 60% SOC in the morning. Good thing the weather was mild, I don't think I would have made it through the night with the furnace.

Anyways, fired up the generator in the morning and voltage immediately hit 14.4 and stayed there until I shut down the genny about 2.5 hrs later with batteries at about 90%.

Could never get the WFCO in "boost mode" and could never get any fast recovery on the batteries like that. For the OP, I wouldn't worry about upgrading the charging amps on your converter, pay more attention to upgrading the wiring between the converter and the batteries.
red31
Explorer
Apr 14, 2014
I tried to add ah64id to my charge % graph but I can't decipher the current scale to get charge % of ah capacity.
NinerBikes
Explorer
Apr 14, 2014
ah64id wrote:
Here is the graph. I left out the reading at 10 hours, but by 10 hours the charge rate was under 1.5 which is what lifeline considered fully charged. I'll do a brief write-up and post a link.

According to specs on that battery, that is an AGM type of battery. Supposedly a lot less internal resistance when charging AGM's versus LA open vented. MexicoWanderer would know.

You have a lot of amp hour battery capacity to the amps your charge controller is capable of, an indication that the charge controller will hold for a longer period in bulk charge mode. That and less internal resistance from the battery, being of AGM construction.

Still, impressive how it holds in bulk charge mode for 2 hours or so.

Too much resistance from skinny wiring seems to kick the PD series of charge controllers out of bulk mode earlier than necessary.
BFL13
Explorer II
Apr 14, 2014
Very nice! Proves with good wiring and good 120v input, the PD can do it. :)

There does seem to be a very slight taper in the last half of the bulk stage. In this case the slight taper is not an "issue" for battery charging, but might be of interest on the technical side of whether PDs are different from some other converters.

That is the kind of thing the "real techs" talk about here in this long thread about all that. It was DryCamper11 who modified his 9280 and is the expert on PDs

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26139699/gotomsg/27401256.cfm#27401256

EDIT--Trying to get the SOCs for that graph events starting with 50% and am having trouble. Please give your estimated SOCs when you get that far along.

eg, 50% is 150AH, so bulk took 105 min at approx. 55a which I get as 96AH so now at 246/300 = 82% start of taper. That part works out ok.
But now looking at what the amps were at 90% SOC to find a "marker" for when to stop the gen like my usual 5amps per 110 of bank, here you get to 90% with amps way above 14a.

so is that where the AGMs come in as having way higher amps per 110AH at 90% or is my math wrong?
AH64ID
Explorer
Apr 14, 2014
Here is the graph. I left out the reading at 10 hours, but by 10 hours the charge rate was under 1.5 which is what lifeline considered fully charged. I'll do a brief write-up and post a link.
AH64ID
Explorer
Apr 14, 2014
For this test I had to put in in boost mode manual, and didn't realize it wasn't there until 6 minutes since the amperage was above 55. I got about 0.6A extra from boost mode than non.

I will have to watch it and see there is much of a difference if it goes into boost naturally, but I cannot imagine why. Maybe I will call PD.

I noticed this morning that the voltage at the battery's (actually the distro panel) is higher than I am reading with my other voltmeter by just a little. I might mess with that tonight and see how they read at the same spot. The camper has a Blue Sea's, and the handheld is a Fluke.
BFL13
Explorer II
Apr 14, 2014
IIRC, the PD time spent at 14.4 depends on whether you use the Charge Wizard to initiate 14.4v or the PD went there "naturally." You could say which way you did it for the test.

We have a contradiction in how at least two members with PDs get constant amps in bulk with 4600s and others with 9280s who don't.
One of the latter had to modify the circuit board on his 9280 to get that fixed.

So are there different kinds of PDs? Or are those not getting constant amps just suffering from wiring issues or else low "120v" inputs?

EDIT ok one of the two who get constant amps reported his tapered at first but then he upgraded to 3/0 wiring!!! and then it didn't taper any more. He says it is a "60a" PD but didn't say what kind/series of PD. (page 5 of this thread)