upgrading power converter
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...
Forum Discussion
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.
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.
