lawrosa wrote:
So the Wfco is known to not go into bulk mode.. I think this may be mis information I am not sure. On a phone call to wfco I spoke to a tech there, and he stated you may never see the 14.4 ( why they advertise this IDK)
But high amps low voltage is how it works per our discussion..
So running down the batts to 12.2 volts or so I flipped the breaker on the charge circuit and did some readings..
I have 15 ft # 6 wire from batts to wfco..
Start 12.2 volts.
two 75 ah grp 24's. ( I have a 3rd I put on line sometimes but this test was with the two only)
1.
32 amps to batts
13.59 volts @ converter ( charge wire)
13 volts @ batts
2.
15 minutes later
24.9 amps
13.65 @ conv
13 v @ batts
3.
35 minutes later
24.2amps
13.66 volts @conv
13.2 @ batts
4.
48 minutes
22.9 amps
13.67 @ conv
13.2 @ batts
5.
1 hr 20 minutes later
19.6 amps
13.68 @ conv
13.3 @ batts
6.
1hr 48 min
13.1 amps
13.68 @ conv
13.4 @ batts
7.
2 hrs 20 min
11.8 amps
13.69@ conv
13.4 v @ batts
8.
3 hrs
8.1 amps
13.7 volts @ conv
13.5 v @ batts
So I never saw the 14.4 and I guess thats not how this converter works. It did keep a constant amps for the first hour or so. ( This was the 24 amps I saw. Thats consistent with a bulk charge as I know it I guess.)
I mean would I gain anything by upgrading the lower end of the wfco to a unit that has the pendant, or is more transparent with this 14.4 volts everyone online talk about? I mean I understand it as I have solar, and charge in bulk @ 14.7 volts, and absorb at 14.5 for how ever long it was in bulk.. But my solar controller is only a 20 amp model. I do see 15 amps on sunny days.. But it will stay in bulk at a constant amps and not taper untill the 14.7 volts is reached.
Something to consider is on the coachmens there is a 30 amp breaker/resettable on the #6 wire under the camper. Upon putting a load on my inverter thinking I could get a 14.4 reading at the wfco, the wfco started dumping 40 plus amps to the batts.. Well the breaker kept doing an on/off thing until I removed that load..
So even though you all may have 55 amp converters, its not going to get through that breaker for long.. Im going to up that breaker to a 40 or 50 amp model..
Well thats where I am at... So I dont know what to do.. As I boon dock I want to charge on generator as fast as I can. I dont want to waste 200 buck upgrading the lower end to achieve the same results.
150 ah @ c/20 is 30 amps..
Add 3rd batt and 220 ah @ c/20 is 44 amps bulk.
I rely on the solar but I was in a shaded boondock area and only had 2 hours of sun, before the trees blocked it.
Upon starting the gen I ran it for 3 hours. I also ran the a/c and a TV. That was probably 20 amps, but the wfco should of supplied the 20 or 30 to charge the batts.
So the amps were pretty constant for the first hour or so..
I would like to know what the pendant guys get at the 14.4 volts in regards to amps.. And where do you see this 14.4 volts when your charging?
My wfco read 13.5 start and 13.7 at the end of my 3 hour test. ( but the amps were there)
On a side note too I tested the amps from the trucks 7 pin and voltages. I only did this for a brief 10 min test when the camper batts were @ 12.2 volts..
truck 7 pin.
15 amps
14.5 volts @ 7 pin
13v @ batts
Maybe ill do a test with just the truck tomorrow...
Looking over your numbers I see two things:
The wire from the WFCO is to small for the 15 foot run, over 0.5 volt loss in the wire.
For the truck it's even worse at 1.5 volts loss.
3rd thing to note is your WFCO is working better then any I've seen. Our current one will do 24 amps for 15 minutes; that's a 12% ROC for each house battery. After that it drops to 6 amps or 3 per battery which is pretty much a float current on a 105 aH battery. Our WFCO will rise to 14.2 volts at the batteries for ~ 1hour after which it drops to float.
For those times I need to run the jenny I separate the two house batteries and put automotive smart charges on each. This puts 20 amps into each battery for about an hour at which time the charges now switch to 14.8 volts for the absorb cycle. This starts about 80% SOC for the batteries.
Most of the time We just let the solar handle it. For full sun that is 25 amps or 12.5 amps per battery @ 12.6 to 12.8 volts. Once the batteries reach 14.8 volts the will then taper until full charge is reached usually between 1 and 2 pm. Again that's for full sun.
It looks like your one of the few WFCO owners with a keeper.
