lawrosa wrote:
Well the wfco just stinks..
Maybe - depends on one's use and expectations. ;) Having camped regularly here in Ontario and many US states for a couple of decades now my impression is that far more prefer to camp with shore power than those that don't. Indeed, here in the Ontario provincial park system electric sites are often sold out as soon as they become available 5 months in advance of arrival while dry sites can often still be rented by just showing up, even during the busy summer months. In this case a WFCO can serve "well enough", my own 10 yr old G27 Interstate being an example, being maintained by a variety of WFCOs over it's life, including my current 8955 which I've
never seen bulk charge at it's advertised 14.4 volts - yet the battery still maintains a full charge and still does what I need it to do. :( My point - most don't complain because they don't really care all that much anyway as more often than not they're plugged into shore power. I'd be one - as long as there's enough poop in the battery to operate my tongue jack, slide, and awning it's all good. :) Trailer manufacturers know this, ergo the end result is the WFCO is arguably the most common converter used in trailers these days. Would I like to have a PD 9260 instead? - sure, I guess so, but considering my use it just doesn't matter all that much.
I suspect the real issue isn't so much the converter itself but it's installation - even in my own 19' couple's trailer there's probably 25' of 6 gauge running from the battery on the tongue back to the converter which is located at the far rear of the trailer. No doubt that length of relatively small gauge cable offers enough resistance when carrying high current to interfere with how the WFCO senses when it's necessary to initiate a 14.4 charge voltage. It wouldn't surprise me at all if I were to remove the WFCO, put it on my workbench, and connect it directly to the battery, that it would indeed do 14.4 with a battery depleted to 50% DOD. Obviously that doesn't solve the real issue as installed in the trailer but because we almost always camp on electric sites I just don't have the incentive to replace it. I do have a CTEK charger that does do a proper 14.4 bulk charge so I just turn the WFCO off when I use it, and of course it's also useful for maintaining charge on the battery when I keep it in my workshop over the winter.
If we dry camped on a regular basis I'd be concerned and probably replace the WFCO but since we don't and it hasn't failed completely I have little incentive to do so,
just like many other RV owners. ;)
