Batteries are like Marathon runners. Using any brand of charge controller, based mainly on the RV industry standard of pulling into a RV camping site with pedestal and full hook ups, is a recipe for failure, when you aren't hooked up to the pedestal and having 120V full time.
So, to be a boondocker, off the grid, fully self sufficient electrical sucking greenie living in full comfort, without energy management concerns, you have to engineer you own "off the grid" full charging system and procedure.
Marathon runner can not get enough calories in them to keep on running, day in and day out. Sooner or later, the aid stations (Fancy FAILacy Charge Controllers) are not going to be enough, not at 14.4V, not when off the grid.
The batteries need a slight rest, and a full meal with an overflowing belly, to get them back to 100%. That usually means 14.8V to 15V in Absorption charging mode, with a dumb charger, until the battery gets full, gets topped off, and levels out at 15.0V at the terminals, while feeding it slowly... Once it's full, you manually need to stop feeding it. Could be by timer, could be by you monitoring it until you see 15.0V at the terminals, but when full it's time to shut everything charger wise down and stop feeding it. That's a top charge.
Top charging is good for your battery. But every now and then, 1x a month, maybe every 2 weeks or 12 to 14 days off the grid, you need to charge it up at full throttle, equalize charge it, read the specific gravity on all the cells, and stuff it with enough voltage, with all electrical consumers disconnected, to a full 16.0V. This is basic, hand holding, baby sitting of the battery until the voltage comes up either as high as it will get, or to a full 16.0V to truly equalize and balance all the cells to the same specific gravity. This is when the slacker cell gets brought up to full speed, instead of being allowed to loaf all the time.
What I've learned here is that when you go off the grid, dry camping or boondocking, or full time off the grid... you need an arsenal of charging devices /charge controllers to operate and maintain your battery power supply system.
Start studying, read, reread, recalculate, and ask questions, until you are convinced that you have figured out the fallacy known as "charge controllers" on your rig, and received some facts, truth and guidance in the BS world of RV charge controllers. Being off the grid changes everything ,as far as charging requierments, as the industry knows it in the RV world.
