Will she Float??? (3 stage Chargers)
have a hypothetical. conversation was brought up on another forum. here's the scenario. you have a 3 stage charger, you are plugged into ac. you have 1 battery, and the charger and the load...
Forum Discussion
Looking at it in a new way for me, I see the Iota, PD, and PowerMax doing the same thing only at different voltages.
Iota goes to 14.8 then drops to 14.2 at about 90% SOC (if low charging rate) for eight hours Absorption Stage, then drops to 13.6 and stays there. No 13.2
PD in auto goes to 14.4, drops to 13.6 Absorption Stage at 90% SOC (if low charging rate) and stays there unless 30 hrs of no activity it goes to 13.2 and stays there.
PowerMax goes to 14.6 then drops to 13.6 Absorption Stage at 90% SOC (if low charging rate) At some point it will drop to 13.2 (need to look that up for when)
WFCO goes to 14.4 (you hope) and stays there till the job gets done--different from above) and drops to 13.6 and then 13.2 if no activity for two days.
IAW the first three all do their Absorption Stages at reduced voltages to be "gentle." WFCO should be faster charging by doing Vabs at 14.4, but only if it is working right.
I have modified my PowerMax (internal voltage pot) to do Absorption at 14.8 instead of 13.6, but that means it won't do the three stages anymore, so it is now only a fast charger and I need another unit to be the RV's converter (I use its original 7355 for that job)
I have another PowerMax (external voltage pot control) so I could use that as a converter by just dialling back the voltage to 13.6 or 13.2 (or any other float voltage depending on temperature) as the situation requires. Haven't done that since the 7355 still works ok. Sort of a non-automatic/manual multi-stager.
If I only had one unit, it would be that last one that can do everything right. I love it. Don't mind setting a voltage once in a while with a knob instead of it being automatic. Maybe someday the converter people with get off the "gentle" kick and make faster charging converters, but I don't think they will.
Iota goes to 14.8 then drops to 14.2 at about 90% SOC (if low charging rate) for eight hours Absorption Stage, then drops to 13.6 and stays there. No 13.2
PD in auto goes to 14.4, drops to 13.6 Absorption Stage at 90% SOC (if low charging rate) and stays there unless 30 hrs of no activity it goes to 13.2 and stays there.
PowerMax goes to 14.6 then drops to 13.6 Absorption Stage at 90% SOC (if low charging rate) At some point it will drop to 13.2 (need to look that up for when)
WFCO goes to 14.4 (you hope) and stays there till the job gets done--different from above) and drops to 13.6 and then 13.2 if no activity for two days.
IAW the first three all do their Absorption Stages at reduced voltages to be "gentle." WFCO should be faster charging by doing Vabs at 14.4, but only if it is working right.
I have modified my PowerMax (internal voltage pot) to do Absorption at 14.8 instead of 13.6, but that means it won't do the three stages anymore, so it is now only a fast charger and I need another unit to be the RV's converter (I use its original 7355 for that job)
I have another PowerMax (external voltage pot control) so I could use that as a converter by just dialling back the voltage to 13.6 or 13.2 (or any other float voltage depending on temperature) as the situation requires. Haven't done that since the 7355 still works ok. Sort of a non-automatic/manual multi-stager.
If I only had one unit, it would be that last one that can do everything right. I love it. Don't mind setting a voltage once in a while with a knob instead of it being automatic. Maybe someday the converter people with get off the "gentle" kick and make faster charging converters, but I don't think they will.
