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 loads are all connected at the batterysay the charger can provide 20 amps. the battery is brand new and fully charged.if there is a constant 10 amp load from say a heater. will the charger ever get into float mode? or will it sit at the higher voltage the entire time? potentially over charging the battery'slooking to see some opinions on this??

Batteries will only accept what they need. And as long as the load is covered by the converter, the converter will supply the required current. In short, no the batteries will not get overcharged. I have a full wall slide and my converter will not come out of float to operate the slide.

Some of the chargers designed by engineers that need not unzip their pants to count past 10, can support impressive loads while remaining in float stage. The trick is to find that charger. INTERACTOR to my knowledge was the first to do so several decades ago, but Bob Besch the owner limited the number of charger models to the point where they appeal to a limited number of people.

the issue is not so much the current, its the voltage that the charger is sitting at. float drops down into 13v range, absorption much higher.your slide is not much of an example, we don't know the amperage, in my example we are running the converter/charger at a 50 % loadany other opinions???

IMO the battery will be in Float but the charger will not. It will keep supplying that 10 amps for the load. If a converter it will stay at 13.6v and not drop to 13.2v. It depends on the temperature whether that 13.6v is too high for a Float voltage. 13.6 is right for about 50F, too high for 60F, too low for 40F. 13.2v is for 80F

Depends on the charger. My solar definitely will float. My Xantrex XADC-40 would definitely float. My 55a WFCO never floated either way. My 35a WFCO might or might not.Pretty sure the IOTA and PowerMax will float. Not sure on PD.My 20a Battery Tender will definitely float.

Will she Float??? (3 stage Chargers) | Good Sam Community

34 Replies

BFL13
Explorer II
Jan 25, 2014
IMO the battery will be in Float but the charger will not. It will keep supplying that 10 amps for the load. If a converter it will stay at 13.6v and not drop to 13.2v.

It depends on the temperature whether that 13.6v is too high for a Float voltage. 13.6 is right for about 50F, too high for 60F, too low for 40F. 13.2v is for 80F
LittleBill
Explorer
Jan 25, 2014
the issue is not so much the current, its the voltage that the charger is sitting at. float drops down into 13v range, absorption much higher.

your slide is not much of an example, we don't know the amperage, in my example we are running the converter/charger at a 50 % load

any other opinions???
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Jan 25, 2014
Some of the chargers designed by engineers that need not unzip their pants to count past 10, can support impressive loads while remaining in float stage. The trick is to find that charger. INTERACTOR to my knowledge was the first to do so several decades ago, but Bob Besch the owner limited the number of charger models to the point where they appeal to a limited number of people.
mena661
Explorer
Jan 25, 2014
Batteries will only accept what they need. And as long as the load is covered by the converter, the converter will supply the required current. In short, no the batteries will not get overcharged. I have a full wall slide and my converter will not come out of float to operate the slide.

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Will she Float??? (3 stage Chargers)

34 Replies

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