charging batteries with Honda2000
Is charging the batteries thru the converter faster in eco-mode or out of eco-mode with my honda genny?
Forum Discussion
We do a lot of boondocking, and after reading results on this forum, two mods are key:
1. Replace the OEM converter/charger with a better from Progressive Dynamics or similar. The charge wizard function allows you to force the charge into "boost mode" at 14.4v, and it will automatically kick back to 13.6v based on state of charge.
2. Upgrade the typical #6 wire between the converter and batteries. The location of the converter in our unit gave me about 30' of #6 wire, and I added a #2 in parallel on the hot side, and also increased the ground legs from the batteries and converter to the frame. This greatly reduces voltage drop and enables more the voltage output of the charger to make it to the batteries.
Before the mods, I would need to run the Eu2000 almost all day to get a good charge back in the batteries. Now I can kick the converter into boost mode and get the batteries back to almost 100% with 2-3 hrs of run time.
If you don't want to mod the RV, then go with the stand alone Iota charger as suggested above, and connect the charger directly to the batteries. You are accomplishing the same thing with a separate piece of equipment, ie 14.4v charging mode and good wire capacity from the charger to the batteries.
1. Replace the OEM converter/charger with a better from Progressive Dynamics or similar. The charge wizard function allows you to force the charge into "boost mode" at 14.4v, and it will automatically kick back to 13.6v based on state of charge.
2. Upgrade the typical #6 wire between the converter and batteries. The location of the converter in our unit gave me about 30' of #6 wire, and I added a #2 in parallel on the hot side, and also increased the ground legs from the batteries and converter to the frame. This greatly reduces voltage drop and enables more the voltage output of the charger to make it to the batteries.
Before the mods, I would need to run the Eu2000 almost all day to get a good charge back in the batteries. Now I can kick the converter into boost mode and get the batteries back to almost 100% with 2-3 hrs of run time.
If you don't want to mod the RV, then go with the stand alone Iota charger as suggested above, and connect the charger directly to the batteries. You are accomplishing the same thing with a separate piece of equipment, ie 14.4v charging mode and good wire capacity from the charger to the batteries.
