Forum Discussion

Grodyman's avatar
Grodyman
Explorer
Jun 02, 2019

Charging with Dumb Charger

I recently went on a 3 day dry camping trip. When my batteries got down to about 66% I plugged the shore cord into my Honda2000 for a few hours of charging. With the WFCO converter/charger, I noticed that after a short time, it was charging at about 3 amps. Needless to say, it will take forever to charge this way.

I don't really want to buy a new Progressive Dynamics right now, maybe later.

How about plugging a standard automotive charger with a 2/10/25 amp charge settings direct to batteries on 10 amp charge for about 3 hours?

Will this work better?
Gman
Boondocking
Dry Camping
Public Lands
  • Grodyman's avatar
    Grodyman
    Explorer
    Jun 03, 2019
    Good to know, I had a very nice Schumacher "Smart" charger, that I found cooking my batteries.
    Gman
  • time2roll's avatar
    time2roll
    Nomad
    Jun 03, 2019
    Once the battery hits 14.2 volts... charge one additional hour. Close enough.
  • BarabooBob's avatar
    BarabooBob
    Explorer III
    Jun 03, 2019
    One of the best upgrades I did to my TT was to dump the old WFCO in the trash can and install the Progressive unit. It was money well spent. You will think so also.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    Jun 02, 2019
    The problem with 'DUMB" chargers is they will start boiling out your battery fluid over time so keep a close watch on that...

    Roy Ken
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Jun 02, 2019
    I just picked up this Dewalt charger at The Home Depot. Great little unit, charges at 30amps with wires that don't get hot. It's not a dumb charger.

    Problem with my old Schumacher at 10 amps is that the wires aren't big enough and they get really hot after a while.

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