Adding Inverter/Charger.Questions

[Talisman61]

Hi all,

Looking at getting a budget inverter/charger unit from Tripp Lite for my 71 caveman Truck Camper.

Currently my 110v and 12v systems are totally separate. I have shore power that feeds a single breaker, feeding my outlets/fridge/lights etc.

I have a Single 12v battery feed connected to my water pump and a few small 12v light fixtures.

Looking at this:
Tripp Lite APS750 Inverter / Charger 750W
And just wanted to clarify some things.

Using the above unit,
I planned to feed my 110v breaker box from one of the available outlets.
Hardwire shore power cable into the units AC input feed.
Run 2awg wire from this unit to my battery bank (adding a second battery in series)

Am i correct in assuming that when shore power is connected it will straight pass through this unit to my breaker and run everything as it does now while charging my battery.

When disconnected from shore my fridge will run off propane, not the converted 110v feed from my batteries.

I was looking at a simple converter/charger but felt the inverter/charger would suit my needs better. Since I have to add one or the other to charge my battery bank from shore power, I would like to be able to use my outlets when disconnected from shore if i ever have to.

New to camper configurations, not necessarily wiring and electrical.

[Talisman61]

Well ended up getting a wfco WF8955PECB unit for $50.00 brand new. So I'll get it wired up, and upgrade as needed. At least this will let me fix my rats nest of wiring the PO did for the 12v system. (wire nuts everywhere, even extended a foot long lead from the battery lug to the fuse box by 8 inches, and used a wire nut.)

Thank you all so much for the continuous input and helping a newbie out!

[time2roll]

Not that I know of. Certainly get more amps to 90+ percent when you are at a higher voltage. Get 20 to 30 amps per battery and you will be fine. If you lose 15 amps it will not be noticed compared to dropping to 13.6 volts.

I assume needing a fast charge on generator. If you are plugged in for an extended period the PD, IOTA and Boondocker are all fine.

Going slower is fine too but most posts are about speed and low cost.

[pianotuna]

time2roll,

Is the PD 14.8 better able to maintain amps? Volts?

[time2roll]

If you really want to get your charge on... ask Randy about to set you up with the PD-14.8 converter.

[Talisman61]

Thanks, I'll look into those. Most of the time I'm hands on with everything, but this camper should be as autonomous as possible so the wife can run everything as easily as I can.

[BFL13]

time2roll wrote:
Forget the boondocker unless you want a manually operated converter.
The automatic boondocker gives a boost charge to about 75 percent, then a trickle at 13.6 volts similar to WFCO.

Go with the first link, the Progressive Dynamics.

Time2Roll is self spring-loaded to point this out, but never mentions what SOC you would get to anyway for the amps size of the charger vs the AH size of the battery bank. Higher charging rate (amps vs AH size of bank) means lower SOC when you reach Vabs. The trick now is to stay at Vabs for long enough to be useful. That "depends."

Also whether you are doing 50-80s or 50-90s off- grid or whether you have solar to follow that up the rest of the day.

The PD has its own "issues" for not being able to hold constant rated amps, which can mean tapered amps, and longer gen time, so it can be no better than the regular, non-ADJ PowerMax by the end of the recharge, however long you leave the gen running.

Overall, I would pick the PD over the PowerMax if I weren't that much of an hands on guy, and I would pick the PowerMax ADJ models over their regular line of converters if I were a hands on guy for charging batts. (The new PowerMax LKs have an adjustable voltage pot you can get at, so that makes it easy for the hands on guy)

EDIT-- ISTR Parallax now also has one of those power centres with their newer, fancy 4400 series converter included (has temperature compensation) --don't have a link, but you can find it.

[time2roll]

Forget the boondocker unless you want a manually operated converter.
The automatic boondocker gives a boost charge to about 75 percent, then a trickle at 13.6 volts similar to WFCO.

Go with the first link, the Progressive Dynamics.

[BFL13]

There are other choices--

http://www.bestconverter.com/4000-Series-Compact-Power-Center_c_138.html

Or:

http://www.bestconverter.com/Boondocker-4-Stage-Power-Center-60-Amp-BD-1260PC_p_552.html#.WVL-llKWxL...

Or:

http://powermaxconverters.com/product/ppc-series-draft/

[Talisman61]

SoundGuy wrote:

Talisman61 wrote:
Back again.. anyone had any luck with the WFCO power center?

I have the same issue with my WFCO 8955 that everyone does - won't ever go into it's advertised 14.4 volt bulk charge mode, most I've ever seen is ~ 13.72 volts. Why waste your $$$ on a WFCO that won't do what it's supposed to? :h

Didn't know about that problem. Thanks!

It caught my eye just because I need to add a converter charger, and planned to add a new 12v fuse box, and redo my AC breaker box.

[SoundGuy]

Talisman61 wrote:
Back again.. anyone had any luck with the WFCO power center?

I have the same issue with my WFCO 8955 that everyone does - won't ever go into it's advertised 14.4 volt bulk charge mode, most I've ever seen is ~ 13.72 volts. Why waste your $$$ on a WFCO that won't do what it's supposed to? :h

[Talisman61]

Back again.. anyone had any luck with the WFCO power center? Looking at this unit:
WFCO Power Center Converter/Charger
To handle my converter/charger needs and clean up my wiring. I needed to redo my 12v fuse holder and wasn't a fan of the rigged up breaker box.

[2oldman]

Cotek is ok too.. so far. You should see the spark when you first connect it! Wow!

[brulaz]

time2roll wrote:
I had a Xantrex Prosine 1800 that gave up way to soon. Since then I have moved to GoPower and my perception is that they run cooler and are better built. Samlex is probably fine for what you need. Not sure it is a big deal at this level.

Was about to buy a Samlex but then found a better deal on a Kisae.
So far so good. Have not heard any bad reports about them or GoPower.

On the other hand have read several bad reports about the cheaper Aims inverters. So would avoid those.

[Talisman61]

It will all be mounted in the removable base of a cabinet, and the battery hung outside just below it. Very close.

I'll continue reading up, thank you for all the help!