Converter Questions - Replacement and want to charge faster

[jcrhea]

All -

I have a WFCO 8955PEC in my Class C RV. It has a 4kW generator in it I use to charge the batteries when off grid. I have two questions -

1. It charges slowly when my 2 12V deep cycle batteries are low (110Ah Each). I may get 15-20amps in them after an hour or so. I have a meter hooked up to one of the DC appliances in the Coach and it *always* says 13.6 when I am hooked to shore power. Does the converter feed one voltage to the house and then charge my batteries at a different voltage (say 14.4? or 13.2 in maintenance while still giving 13.6 to coach), or would it be the same? I have not measured the batteries at different times.

2. I am interested in getting a different charger/converter that will do it faster. The converter portion of my WFCO is working fine other than slow charging.. no flickering, and constant 13.6 which makes my lights nice and bright. Would you recommend I swap the converter charger board out with an upgraded unit like a PD or boondocker, or would you recommend I add a standalone, like the PD9260C and put it close to my batteries? I guess I would just leave the WFCO 8955 as is in that setup and run them both, right?

Thank you for your help.

John

[RJsfishin]

If you have the space, I would just add a new "stand alone" PD9245-60,(45 amp max on a 1000 watt genset) near the batteries, and myself, I would chop the ac wires to the wfco, and use them to power the new PD,.....or if too far away, run a new ac circuit to the new converter. Leave the disconnected wfco alone, use as a stand by if ever needed.

[brulaz]

beemerphile1 wrote:
You could always keep the WFCO and add a portable charger. There is no harm in having both.

I did something similar.

Switch the batteries out of the trailer's 12V circuits when 120VAC is available and use the WFCO strictly as a converter to run the 12V appliances.

Originally used a portable charger to maintain the seprated batts. But then mounted a PD for use as a charger only, and backup converter in case the WFCO dies.

Then I added solar on top of it all ...
Batteries seem pretty happy.

[beemerphile1]

You could always keep the WFCO and add a portable charger. There is no harm in having both.

[time2roll]

13.6 is about the top of the normal range and is fine. Could cause slightly more water usage in hot 100+ temperatures.

WFCO is supposed to drop to 13.2 after a few days of storage. Often this function works as well as the boost mode.

Yes there will be a slight change in brightness for an incandescent bulb. But once you swap to LED it is fixed by an internal regulator. No more brown outs either when running just on battery as it dips to 12.2 and below.

PD4655 is excellent.

The 12 Volt Side of Life

[Gene_Ginny]

jcrhea wrote:
... So if I replace my converter board with the direct replacement PD 4655 unit, my voltage to my lights, etc in the house will change from ~14.4 to ~13.6, down to ~13.2 as the charger runs through the stages, correct? Wouldn't that cause the lights to change brightness?...

Yes it may change the brightness a little. I hardly notice it in my unit even when I see the change on the voltmeter on the wall.

The biggest factor in how fast the battery(s) charge is the size and length of the wire from the converter to the batteries.

[jcrhea]

CA Traveler wrote:
Batteries will bulk charge at about 14.8V and taper down to 13.4V for float charging. 13.6V is OK. The charger, house loads and battery are all wired together and have basically the same voltage.

From many posts on these boards the WFCO is junk and will not bulk charge your batteries.

Appreciate the feedback and I am certainly planning to replace the WFCO unit. So if I replace my converter board with the direct replacement PD 4655 unit, my voltage to my lights, etc in the house will change from ~14.4 to ~13.6, down to ~13.2 as the charger runs through the stages, correct? Wouldn't that cause the lights to change brightness?

Apologies if I am being really dense.. I have just not experienced a change in voltage to the house lights, etc except when I unplug - and I can tell a big difference between 13.6 and ~12.6 on battery alone.

John

[CA_Traveler]

Batteries will bulk charge at about 14.8V and taper down to 13.4V for float charging. 13.6V is OK. The charger, house loads and battery are all wired together and have basically the same voltage.

From many posts on these boards the WFCO is junk and will not bulk charge your batteries.

[jcrhea]

smkettner wrote:
1) Single voltage for everything. RV runs fine from 11 to 15 volts.

Thank you for all the fast responses! On your point above, does that mean I am constantly getting 13.6V to my house batteries all the time? Even when they are full? That doesn't seem to make sense - wouldn't that hurt the batteries?

I know the converter documentation states it sends 13.6 voltage to the house appliances and lights, I didn't think that meant the battery too!

John

[westend]

You can handle the replacement a number of ways but a new PD pushing higher amps would be an elegant way of doing it. As smkettner advises, solar is a great way to keep batteries charged. It is more accurate and efficient than I can accomplish it with multiple battery chargers.

[time2roll]

1) Single voltage for everything. RV runs fine from 11 to 15 volts.

2) No Boondocker. Either PD or IOTA. Either will fit in the WFCO slot. ebay the WFCO or keep as a spare.

3) Consider 200+ watts of solar 😉