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

[CA_Traveler]

For anyone considering changing the charger: first mark all of the wires and then take a number of pictures capturing all of the detail.

I've got pictures of most of my rig when not if they are needed.

[tenbear]

When I replaced my old converter with a PD9260, I also changed the #8 converter to battery wire with #4. It is about 17' and made a big difference.

[jcrhea]

Thank you for all the responses! I have decided to go with a replacement for the WFCO converter - PD 4655. If I see low amps or issues with voltage after installation I will upgrade the wire. Right now it appears it is 8 guage and about 10 ft long.

Looking at youtube videos, seems it shouldn't take more than a couple hours to swap out converter and DC fuse board.

I am going to look into solar as well. Seems there are tons of options there. Just starting my research.. so much to learn!

John

[Snowman9000]

I connected my wfco with short fat cables. It helped but it was still pathetic. I swapped to a PD. This is my third PD. They work beautifully. Do it. I also have solar, but that's another story.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I've had a WFCO 55, operating for 2-years into an AGM. 13.2 float is an impossible dream. Forget it even exists.

When the battery is cycled, 14.4 volts appears for a few seconds upon startup. Even though the Lifeline is at 50% or thereabouts. Cable? You gots to be joking.

I used the original cables from WFCO. Short, with soldered battery-end leads. The WFCO is powered off line voltage which too is monitored.

Every one of them (WFCOs) are dopplegangers to Hungarian movie actresses. They're all freakin' insane, and therefore there is no "norm".

I read somewhere above that a "smart converter model" charges at 14.8 volts? Oh yeah? For how many seconds? Ten? Thirty?

[mbopp]

I kept my WFCO but put it on its own breaker so I can turn it on or off. But I then added an IOTA 55A deck-mount converter to the ceiling of the pass-through. It's a 3' run to the two G29 batteries. AC power was tapped off one of the bedroom outlets and run to a switched outlet in the pass-through.

[wa8yxm]

WFCO is noted for not going into BULK mode.. this is the most common failure mode. This is not to say that is what is happening, More testing than I care to describe is needed (Hydrometer, and voltage tests)

Progressive Dynamics 9280 or in this case 4680 would charge faster but MIGHT be too fast if you have a single pair of GC-2.

[N8GS]

Typically the charger is too far from the batteries and factory wire was sized for legal amps, not voltage drop. I installed an IOTA 90 amp unit at the battery bank (600 Ah). 1 foot of #2 wire to junction block then 3 feet of 2/0 to the batteries. All battery interconnections are also 2/0. I kept the WFCO for backup. Also 470 watts of MPPT solar.
This was all on my Cougar 290 and will be moved to the Reflection 337RLS that I bought last spring.

[pianotuna]

Solar and either an Iota or a PD converter. Any reports on the new PD?

[NinerBikes]

I'd change type of batteries from something flooded lead acid to something AGM that can take a lot of amps while recharging, and that doesn't have a lot of internal resistance built into the battery design.

[filthy_beast]

CA Traveler wrote:

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

My eight year old batteries are doing fine with the WFCO.

I would not up the charging rate unless the converter is real close to the house batteries or you plane to upsize the cable going to the battery.

[Matt_Colie]

John,

I just finished this fight and won.

The coach was born with an old constant voltage charger. I replaced that with a PD 9145 with Charge Wizard and that was good, but the batteries were 18 feet from it and it took forever to recharge (lots of generator time).

The wire sized needed to cut the loss to reasonable was a fortune and then I would still have to weave it into the coach structure. So, I ran an new power lead to near the house bank and put a brand new PD9260 about three cable feet away from the bank.

Now I can recharge those babies..... (Data the result of actual experience.)

Matt

[scrubjaysnest]

brulaz wrote:

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.

Went a similar route as Bruce, removed the WFCO for use in the other camper. Added solar as the primary means to keep batteries charged. Carry a 15 A smart charger for the few times we have shore power and the batteries need a charge.

[CA_Traveler]

When charging the voltage change is gradual which helps to mask the bulb brightness change.