Does Generator wattage size effect battery charge time?

[brianosaur]

If I plug a RV shore power cable to a generator and let the onboard converter/distribution panel charge the batteries, is the generator size irrelevant to charge rate/time?

[time2roll]

Five years is worth the upgrade. Easy self install if at all handy.

[Bobbo]

brianosaur wrote:
Retirement is about 5 years away and the TT we have will be replaced with a more semi-full time bigger rig when boondocking will be more prevalent.

Six years ago, we traded in our Winnebago and bought an Airstream. I had a new Progressive Dynamics converter/charger waiting in the garage before I even brought the new trailer home. It was never plugged in the first time at my house with the original converter/charger. (But it came with a Magnatek/Parallax converter/charger which is even worse than a WFCO.)

[Grit_dog]

Solved the question whether it’s the generator or not.
If you don’t want to mess with the converter, just bring a normal battery charger with you if there may be times where you cAnt get the wfco to perform.
Btw it’s 100% how ours acted on our last trailer. 2 prev TCs had PD converters. This one I’d have to run the genny for hours on end to get enough charge in the batteries to keep the simple stuff powered up overnight.

Every man should have a decent battery charger felt maybe the dude with the dead Ram batteries thread here. He prolly wouldn’t now how to hook it up.
And for occasional use it’s not difficult or prohibitive to just supplement with a real battery charger.

[brianosaur]

Bobbo wrote:

WFCO converter/chargers are KNOWN to not get to 14.4v. Replace it. There are several good ones. I, personally, prefer the Progressive Dynamics PD4655V. It should be a direct drop-in replacement.

Yeah, I hv read here for a while that WFCO is the bottom of the barrel for panels. However, I dont camp all that often with out shore power. Just a handful of nights a year on the beach, as we are mostly weekend warriors with local park having power;and a then full week or so traveling in the summer with full hookups.

I have debated the upgrade and if it is worth for me.

Retirement is about 5 years away and the TT we have will be replaced with a more semi-full time bigger rig when boondocking will be more prevalent.

[wa8yxm]

Ok if you have a very small generator the converter will overload it and either trip the breaker or stall the engine

If that does not happen then the converter is in full control of the charge.

As someone said.... Well let me give you experience.
I used a Generac 1000 Rated 1000 watts Traditional generator but fully enclosed. Actually put out close to 1200 watts without talling (had a 10 amp breaker and I'd trip it from time to time when I used it to power an electric chain saw).

Converter was a Progressive 9180+Wizard. That's the largest PD makes

Ran it no problem.

[Bobbo]

brianosaur wrote:
It is a WFCO WF8955PEC
The manual has some weird statement saying it reaches 14.4v but a multimeter will only show 13.6v

WFCO converter/chargers are KNOWN to not get to 14.4v. Replace it. There are several good ones. I, personally, prefer the Progressive Dynamics PD4655V. It should be a direct drop-in replacement. Go to bestconverter.com. Better yet, call and talk to Randy.

[time2roll]

brianosaur wrote:

time2roll wrote:

No mention of the converter brand... however if the battery voltage never gets to 14.2+ volts it will be a slow charge to 100%. Could take 8+ hours from low to near full charging at a common 13.6 volts.

It is a WFCO WF8955PEC
The manual has some weird statement saying it reaches 14.4v but a multimeter will only show 13.6v

“If the output current reaches its maximum (normally caused by a discharged battery),
this will cause the converter to go into Bulk Mode, which means the target output voltage
will change to 14.4 VDC and a timer will start. Although the converter is outputting 14.4
VDC, you will not be able to read that on a voltmeter due to the voltage-current
relationship.“

That is a bunch of BS to hold the claim all is fine when the converter has a poor design that simply fails to work as expected.

If the WFCO was in boost mode (14.40v) the voltage would steadily climb from 13.6 to 14.2+ in an hour or less. In virtually all RV installations the WFCO fails to work as expected.

Really need a replacement to minimize generator run time. Most any 20+ amp portable charger will also work well if there is already one in the garage someplace.

https://powermaxconverters.com/product/pm3-mba/

https://www.bestconverter.com/PD-4655L-MBA-WildKat-55-Amp-Main-Board-Assembly-for-WFCO-8955

[brianosaur]

time2roll wrote:

No mention of the converter brand... however if the battery voltage never gets to 14.2+ volts it will be a slow charge to 100%. Could take 8+ hours from low to near full charging at a common 13.6 volts.

It is a WFCO WF8955PEC
The manual has some weird statement saying it reaches 14.4v but a multimeter will only show 13.6v

“If the output current reaches its maximum (normally caused by a discharged battery),
this will cause the converter to go into Bulk Mode, which means the target output voltage
will change to 14.4 VDC and a timer will start. Although the converter is outputting 14.4
VDC, you will not be able to read that on a voltmeter due to the voltage-current
relationship.“

[ScottG]

It is irrelevant. As long as the gen is big enough to run the converter it wont matter if the gen is 2000 watts or 15000+.

[time2roll]

May need 20% to 30% additional apparent power as most converters have poor power factor.
Either listed generator will run the converter alone just fine.

No mention of the converter brand... however if the battery voltage never gets to 14.2+ volts it will be a slow charge to 100%. Could take 8+ hours from low to near full charging at a common 13.6 volts. Monitor the battery voltage to know what the system is actually doing when a fast charge is expected.

[KD4UPL]

I believe your math is correct. Either generator should be capable of powering your converter to it's maximum output. You would have to consider what over AC loads were on at the same time to stay withing the generator's rating.
I believe the Honda rating of 2200 is the surge rating and it's continuous rating is actually 2,000. The WEN is probably rated on it's surge as well. I don't know it's continuous rating.

[brianosaur]

Thank you for all the input:).

I have two inverter generators. A Honda 2200 watt (red suitcase) and a WEN 3800 Watt. I have used both to charge the batteries. (2x6v)

My TT is setup for 30a and the 3 stage panel states:

Panel Input 120v 60hz 30a
Converter Input: 105-130v 60hz 12a

So I assume 12a input means 12a x 120v = 1440w min size generator?

[ktmrfs]

yes or no are the answers it depends

No as long as the gnerator can supply the continous VA needed by the converter.

Yes,

if it can't at least on a deeply discharged battery bulk charging current may be high enough to trip the overload on the generator.

Now most 2000 VA generators will drive most commonly installed chargers. Those rated at 30-50A.

And just because it works ok when your battery is partially discharged doesn't mean it will be fine with a deeply discharged battery bank. Current draw by the converter depends on how deeply discharged the battery is.
In my case the answer is depends. I have 2 PD in parallel, a 50A and a 60A, the 60A is the max my honda 2200 can handle. If I have shore power or my generators paralleled I turn on both Chargers and can dump 100A into my battery ban for initial charge (4 GC2's) Each has a seperate circuit so it's easy to flip whichever breaker(s) I want.

One isue with most chargers is the watts<< volt amp draw. They have a very poor power factor so the max current is higher than given by a watts calculation.

[pianotuna]

very few converters draw more than 1200 watts. So any time there is a 15 amp supply speed of charging is not affected.

As time2roll said--post the make and model of the charger.

My OEM PD unit charged at about 30 amps.

The Magnum inverter/charger 3012 allows for up to 127 amps (15 amps total shore or generator power @ 120 volts.)