I followed your suggestion and bought the whole thing

[MiPaJacks]

I ordered the Megawatt, meter, jumper cable, I assume they go in a line, but how do you attach the cables together? I may understand how to do it when I get all the parts.

I will never know as much as the resident gurues have forgot, so I will try to just tag along and not get in the way!
Thanks
James

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I remember basic training in the military. Hurry up and wait.

We weren't supposed to look at the "whale ---- scum" in the 40/50 squad. Punishment. They had to dye their dungarees pink. Rise and shine at 0300. Grab a trenching tool and a bucket. March double time to the far end of the grinder. Then dig the rock hard soil and fill the bucket. RUN not walk a quarter mile with the heavy bucket and dump the soil in a neat pile. Then RUN back to the other side and dig and fill. That continued until dinner. After which the filled the buckets from the piles, and of course ran and re-filled the holes they had dug, until dusk.

I have this built-in aversion now, which I believe is due to the futility of doing anything the stupid way. And no, I never participated in the 40/50 squad but I did believe them when they told us if we tried tried to hop the fence and head to Tijuana, we would end up in Portsmouth Naval Prison.

So forgive me when I show little patience with substandard performance and durability. This comes from a life filled with irritating stuff that "Almost Works"

[NinerBikes]

smkettner wrote:
Now we are getting somewhere. For float service set the supply at 13.30 volt in normal conditions and let it sit. For fast charge set to 14.8 volts and give the timer a twist from 30 to 180 minutes depending on level of discharge. (about 10% to 50% discharged respectively)

I am not an expert on Megawatt so now everyone can jump on me with corrections. :B

Not sure how the meter fits in.

SMK, I came to you in the beginning for advice. It was good advice. And as I grew in knowledge and experience, I chipped in my observations. I think that what you have chipped in above matches my observations with my 30 Amp MegaWatt, so your contribution is based on solid experience. Something also tells me that you are an EE by education or trade. That you've had a Nissan Leaf all electric car adds further to your credentials on experience in charging electric batteries. Your suggestions and time settings are spot on, only minor detail would be state of charge when the OP starts charging his batteries, and ambient temperatures, to fine tune things a bit. That will come with time and experience.

Meter comes in in telling you your current amperage charge rate, and voltage at the charger, for setting the voltage before you start charging. DMM will tell you voltage at the terminals, as the variance between the two will give you a clue as to the take of charge the battery is in. Current amps will also tell you the take rate. Cumulative amps will tell you how far down you ran your battery, with the understanding that you have to add back in 5 to 10% more amps than you took out of the batteries, lost in resistance to charge in the batteries.

Of course, the hydrometer has final say on state of charge of every single cell, the meters are just a cumulative of each cell in series for 12V, it will not tell you which cell might be going bad.

Just tools, used in parallel, or in conjunction , to remove doubt, to assist in knowing exactly what the battery is doing while charging.

The smart person that wants to know for certain logs all the parameters the first 2 or 3 hours that the meter puts out on display.
Do this logging a couple of times, and decisions can be made, smart decisions, about how much time to set for, based on previous experience, saving time and fuel.

I will also add that at this stage of the game, for those that do NOT feel comfortable with this homegrown setup, for bulk charging, hands down, serious bulk charging, the closest you can get to this set up that is "near enough" is a Iota DLS series with the cheat wire installed, that will get you 14.7V, but only up to 106F, beyond that, the unit shuts off maintaining charge.

smkettner steered me that way, it's solid advice if you are not a more hand on person, or is satisfied with "good enough".

[time2roll]

Now we are getting somewhere. For float service set the supply at 13.30 volt in normal conditions and let it sit. For fast charge set to 14.8 volts and give the timer a twist from 30 to 180 minutes depending on level of discharge. (about 10% to 50% discharged respectively)

I am not an expert on Megawatt so now everyone can jump on me with corrections. :B

Not sure how the meter fits in.

[landyacht318]

How do you intend to use the megawatt?

Are you charging by generator?

Is recharge time a factor?

Do you intend to use in in concerto with whatever converter came installed in your RV?

Do you know which converter it is?

Will you be removing the batteries in winter and charging them at home?

The powerpoles are a great connector, but whether you even need any removable connector is in doubt.

Alligator clamps are not an Ideal connection, not for anything long term.

The watt meter leads being 12awg and aluminum are hardly ideal.

Off the shelf 6v battery could mean a 6v starter battery for a vehicle made in 1952, or a benchmark trojan t-105 golf cart battery, or anything in between. Which battery brand?

Please Ignore posts from those who seek confrontation, and we can help you get the megawatt set up in a method most beneficial to your uses, but we need more information as to your intentions as to how you wish to employ the power supply.

[Muddydogs]

MiPaJacks wrote:
Guys, I know not to play in your sandbox. My skill set is far below yours.

I have a 97 Holiday Rambler Vacationer with two 6 volt off the shelf batteries, It has the original not-smart charger, I think I can do better, therefore I read with interest Mex's sticky (to be) and his informative post on battery charging.

I followed the various posts on 8/18 and figured I could create a better charger based on your collective knowledge.

As listed by Ninerbikes in a post on 8/18 I ordered:
Megawatts 36 Amp supply
Watt Meter fron China 60W 100A
Mex's intermatic Timer 4 hr.
Jumper cables (cut off one end)
I learned from Landryacht today to use Power Poles to connect the various cable (Thanks Landy)

I have spent many years reading and educating myself on here, I know the pecking order.
Thanks for everyone's help
James

Are you going to be moving your meter around or is it dedicated to this power supply? I ask because if you don't plan on using the meter for anything else but this charger I would forgo the Power Poles and just hardwire the parts together. Power Poles are great and I use them for my Ham radio that gets moved from house to truck but wouldn't waste the money on them if I didn't need to move things. A simple butt connector for $2.00 a ten pack will take care of your connections.

[Muddydogs]

Vulcan Rider wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

So a person purchases a "high-end" smart charger and it does not charge the batteries. Where do they go from there? Exactly where do they go from there?

You continue to make claims that are not supported by the evidence.

Just exactly what name brand, "high-end" smart charger do you know of that "does not charge the batteries" ?????

Except maybe when they have been discharged to the point of being totally flat, that is. If and when that happens, it is a mistake which hopefully won't be repeated very often.

Please O please start your own post with this question and leave this one alone so the OP can ask questions. Every time this subject comes up it becomes a fight and posts get closed.

It appears that the OP like myself have made a decision to move away from the off the shelf charger and build our own like a few others have and all we are trying to do is glean a little info from the helpful and experienced folks.

[MiPaJacks]

Guys, I know not to play in your sandbox. My skill set is far below yours.

I have a 97 Holiday Rambler Vacationer with two 6 volt off the shelf batteries, It has the original not-smart charger, I think I can do better, therefore I read with interest Mex's sticky (to be) and his informative post on battery charging.

I followed the various posts on 8/18 and figured I could create a better charger based on your collective knowledge.

As listed by Ninerbikes in a post on 8/18 I ordered:
Megawatts 36 Amp supply
Watt Meter fron China 60W 100A
Mex's intermatic Timer 4 hr.
Jumper cables (cut off one end)
I learned from Landryacht today to use Power Poles to connect the various cable (Thanks Landy)

I have spent many years reading and educating myself on here, I know the pecking order.
Thanks for everyone's help
James

[Vulcan_Rider]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

So a person purchases a "high-end" smart charger and it does not charge the batteries. Where do they go from there? Exactly where do they go from there?

You continue to make claims that are not supported by the evidence.

Just exactly what name brand, "high-end" smart charger do you know of that "does not charge the batteries" ?????

Except maybe when they have been discharged to the point of being totally flat, that is. If and when that happens, it is a mistake which hopefully won't be repeated very often.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

It's RISKY to use a charger without a shutoff timer.

Too risky.

Foolish risky IMHO


This is the timer



http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTERMATIC-FF4H-Timer-Spring-Wound-4-Hr-SPST-Silver-/331331101097?hash=item4...

This is an image of the box that the timer fits into but I like plastic better. All the screws come with these parts. If you prefer metal, ask the Home Depot salesman for ROMEX CLAMPS to hold the wire from pulling out

There are two stubs of wire sticking out the back of the timer. One is in, the other is out. Cut the long plug-in cord so that you can connect the black wire to the timer IN wire. OK to use wire nuts - yellow.

We have one wire left. That stub connects to the black wire that goes to the Megawatt. Straight direct to the screw marked LINE.

Now for the white wire. The neutral. The neutral runs direct from the plug in plug through the receptacle box then continues on without being cut if you can help it, directly to the Megawatt's NEUTRAL screw.

The same happens with the green wire. It runs directly from the plug in to the Megawatt EARTH GROUND screw terminal.

[landyacht318]

smkettner wrote:
That is the trouble. We don't know the starting point or the expected destination.

All we know is that the OP is in Dallas with a Megawatt of some rating, a meter of some sort and some jumper cable.

This is a very valid point.

We have no idea why the Megawatt has been chosen or how it is to be employed.
Full time battery charger to replace converter?
Generator usage?
top charging only?
portable?

Boondocking or pedestal queen?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Hmmmmm.

A battery with less than optimum electrolyte gravity despite all the huffing and puffing by The Wizard of Oz smart chargers.

And an owner sick and tired of running his generator to death trying to do the impossible.

Sounds rational to me.

[time2roll]

That is the trouble. We don't know the starting point or the expected destination.

All we know is that the OP is in Dallas with a Megawatt of some rating, a meter of some sort and some jumper cable.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Señor Vulcanrider your point is ABSOLUTELY valid. There is no one way to satisfy all requirements. To vastly lessen vulnerability to unintended overcharge the incorporation of a spring-wound timer in the input 120vac line is STRONGLY recommended.

This is a battery charger not a converter, not a maintainer, nor anything else. We old farts dealt with charging batteries the way our grandfathers did. With a battery charger. Wind er up and let her rip. Hundreds of thousands of campers, trailers and motorhomes were built before the advent of BW Magnateks's ferroresonant converter with it's absurd 3-amp battery charging bleed resistor.

When I first started driving the generator was the only way for an auto engine to recharge a battery. A 45-amp generator was considered absurd overkill, and was directed toward fire engines with their monster 1/4 horsepower DC motor driven sirens.

Lead acid batteries are wicked, poisonous and dangerous. I wish they could go away forever. They are temperamental, sometimes acting like Patty McCormick in the movie The Bad Seed.

But they are unforgiving and just too danged expensive to ignore.

Mistreat a battery, go camping and find you have 30% of the battery capacity you thought you had. Work 11-1/2 months for that?

The difference between a casual weekender or someone who camps via power pedestal versus long duration off-grid boondocking is shocking.

So a person purchases a "high-end" smart charger and it does not charge the batteries. Where do they go from there? Exactly where do they go from there?

[NinerBikes]

MiPaJacks wrote:
I ordered the Megawatt, meter, jumper cable, I assume they go in a line, but how do you attach the cables together? I may understand how to do it when I get all the parts.

I will never know as much as the resident gurues have forgot, so I will try to just tag along and not get in the way!
Thanks
James

You do understand that those of us that use these MegaWatt PSU's have only one intended, planned use for them 99% of the time?

Set the voltage to Bulk Charge, and time the Bulk Charge, to get to a 85 to 90% State of charge for our batteries, strictly while running on a gas generator, or to get the MAIN portion of the recharging cycle done quickly.

The last 10 or 15% needs to be done manually, another way, SLOWLY usually with lower voltage than when in bulk mode.

It is IMPERATIVE that you contact the manufacturer of your battery to find out exactly what the bulk charging voltage is for your model of battery. It is up to you to set it and maintain it correctly, and monitor it. This is a manual charger setup, it requires some supervision until you get a feel for it and move yourself up the learning curve to become a professional battery recharger. Err on the side of caution starting out, watch your results, adjust accordingly.

Post up the make and model and amp hours and number of of your batteries here, so you can receive some further guidance and or insight in doing it right the first time.