Iota DLS-55-X Experience

[Donnoh]

As part of my upcoming solar install I'll be adding a new converter/charger closer to the batteries. My WFCO power center is in the rear of the trailer and the batteries are in the front.
After reading up a bit I decided I wanted a charger that puts out more than 14.4 volts and it seems that there is only a few of them with Iota being one of them.
The dash x version of the Iota seems to be fairly rare and I don't really understand why. Anyhow I bought one with the IQ4 controller and was wondering if anyone else had one that they could tell me about?

[Cydog15]

BFL13 wrote:

Cydog15 wrote:
You really need a Boondocker that you can crank up. It will do 14.78 (on my meter) in the regular mode and you can adjust it higher if needed. I'm playing with one now and it's fantastic so far. I've cut off my solar to see how it does by itself but don't think there will be any conflict when I join them.

Just set the solar charging voltage to about the same 14.8 and they will add their amps. The total amps will still be whatever the batts can accept. Once that gets down to what the solar alone could do, then there is no need for the other to be on.

Just curious, since the websites are not fixed up yet, but is your new 1260 something like this, with the two holes in the side, or does it have the external knob for the pot?

http://powermaxconverters.com/product/pmbc-12-volt/

The spec sheet for that one says 14.8 where the LKs say 14.6 but the manual for this one says 14.6 too. They are supposedly cleaning all this up. 😞

http://host.aws60.com/~powerma84jsdoer/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/PMBC-Spec-sheet.pdf

There are so many different models of these things, it is hard to keep them straight as to what does what, never mind that Randy has his own collection besides, with sometimes different specs.

I know you are frustrated and I was too but you are getting the info you want to hear from Powermax. They are distributors of the same product that is or was was made by Fortron or a new supplier. Powermax sells to the OEMs and Best sells to the aftermarket. The Powermax units are leaked out to the aftermarket illegally from OEMs back door and never have warranty if not OEM installed. They will say 2 year warranty but when tried, nope, not OEM. That is precisely why Powermax links to the Boondocker for aftermarket. Further, they said that the extrusion will change on the Boondocker and it will not even look the same. Not sure why that is important but maybe sexy sells. The one I have already looks different, shorter and thinner but it does have the two holes you were curious about. You seem exorbitantly consumed by it and it's not that big of a deal.

[BFL13]

Cydog15 wrote:
You really need a Boondocker that you can crank up. It will do 14.78 (on my meter) in the regular mode and you can adjust it higher if needed. I'm playing with one now and it's fantastic so far. I've cut off my solar to see how it does by itself but don't think there will be any conflict when I join them.

Just set the solar charging voltage to about the same 14.8 and they will add their amps. The total amps will still be whatever the batts can accept. Once that gets down to what the solar alone could do, then there is no need for the other to be on.

Just curious, since the websites are not fixed up yet, but is your new 1260 something like this, with the two holes in the side, or does it have the external knob for the pot?

http://powermaxconverters.com/product/pmbc-12-volt/

The spec sheet for that one says 14.8 where the LKs say 14.6 but the manual for this one says 14.6 too. They are supposedly cleaning all this up. 😞

http://host.aws60.com/~powerma84jsdoer/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/PMBC-Spec-sheet.pdf

There are so many different models of these things, it is hard to keep them straight as to what does what, never mind that Randy has his own collection besides, with sometimes different specs.

[Cydog15]

You really need a Boondocker that you can crank up. It will do 14.78 (on my meter) in the regular mode and you can adjust it higher if needed. I'm playing with one now and it's fantastic so far. I've cut off my solar to see how it does by itself but don't think there will be any conflict when I join them.

[BFL13]

The problem is not getting the batteries to last another few years or not. The problem is doing some 50-80s in a row until there is not enough AHs left in the bank to get you through the next night. Could be only five 50-80s to get like that.

Now you must find shore power to "recover" the battery bank to be able to do some more 50-80s. You need a charger that will be able to do a recovery on your night with hook-ups, which the Iota can't do.

For the big trip IMO arm yourself with another charger that can do the recovery job to use when that happens. Use the Iota for normal situations. Now you won't be stuck.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

"If I kill a battery bank in 3 years vs 10 I really don't care, I can afford it"

And there is the magic caveat that makes all the difference in the world.

May I commend you on your forthrightness...it changes the whole perspective of what your needs encompass.

[Donnoh]

BFL13 wrote:
You do a few days off grid doing 50-80s where the Iota gets close to 80 by the time it gets the batts to 14.6 and drops to 14.2 and you stop the gen. Works great.

So now you go home and have days and days of shore power to do the "recovery" from that successive undercharging. To do that you need the batts to recharge at 14.8 until they are full and then some to do the overcharge for the recovery.

But you can't. The batts get to around 80% and the Iota drops to 14.2v and there is nothing you can do about it. Then the voltage drops to 13.6! SG is still in the red on the hydrometer. Now what?

Any hope the solar will work at home where you are parked? Any sun at that time of year?

Having BTDT I got myself a converter/charger that can stay at 14.8 for as long as I want and then I can crank the voltage to 16v if need be for the overcharge to get that SG up to spec. Can't do that off grid on generator of course, takes too long. It is what you do once back home. When the SG does get to spec, then I drop the voltage to 13.x (where X depends on the temperature) for the Float till the next camping trip.

I'm not sure if this is directed at me or not (the OP) but I'm not a charge the battery to perfection kind of guy.

I wanted a better battery charger than I had and I wanted one that would add more to the bank off of a generator when solar fell short.

My camping style will be varied as I live in the southeast and it's too **** hot here to be off grid for 5 months out of the year. I'm installing solar for my trips to the west for a couple of months a year and most importantly a 3 month trip to Alaska next summer.

If I kill a battery bank in 3 years vs 10 I really don't care, I can afford it.

[BFL13]

You do a few days off grid doing 50-80s where the Iota gets close to 80 by the time it gets the batts to 14.6 and drops to 14.2 and you stop the gen. Works great.

So now you go home and have days and days of shore power to do the "recovery" from that successive undercharging. To do that you need the batts to recharge at 14.8 until they are full and then some to do the overcharge for the recovery.

But you can't. The batts get to around 80% and the Iota drops to 14.2v and there is nothing you can do about it. Then the voltage drops to 13.6! SG is still in the red on the hydrometer. Now what?

Any hope the solar will work at home where you are parked? Any sun at that time of year?

Having BTDT I got myself a converter/charger that can stay at 14.8 for as long as I want and then I can crank the voltage to 16v if need be for the overcharge to get that SG up to spec. Can't do that off grid on generator of course, takes too long. It is what you do once back home. When the SG does get to spec, then I drop the voltage to 13.x (where X depends on the temperature) for the Float till the next camping trip.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

14.4 versus 14.8 -- either good enough if enough power pedestal time is available. Time spent at absorbsion limit is just as important.

On grid versus length of time spent off grid. All the difference in the world.

"Works For Me" is about as absurd a term as any in existence if qualifying conditions are not clearly spelled out. A rig that hops from pedestal to pedestal is as different as one that serves as weekend warrior duty is from a true long term off-grid hermit rig.

So simply stating my "Mother Fletcher Do It Itself (with dingle dongle) is perfect! Couldn't ask for a better charger!"

Is useless because it does not define the environment in which it is used. Nor does it qualify the gizmo as being able to fully charge the batteries in the environment in which it is used.

Not flattening the batteries in six days use is a far cry from guaranteeing that used with a generator the charger can fully recharge the batteries without running the generator into the early morning hours.

Only the battery itself can accurately reveal if it's charged or not.

Most folks on this forum seem to be weekend warriors. Yet for the high percentage of non-critical durability in time off-grid there sure seems to be a lot of complaints. What is missing and is needed are reports of the state of charge of the battery just before the converter gets to suckle on a power pedestal. It ain't too cool to return home with battery voltage at 11.40 volts. Despite the fact the converter spent time being charged by a generator. All this information is lacking in some of these recollections and opinions.

"Well the lights didn't go out this time" does not get high marks for determining how long a battery is going to last. When I camped overnight or for a weekend on a tourist beach down here, I used to grimace at seeing rigs totally blacked out at 8:00PM until a generator was jump started. When asked to join in a community beach campfire I could predict what a majority of gossip time would be spent on.

I never gave these folks the slightest hint as to what my profession was. I would retire to my rig and open a thick paperback.

[BFL13]

Good info on the X version in real life. Should work for the OP too then.

I would worry about the Trojan spec wanting Absorption done at 14.8v, not 14.2v, but you both have solar, so you can often get it done that way.

[racer4]

BFL13 wrote:
But, but, gasp! but---you will not be able to use any of these many IQ controllers with the X since it does not have the phone type jack??? No Turbo in your future? Sad! 🙂

https://www.iotaengineering.com/Power/IOTA_IQ_profiles.pdf

Maybe they will come out with these in the X configuration. You could phone them and ask I suppose.

I am not sure if that is humorous sarcasm in your post, or serious. But ...
The IQ4-X is available. It works with the DLS-X models. It snaps onto the back of the converter. No phone cord needed. IQ4 for DLS, IQ4-X for DLS-X.

I bought a DLS-55-X in 2016 to replace the WFCO that came on my Cedar Creek. My take on the DLS-X is it is the newer design of the DLS. Lower profile, vent free top surface to keep saw dust out, increased wire terminal size, etc.

I think it was a new product in 2016, so not as common on merchant web sites.

Details are in the product guide:
IOTA DLS Product Guide pdf

Main reason I got the IOTA instead of the Progressive Dynamics was the 14.8V vs 14.4. I think either would be good.

I have 4 Trojan T-125 batteries and a mfg. installed 200W solar panel.

The IOTA DLS-55-X has been install and forget. No problems.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Just a hint that any gizmo can be hands free or have two dozen knobs and meters.

But if it cannot charge a battery completely then it is worthless.

70% to 90% incorrectly "full charge" batteries are the bane of true green technology. Battery manufacturers love it. I would estimate 95% of the smart-genius-einstein-enrico fermi charger gizmos out there do not charge a battery completely.

And you pay through the snot-box for sloppy maintenance. If the charge cycle does not revert the electrolyte to 100% density the battery is not charged. It is one of the few black & white inarguable issues out there.

[BFL13]

But, but, gasp! but---you will not be able to use any of these many IQ controllers with the X since it does not have the phone type jack??? No Turbo in your future? Sad! 🙂

https://www.iotaengineering.com/Power/IOTA_IQ_profiles.pdf

Maybe they will come out with these in the X configuration. You could phone them and ask I suppose.

[Donnoh]

Thanks for the feedback BFL. Being an electrical engineer I've pretty much decided on what I want my system to look like. It is far from perfect, but it will work for me.

[BFL13]

https://www.iotaengineering.com/pplib/iq4x_spec.pdf

Looks like the same charging profile as the IQ4 except four hours at Absorption instead of eight. It still drops to 14.2v 15 min after getting the batteries to 14.6 (It charges at 14.8 to get them to that 14.6.)

Some/many batteries want you to get the voltage up to 14.6 or so and then hold that voltage there to do the Absorption stage.

You can set your solar bulk voltage to 14.8 too and they should add their amps if you need fast charging. Then set the solar Absorb voltage to 14.8 too so you get some quality time there instead of 14.2

Note the input voltage wrt your generator's rating.

https://www.iotaengineering.com/dls55x.htm

It says 950w input, but that ignores the power factor. It says 13.4a at 108v = 1447VA ISTR a Honda 2000 is rated for 1600VA, but the Honda is at 125ish volts. The 1600VA is based on 13.3a at 120v.

The PowerMax 55 amper in a Honda when output is 56.8a when charger is set at 14.8v, on the Kill-A-Watt shows 124.7v, 11.06a, 980w with 1383VA and PF 0.71

So it is hard to say for sure, but IMO that Iota spec of 13.4amps can be ignored and it ought to run ok on a Honda 2000.

The 800w output looks like it is based on the time when it gets the batts to 14.6v since 800/14.6 is 54.79a

With the fat wiring close to the batteries you could might see a few more amps output. Some "55s" will do 60 like that.