ON a NEW WFCO 8955, at what voltage should

[RobertL0]

the Bulk Rate charge kick in?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

[MNtundraRet]

Yes. I do see 14.4 volts when using shore or generator and WFCO if batteries have discharged to about 80%soc. This would happen sooner with the older T105's in their 7th to 10th years.

The new T105's with full capacity don't always get discharged enough to have it kick in after a single day. I see 13.7 volts then which is what I would expect to see. We do have a separate Trojan 12v 80 AH battery for the television and second amplifier so ussage for MH functions is limited for spring to fall camping.

I can certainly understand hunter's needing "bulk " charging to get 50/80%soc charging in colder unpredictable weather.

As with a lot of products made today the quality may have slipped in the last decade.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Twenty-two bucks each for my Cheap-O-Watts

I definitely got more than what I paid for.

The WhiffCo is for Power Pedestal Princesses and doesn't make a half-bad 12 volt power supply for battery backup systems. But charge it doesn't and float it doesn't.

The Megawatts stand ready to play tag-team with the WhiffCo when it comes to actually charging the batteries.

The Cheapos may or may not end up as binary floaters set at 13.15 volts for the Lifeline. This will allow me 60 amperes of float voltage power, meaning the AGM will never ever need to come out of float, unless it is cycled.

Some of you techhies out there might want to take a look at how these gyro gearloose perverters maintain a battery under float (power pedestal) conditions. Does your perverter maintain float status during long periods of storage? Does your perverter maintain float voltage while sucking on a power pedestal while normal hotel loads are switched on and off? ummmm baby, if the battery is not discharged WHY oh WHY do converters jump into bulk mode? How many bulk charging cycles does it take to erode .050" worth of positive plates? Bulk charging cycles that pass unseen, unnoticed, and unneeded while connected to a power pedestal. Twenty minutes at 14.8 volts every 21st day would stir the electrolyte and virtually eliminate sulfation. Sixty amps float potential would support just about any power pedestal scenario.

Sometimes I wonder if the administration of any of these perverter companies have ever actually lived off-grid. Their ignorance of the function of lead acid chemistry astounds me.

[NinerBikes]

MNtundraRet wrote:

AH64ID wrote:

MNtundraRet wrote:
We use our motohome an average of a hundred days each year.

Boondock or hook-ups? There is a distinct difference in terms of battery life.... and other things that don't pertain to this thread.

The post was about WFCO. While I never heard about it before getting my motor -home. It has worked fine since 2003. No reason to knock it.

Since my MH is rarely on shorepower I check batteries for voltage and clamp -on meter for AMPS. Specific gravity checks if needed. I know my systems are working because I check each trip.

I speak only for myself, or maybe for a few others around here, but after boondocking on first 2 separate one week trips, in my mind, I renamed the WFCO company that makes those to WTF Co.

As in WTF were they thinking bulk charge mode is on a charge controller, when industry standard is 14.4 to 14.8V in a bulk mode that actually works.

I've never seen mine charge in bulk mode, 14.8V or charge at above 13.6-13.8V. All I've seen it do is sit in lame mode, sucking all my gas down through my Honda Generator, instead of actually quickly recharging my batteries. But hey, they are cheap, you get what you paid for.

[AH64ID]

MNtundraRet wrote:

AH64ID wrote:

MNtundraRet wrote:
We use our motohome an average of a hundred days each year.

Boondock or hook-ups? There is a distinct difference in terms of battery life.... and other things that don't pertain to this thread.

The post was about WFCO. While I never heard about it before getting my motor -home. It has worked fine since 2003. No reason to knock it.

Since my MH is rarely on shorepower I check batteries for voltage and clamp -on meter for AMPS. Specific gravity checks if needed. I know my systems are working because I check each trip.

So it goes into boost mode and charges the batteries at their reccommended voltages?

[time2roll]

MNtundraRet wrote:
The post was about WFCO. While I never heard about it before getting my motor -home. It has worked fine since 2003. No reason to knock it.

Since my MH is rarely on shorepower I check batteries for voltage and clamp -on meter for AMPS. Specific gravity checks if needed. I know my systems are working because I check each trip.

Do you see 14+ volts when charging a low battery?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

12thgenusa,

Thank you. I would hard-pressed to discharge the big battery bank in a single day. Shallow discharges and a 13.1 volt value works for a 30C average temp.

[MNtundraRet]

AH64ID wrote:

MNtundraRet wrote:
We use our motohome an average of a hundred days each year.

Boondock or hook-ups? There is a distinct difference in terms of battery life.... and other things that don't pertain to this thread.

The post was about WFCO. While I never heard about it before getting my motor -home. It has worked fine since 2003. No reason to knock it.

Since my MH is rarely on shorepower I check batteries for voltage and clamp -on meter for AMPS. Specific gravity checks if needed. I know my systems are working because I check each trip.

[12thgenusa]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Speaking of "keep" do any of the amp hour meters keep track of total accumulated amp hours discharged from the bank? It would have to state values in kWh and totalize perhaps as many as 99, 000 kWh to be useful. Just in power taken from the batteries for hotel loads. For some this would be a useful adjunct for battery management and having a solid grip on battery lifespan.

Trimetric does, to 999.99 kWh which they claim is longer than the average life of a battery bank. For my battery bank that would equate to 4,545 50% deep cycles or 12 years of daily 50% deep cycles.

For you that would only be 15 months.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I've seen a number of boondockers down here that have a single group 27 house battery and when they drive their small class C into town once a week the battery is like 30% depleted. Other rig owners seem to go through 12-cells of golf car batteries daily. I was just purusing my electric bill and saw I use 2.13 Kw daily. This includes powering a full size Daewoo refrigerator/freezer. Even though this rented structure (calling it a "house" would be stretching things) all the lighting is LED. No television. So lifestyle plays a heavy role in how hard the battery bank works each day
When I get home that Layback Lenny Lifeline is going to start earning it's keep.

Speaking of "keep" do any of the amp hour meters keep track of total accumulated amp hours discharged from the bank? It would have to state values in kWh and totalize perhaps as many as 99, 000 kWh to be useful. Just in power taken from the batteries for hotel loads. For some this would be a useful adjunct for battery management and having a solid grip on battery lifespan.

[AH64ID]

MNtundraRet wrote:
We use our motohome an average of a hundred days each year.

Boondock or hook-ups? There is a distinct difference in terms of battery life.... and other things that don't pertain to this thread.

[MNtundraRet]

We use our motohome an average of a hundred days each year.

[AH64ID]

Skunk Works... now we are talking think pot!!

We boondock 3-5 weeks a year, total, and it is why we have $$ batteries and ditched the WFCO.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Yep. Three week vacations heavy-cycle boondocking for seven years and the battery owner believes he has received excellent service meaning excellent cycle life are out of his RV batteries. Ninety-eight cycles. The same battery with ideal float voltage may last 12-years.

Now, does a light bulb pop on for you? It should have. Something does not add up. I discussed this at length with Bob Besch owner of a smart charger manufacturing company around thirty years ago. The answer should be obvious to techhies. Let's skip the question and dive right inti the answer. This puzzled the PhD's at Lockheed Skunk Works so don't feel bad id the answer does not dawn upon you. HINT It has something to do with the way batteries are charged.