Progressive Dynamics 9260 possible issue

[kincade]

Hoping to solicit a bit of advice from the gurus here. I recently installed a PD 9260 and it seems to do a much better job charging my (2) Trojan T105 batteries. The only issue is, the converter itself seems to stay quite warm, even when in float mode. I expected it to act like this when charging, but it it normal to stay very warm to the touch when in float mode? This would indicate power usage constantly, which is a bit unexpected. I do have the pendant, which is off except for a blink every 10 seconds or so when in float.

Thanks for any advice you can give,

[RJsfishin]

If my power bill went up "several $s" from my converter doing nothing but a few milliamps float, I'd junk it.
Out of curiosity, I just checked my PD45, (6:am) and it is slightly warm to the touch.
The 50 amp shunt amp meter is reading 0.0, but I doubt it will read much less than a 1/2 amp. I noticed the propane detector is on, but I don't think anything else is. I have never ever heard the fan on,......but I don't camp in hot weather either.
If I were to check it later today at about 92 degrees, which I will, I could have a whole different report ! It will probably be more than warm even w/ it unplugged 🙂

[tenbear]

09FLSTC wrote:

tenbear wrote:
When I first switched to the PD9260 I noticed the power bill went up by several $$. I couldn't think of any other cause so I switched to a Battery Minder for use during storage. My bill dropped down.

That indicated to me that the PD was drawing current while not doing very much. I never did feel it to see how warm it got, nor did I measure the current drain.

Huh? So where do you think that energy went?

Not having done any measurements I don't know. I think some of the energy goes to maintaining the battery full charge, and to any other circuits that are not disconnected by the OEM battery disconnect switch. The remainder ends up as heat. The Battery Minder also maintains the battery and powers the circuits that remain on, so the difference must result in heat from the circuits that are powered within the converter.

If I get a chance I will attempt to measure the AC current consumed by the PD9260 and by the Battery Minder.

The PD does go into a desulfation mode for 15 minutes every 21 hours. I believe this is simply boost mode for 15 minutes. The Battery Minder uses full-time automatic high frequency pulse desulfation. I have no idea how this affects the input current.

[westend]

09FLSTC wrote:

tenbear wrote:
When I first switched to the PD9260 I noticed the power bill went up by several $$. I couldn't think of any other cause so I switched to a Battery Minder for use during storage. My bill dropped down.

That indicated to me that the PD was drawing current while not doing very much. I never did feel it to see how warm it got, nor did I measure the current drain.

Huh? So where do you think that energy went?

Probably up in heat as the circuits in the converter are still powering components, even while in float. "Warm to touch" is not typically a problem. If you were to enlist a bunch of ideas about cooling the converter, it may still dissipate the same amount of heat, hence same power consumption.

Isn't there any information from PD about the current used while in various use?

Edit: Answer #6 from the PD Converter Faq would seem to contradict the OP's experience---
"6. Does my Converter/Charger completely shut-off when the battery reaches full charge?
When the battery reaches full charge, the charging current of the converter drops down to between 20 and 25 milliamps. Batteries will self-discharge themselves at this low rate even when no other 12-volt current loads are present. The converter senses this current loss and automatically replaces this lost current to maintain full battery charge."

[09FLSTC]

tenbear wrote:
When I first switched to the PD9260 I noticed the power bill went up by several $$. I couldn't think of any other cause so I switched to a Battery Minder for use during storage. My bill dropped down.

That indicated to me that the PD was drawing current while not doing very much. I never did feel it to see how warm it got, nor did I measure the current drain.

Huh? So where do you think that energy went?

[tenbear]

When I first switched to the PD9260 I noticed the power bill went up by several $$. I couldn't think of any other cause so I switched to a Battery Minder for use during storage. My bill dropped down.

That indicated to me that the PD was drawing current while not doing very much. I never did feel it to see how warm it got, nor did I measure the current drain.

[kincade]

Thank you all for the quick advice! To clarify, the PD is in a large compartment with ventilation, and the 'warm' temperature is with the trailer at rest, no lights on, no load, after the trailer has been on float for several days. The fan is not on when at rest, but the heatsink and converter are always warm to the touch.

Wouldn't a warm condition 24/7 indicate a moderate amount of continous power usage ?

[Wayne_Dohnal]

I can only offer a broad generality: My 9160A runs hotter than I would have expected it to when it doesn't have any load. Not hot enough to run the fan, but the heatsink is certainly "pretty warm". The converter has internal resistors that always carry a load. This is in a closed compartment that's about 7 cubic feet.

[tenbear]

The converter is supplying 12v power to the RV in addition to charging the battery. If you can measure the current being drawn from the converter and the current drawn by the converter, that will give you a better idea of what is going on.

As Mex said, ventilation is important.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

If the critter is sealed tight into a compartment, that is without question bad juju.

[ScottG]

If it's also running a of lights, fridge heater, etc. then it will be a bit warmer. Is the fan coming on?