Wfco amp test.. What are you pendant guys getting?

[lawrosa]

So the Wfco is known to not go into bulk mode.. I think this may be mis information I am not sure. On a phone call to wfco I spoke to a tech there, and he stated you may never see the 14.4 ( why they advertise this IDK)

But high amps low voltage is how it works per our discussion..

So running down the batts to 12.2 volts or so I flipped the breaker on the charge circuit and did some readings..

I have 15 ft # 6 wire from batts to wfco..

Start 12.2 volts.
two 75 ah grp 24's. ( I have a 3rd I put on line sometimes but this test was with the two only)

1.
32 amps to batts
13.59 volts @ converter ( charge wire)
13 volts @ batts

2.
15 minutes later
24.9 amps
13.65 @ conv
13 v @ batts

3.
35 minutes later
24.2amps
13.66 volts @conv
13.2 @ batts

4.
48 minutes
22.9 amps
13.67 @ conv
13.2 @ batts


5.
1 hr 20 minutes later
19.6 amps
13.68 @ conv
13.3 @ batts

6.
1hr 48 min
13.1 amps
13.68 @ conv
13.4 @ batts

7.
2 hrs 20 min
11.8 amps
13.69@ conv
13.4 v @ batts

8.
3 hrs
8.1 amps
13.7 volts @ conv
13.5 v @ batts


So I never saw the 14.4 and I guess thats not how this converter works. It did keep a constant amps for the first hour or so. ( This was the 24 amps I saw. Thats consistent with a bulk charge as I know it I guess.)

I mean would I gain anything by upgrading the lower end of the wfco to a unit that has the pendant, or is more transparent with this 14.4 volts everyone online talk about? I mean I understand it as I have solar, and charge in bulk @ 14.7 volts, and absorb at 14.5 for how ever long it was in bulk.. But my solar controller is only a 20 amp model. I do see 15 amps on sunny days.. But it will stay in bulk at a constant amps and not taper untill the 14.7 volts is reached.

Something to consider is on the coachmens there is a 30 amp breaker/resettable on the #6 wire under the camper. Upon putting a load on my inverter thinking I could get a 14.4 reading at the wfco, the wfco started dumping 40 plus amps to the batts.. Well the breaker kept doing an on/off thing until I removed that load..

So even though you all may have 55 amp converters, its not going to get through that breaker for long.. Im going to up that breaker to a 40 or 50 amp model..



Well thats where I am at... So I dont know what to do.. As I boon dock I want to charge on generator as fast as I can. I dont want to waste 200 buck upgrading the lower end to achieve the same results.

150 ah @ c/20 is 30 amps..
Add 3rd batt and 220 ah @ c/20 is 44 amps bulk.

I rely on the solar but I was in a shaded boondock area and only had 2 hours of sun, before the trees blocked it.

Upon starting the gen I ran it for 3 hours. I also ran the a/c and a TV. That was probably 20 amps, but the wfco should of supplied the 20 or 30 to charge the batts.

So the amps were pretty constant for the first hour or so..

I would like to know what the pendant guys get at the 14.4 volts in regards to amps.. And where do you see this 14.4 volts when your charging?

My wfco read 13.5 start and 13.7 at the end of my 3 hour test. ( but the amps were there)

On a side note too I tested the amps from the trucks 7 pin and voltages. I only did this for a brief 10 min test when the camper batts were @ 12.2 volts..

truck 7 pin.

15 amps
14.5 volts @ 7 pin
13v @ batts

Maybe ill do a test with just the truck tomorrow...

[scrubjaysnest]

lawrosa wrote:
So the Wfco is known to not go into bulk mode.. I think this may be mis information I am not sure. On a phone call to wfco I spoke to a tech there, and he stated you may never see the 14.4 ( why they advertise this IDK)

But high amps low voltage is how it works per our discussion..

So running down the batts to 12.2 volts or so I flipped the breaker on the charge circuit and did some readings..

I have 15 ft # 6 wire from batts to wfco..

Start 12.2 volts.
two 75 ah grp 24's. ( I have a 3rd I put on line sometimes but this test was with the two only)

1.
32 amps to batts
13.59 volts @ converter ( charge wire)
13 volts @ batts

2.
15 minutes later
24.9 amps
13.65 @ conv
13 v @ batts

3.
35 minutes later
24.2amps
13.66 volts @conv
13.2 @ batts

4.
48 minutes
22.9 amps
13.67 @ conv
13.2 @ batts


5.
1 hr 20 minutes later
19.6 amps
13.68 @ conv
13.3 @ batts

6.
1hr 48 min
13.1 amps
13.68 @ conv
13.4 @ batts

7.
2 hrs 20 min
11.8 amps
13.69@ conv
13.4 v @ batts

8.
3 hrs
8.1 amps
13.7 volts @ conv
13.5 v @ batts


So I never saw the 14.4 and I guess thats not how this converter works. It did keep a constant amps for the first hour or so. ( This was the 24 amps I saw. Thats consistent with a bulk charge as I know it I guess.)

I mean would I gain anything by upgrading the lower end of the wfco to a unit that has the pendant, or is more transparent with this 14.4 volts everyone online talk about? I mean I understand it as I have solar, and charge in bulk @ 14.7 volts, and absorb at 14.5 for how ever long it was in bulk.. But my solar controller is only a 20 amp model. I do see 15 amps on sunny days.. But it will stay in bulk at a constant amps and not taper untill the 14.7 volts is reached.

Something to consider is on the coachmens there is a 30 amp breaker/resettable on the #6 wire under the camper. Upon putting a load on my inverter thinking I could get a 14.4 reading at the wfco, the wfco started dumping 40 plus amps to the batts.. Well the breaker kept doing an on/off thing until I removed that load..

So even though you all may have 55 amp converters, its not going to get through that breaker for long.. Im going to up that breaker to a 40 or 50 amp model..



Well thats where I am at... So I dont know what to do.. As I boon dock I want to charge on generator as fast as I can. I dont want to waste 200 buck upgrading the lower end to achieve the same results.

150 ah @ c/20 is 30 amps..
Add 3rd batt and 220 ah @ c/20 is 44 amps bulk.

I rely on the solar but I was in a shaded boondock area and only had 2 hours of sun, before the trees blocked it.

Upon starting the gen I ran it for 3 hours. I also ran the a/c and a TV. That was probably 20 amps, but the wfco should of supplied the 20 or 30 to charge the batts.

So the amps were pretty constant for the first hour or so..

I would like to know what the pendant guys get at the 14.4 volts in regards to amps.. And where do you see this 14.4 volts when your charging?

My wfco read 13.5 start and 13.7 at the end of my 3 hour test. ( but the amps were there)

On a side note too I tested the amps from the trucks 7 pin and voltages. I only did this for a brief 10 min test when the camper batts were @ 12.2 volts..

truck 7 pin.

15 amps
14.5 volts @ 7 pin
13v @ batts

Maybe ill do a test with just the truck tomorrow...

Looking over your numbers I see two things:
The wire from the WFCO is to small for the 15 foot run, over 0.5 volt loss in the wire.
For the truck it's even worse at 1.5 volts loss.

3rd thing to note is your WFCO is working better then any I've seen. Our current one will do 24 amps for 15 minutes; that's a 12% ROC for each house battery. After that it drops to 6 amps or 3 per battery which is pretty much a float current on a 105 aH battery. Our WFCO will rise to 14.2 volts at the batteries for ~ 1hour after which it drops to float.
For those times I need to run the jenny I separate the two house batteries and put automotive smart charges on each. This puts 20 amps into each battery for about an hour at which time the charges now switch to 14.8 volts for the absorb cycle. This starts about 80% SOC for the batteries.
Most of the time We just let the solar handle it. For full sun that is 25 amps or 12.5 amps per battery @ 12.6 to 12.8 volts. Once the batteries reach 14.8 volts the will then taper until full charge is reached usually between 1 and 2 pm. Again that's for full sun.
It looks like your one of the few WFCO owners with a keeper.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

A new SMART charger lasts months, not decades. Look at the energy efficiency of THIS smart charger....

[lawrosa]

LOL... That was a stock pic I found.. This is my one actually...

Bought in 1985

I guess it pays keeping it in original box... lol

[pnichols]

lawrosa wrote:
lol I have a hydrometer, and I carry it with me... But having 8 people camping with you I didnt have time to open the batt boxes and do a hydrometer test. Two grandkids 4 and 2 yrs keep you busy.

But I figures with full batts the first day I would wake up with better then 11.9v -11.8v the next morning.. That was the 3 12 volts @ 220 aH...

As I said second day I just tried the two batts as I though I nay have had a parisitic draw from the truck.. Well 10.5v the next day wasnt good, and that day we were leaving..


Im trying to find the current dimentions of whats in there now so I can chose what I can fit in there...

I dont want a stand alone and just want to replace the bottom end for simplicity..

I wonder if I brought my old 50 amps sears charger from 1985 and put on 50 amp start for 1 hour or so I would get better results...

Mike ... what a small world. That old Sears 10/2/50 charger in your photo is the exact model that I carry along in our RV to help charge our AGM RV batteries faster! The charger in your photo looks to be in immaculate condtion, unlike my old rusted and battle-worn 10/2/50.

When drycamping, I charge my AGM batteries using a little ultra-quiet Honda EX650 generator to power BOTH the RV's stock 13.8 volt converter hooked up in parallel with the Sears 10/2/50 set to it's 50 amp "Start" position. The two chargers together in parallel pump more current into the batteries per hour than just the converter alone does.

I can't believe those old Sears war-horse chargers are still around and still work ... they don't make em' like they used to.

[lawrosa]

I guess my findings were correct... I dont think ill ever go litium but randy says constant 14.6 volts when jumper is moved...

So I think Ill go with the other one thats a few bucks cheaper...

http://www.bestconverter.com/PD4655MBA-WildKat-55-Amp-Main-Board-Assembly-for-WFCO-8955-or-Parallax-...

Hi Mike

That 4566VL is exactly what I recommend. It will do a great job with any flooded or AGM and you can control it with the pendant that comes with it. If you switch to lithium in the future, you just move the jumper and it changes to constant 14.6, which is what most lithium manufactures use for the target voltage. Thanks.


Randy
BestConverter
Direct 208-514-8950

[lawrosa]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Dipped again about 2 hours later and batts 1275 on hydro...

Crazy...


Waking from the Smart Charger dream can be rude. Kudos for using your noodle. I now pronounce you "GREENER". Actually doing something to save energy and resources.

What did I do? It just seemed the wfco went into float after its 40 hour thing and the batts are not even charged after 4 days...

So I hit them with my old portable.. Ill set up my solar panel this weekend.. I leave it on 13.7 In the morning solar goes into bulk 14.7 for a breif moment then to float the rest of the day..

So I assume by reading that the pd unit above I linked to that has the lithium option, charges always @ 14.6 volts. 24/7... Is this true?

If so I dont think I need the L model then...

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Dipped again about 2 hours later and batts 1275 on hydro...

Crazy...


Waking from the Smart Charger dream can be rude. Kudos for using your noodle. I now pronounce you "GREENER". Actually doing something to save energy and resources.

[red31]

lawrosa wrote:

Crazy...

what's so crazy about reversing the chemical reaction with energy and giving the fluid a bit of a stir?

[lawrosa]

Heres a funny thing. Still its thursday and back 4 days from the trip. I dipped the cells today and batts read 1250 on hydrometer. And wfco was in float. Down .1 v from 13.2 to 13.1.

Camper got plugged in as soon as I got home. I guess the truck didnt charge the batts much on the way home...

And I guess the wfco is doing something wrong.

I through my old sears charger on it for 15 minutes on 50 amp ( Was like 15.3 volts) then turned it down to the 10 amp setting ( held at 14.7-14.6 volts on this setting...

Dipped again about 2 hours later and batts 1275 on hydro...

Crazy...

[lawrosa]

I e mailed randy from best converters. I like the unit with the "L" designation as its got a jumper for lithium batts..

I asked him whats the difference in charging voltages with the lithium jumper setting..

From what I read on line Lithium wants 14.6?

If so I would get this unit and leave jumper on lithium setting... But I am not sure...

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

[lawrosa]

lol I have a hydrometer, and I carry it with me... But having 8 people camping with you I didnt have time to open the batt boxes and do a hydrometer test. Two grandkids 4 and 2 yrs keep you busy.

But I figures with full batts the first day I would wake up with better then 11.9v -11.8v the next morning.. That was the 3 12 volts @ 220 aH...

As I said second day I just tried the two batts as I though I nay have had a parisitic draw from the truck.. Well 10.5v the next day wasnt good, and that day we were leaving..


Im trying to find the current dimentions of whats in there now so I can chose what I can fit in there...

I dont want a stand alone and just want to replace the bottom end for simplicity..

I wonder if I brought my old 50 amps sears charger from 1985 and put on 50 amp start for 1 hour or so I would get better results...

[BFL13]

Off grid, with gen charging, you only do 50-90s so who cares about how to tell if the batts are full? All you want is to get that 50-90 done as fast as you can with the gen and charger you have (or wish you had)

Getting batts to true full is done back at home with no load on the batts and lots of time to do it. Now you can use the hydrometer for Wets. You need an ammeter for the AGMs.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Read my post about low IQ consumer protection re: propane pots.

You are SUPPOSED TO USE YOUR NOODLE...

Ya think maybe just maybe dipping once cell is too much psychic or psychical effort?

Not once a minute not all cells, that's entirely double digit rationalization

"MY EINSTEIN MODEL SUPER TURBO BOOST I.Q. SWEARS UP AND DOWN VIA LITTLE COLORED BLINKING LIGHTS THAT THE BATTERY IS CHARGED But my heater keeps shutting off at midnight. Mex, recommends I actually stand, walk to a side compartment, grab a...a...a I can't bear to say it, a HYDROMETER and actually use it to dip a battery cell...

Oooooo that can't be! The hydrometer says the battery is nowhere near charged. Well, I fix that! I'll put the hydrometer away and buy another type of magic gauge that agrees with the blinking lights. When it does, I'll then go screaming for a warranty replacement of the battery".

It's merely exercising what lies between the ears...

[time2roll]

Really we are supposed to dip every cell once an hour while charging to determine "full"? Every day?

Not for me. No way am I taking a hydrometer camping. I use a hydrometer for diagnostics only.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

THISis what a person pays attention to, not a gaggle of meaningless numbers.



But then again people that don't mind hauling a ton of batteries short 30% in ampere hour fill will be happy playing tonka toy lookie at my voltage. Power Pedestal Princess usage could care less. However, "Gee I have six batteries and still run out of power" needs to have the BS scraped off the converter voltage numbers game.

Lights and fans and circuit boards could care less if power is 12.2 or 13.9 But the battery will stick a knife in its belly and jerk upward if it is mistreated. Happy with capacity and battery life? Then there is zero need to stress over converter wheel of fortune charge controls.