PerryB67
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Re: Are the new WFCO's as bad as the old ones?
Our WFCO in our 2018 Escape camper decided to charge our AGM's at 20.3 volts destroying them. After getting our new SiO2 batteries we merely disabled the charger portion and only charged with our rooftop solar for the next two years. Worked great. I received a different WFCO to replace the bad WFCO charger, installed it, but never used it. We sold the trailer last December. We now have a 2026 Bigfoot 25RQ with a Progressive Dynamics 45 amp charger. By adding their "Charge Wizard" it charges our two new 100 ah SOK LFP batteries just fine, but it's also disconnected in favor of the 160 watt rooftop solar and a 100 watt portable. For the past two weeks in Arizona our SOK's have been topped off most days, but with excess ah's not topping off a day or two is just fine. The lowest we've been so far is 78% SOC. Over two years ago when our WFCO charged at 20.3 volts I found a couple others who had the same experience with their WFCO's. I'm glad our new camper has a Progressive Dynamics charger. Enjoy, Perry1.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium for dummies: need advice in simple terms
TechWriter wrote: Did you get the SOKs with heaters? The following is from SOK's web site: SK12V206H designed for cold weather using! Can safely charge at temperatures down to -20°C (-4°F) by a standard charger or solar charger. The heater pads which draws power from the charger itself,battery cells no power lost. The Sok heater only works when you are connected to a power source, i.e. plugged in at a campground, or during the day when you have adequate solar. If you're boondocking, when we would want a heater, they don't heat at night when it gets cold. Enjoy, Perry952Views0likes0CommentsRe: PerryB67 and Si02s
We’re trying to get ready to leave for Amsterdam next Tuesday. We carry higher end folding bikes and will be Rick Steves traveling with the bikes on trains and buses. We’ve also been slammed with other items that need attention before leaving. We arrive back towards the end of August. Currently I don’t have the time to write our battery experiences. Needless to say I wouldn’t waste my time and/or money with lithium, and have changed my opinion about solar and batteries, but you’ll just have to wait to hear my logic. Talk the end of August or beginning of September. Enjoy, Perry310Views0likes0CommentsRe: SiO2 Batteries and High Amp Draws
BFL13 wrote: OP here, time for Mods to close this thread. Having used SiO2 for the past 1 1/2 years, but not being on this forum for the past few months, I’m sad that it may be closed. Just got home and was hoping to discuss our actual SiO2 user experiences. There is some BS that was not caught posted here too. Oh, well. Perry800Views0likes0CommentsRe: What kind of quality lifepo4 do you get for $300 review
jaycocreek wrote: I don't think many people know your not supposed to charge agm batteries below 0 Celsius either...CanBat batteries.. CanBat batteries wrote: 3. CHARGE AGM BATTERIES IN THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE AGM batteries have a certain charge temperature range. This means if the temperature falls outside of this range, you should not be charging AGM batteries. For all types of lead acid batteries, you should avoid charging if the temperature raises above 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold weather also affects charging AGM batteries. You should avoid charging your batteries if the temperature falls below 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Ensuring the temperature is within the range of 0 and 40 degree Celsius is important while charging, in order to ensure the battery lives as long as it is designed to. Jayco LOL! Stop and think what you just wrote. Millions and millions of AGM batteries in the norther tier of the US and Canada have been charging in our vehicles in below freezing weather for a few decades. My AGM battery has started my car and immediately started charging 1,000's of times below freezing. Sometimes you can't believe everything you read, especially when you've proven something that sounds so simple to be false. Enjoy, Perry733Views0likes0CommentsRe: What kind of quality lifepo4 do you get for $300 review
We live in Minnesota, not NV or AZ. When I was looking at batteries the end of last January, Battleborn had not yet officially released their heated battery. Since I don't want to babysit a battery, want to be able to use the battery at less than 0 F (-15 F two years ago), and want a BMS to stop charging below freezing from happening, I didn't buy a LiFePO4, because after having a long phone discussion with Battleborn they didn't feel their battery would meet our needs. Whom am I going to believe? Battleborn said "no" concerning their battery and our use in a much colder climate than those in NV or AZ. Both Will Prowse and Solar Engineering were disappointed the Enjoybot didn't have low temperature shutoff and didn't exactly give a glowing recommendation. That's why I said "No Thanks!" However, I was specifically talking about the Enjoybot battery, not LiFePO4 in general. Jeez! Since we purchased our SiO2/lead crystal batteries, switchable heated batteries have become available. If purchasing now we have the discretionary money to buy a heated Battleborn with a switch to turn on the heat that will meet our cold weather requirements. However, we're extremely happy with our SiO2 batteries and will just have to wait until they fail. When our new SiO2 batteries arrived in early February I pulled the two reverse polarity fuses for the WFCO, and haven't used any charger since installation. The SiO2 batteries get to 100% charge faster than any of our previous AGMs. We are low amp hour campers though. I ass u me that the LiFePO4 batteries will charge as well as our SiO2's have. ;) Enjoy, Perry324Views0likes0CommentsRe: What kind of quality lifepo4 do you get for $300 review
Tom_M wrote: The battery tested turned out that it had no low temperature cut-off. Will Prowse has done similar tests with the same results for the cheap batteries. If you plan on using the battery and know it will not get down below freezing it would be a good choice. No Thanks! Another Minnesota resident that finds a low-temp shutoff mandatory. Enjoy, Perry116Views0likes0CommentsRe: Will my WFCO 55 amp over charge?
philh wrote: wfco chargers are POS and known for boiling batteries dry and/or never going into bulk charge mode. According to the history in our Victron 712, our WFCO decided to charge our AGM batteries at 21 volts. After much surfing I found a couple of others who also had their WFCO charge at high voltage. When I replaced the batteries they were bulged at the sides. I replaced that WFCO with a free one from another camper who had his sitting after replacing it with a LiFePO4 charger. I now have both reverse polarity fuses pulled, since we have no problem keeping our SiO2 batteries full with our solar and have been charging solar only since last February. How did I know to pull the reverse polarity fuses? Answer: because our batteries are not the only batteries a WFCO has ruined, and those other owners don't trust their WFCO either. Enjoy, Perry618Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sizing a battery bank. Ah VS wh?
I'm dyslexic and have enough problems reading and writing. So, why would I take seriously a person who: won't capitalize the first word in a sentence, put a period at the end of many sentences, writes a run-on sentence with 85 words and no commas, and/or doesn't bother to spell check. And then I'm supposed to rely on that person for accuracy/knowledge? I will correct that person if he's quoting me, otherwise, like others here, just ignore his posts. Perry1.4KViews0likes0Comments
