Join the Solar Power Revolution! » rv solar panel battery charger » Converter charger rv solar panel battery charger

Converter charger rv solar panel battery charger

Question:

Ron connected for

rv solar panel battery charger

long periods. Unfortunately, the way most are designed, the battery does NOT “buffer” the noisy converter output, because loads in the rv run off a separate high-current output.

rv solar panel battery charger

[...] In every RV I’ve seen, the DC loads (lights, fans, radios etc) run directly off the battery. The converter/rectifier usually provide enough power to maintain the battery under full DC load and even have enough left over to charge. The batteries may not “buffer” enough for sensitive electronic equipment but I’ve had no problem with the TV or laptop (powered from a small inverter).

rv solar panel battery charger

My TT has a converter that, as Will describes, has a SEPARATE< circuit off the converter for charging the battery. ALL DC loads while hooked up to shore power get all their 12V semi-DC power STRICTLY from the converter with NO< filtering from my batteries. I had an interesting experience to prove it. We were in a campground in Wisconsin last summer and their utility grid was overloaded.

rv solar panel battery charger

Power fluctuated all over the place during the day according to my AC volt meter. The campground owner told me that he had several friends who had lost AC motors over the summer. At one point during the day the lights went out in the trailer – and stayed out for a good 5-10 seconds. That got my attention because if I lose AC power I get auto-switched back to the battery. After the 5-10 second blackout I heard a small “click” from the converter and the lights came back on

rv solar panel battery charger

- minus any activity from the clock on the microwave (i.e. AC was totally out.) I think what happened is we had a severe enough brownout that the fluorescent lights went out but the relay in the converter had enough juice to stay energized and keep the battery out of the main circuit. Then when the AC failed totally, the relay released and I was back up & running again. As is usual in this world, there are MANY different ways to do things and the manufactuers of the world do a good job of proving it :) Eric — Eric A. Roellig

Response:

If there’s no converter on board, where is this other high-current output source for DC power other than the batteries. In every RV I’ve seen, the DC loads (lights, fans, radios etc) run directly off the battery. The converter/rectifier usually provide enough power to maintain the battery under full DC load and even have enough left over to charge. The batteries may not “buffer” enough for sensitive electronic equipment but I’ve had no problem with the TV or laptop (powered from a small inverter).

I have several times been embarrassed by general comments that did not turn out to be fully applicable to all situations — but this is not one of them. MANY rv’s have converters with a poorly-filtered high-current output that handles 12v loads, and a low-current output that charges the battery(s). RV’s with no converter of any kind are very rare. Ignorance of these facts is no crime, but it is still ignorance.   I am also aware that many rv’s have good filtering – and that a few have the equivalent of high-current battery chargers – in which all circuits are “buffered” by the battery(s).  Users with trouble need to figure out which kind they have. Will KD3XR

Response:

I know this has been covered in many posts recently. I have ignored most of the subject surrounding converters once I arrived at the conclusion that a quality inverter charger was in the future for me.      I am making a reasonably short  trip to Camping World Friday to have a new awning installed. My Dad asked me to pick up a quality converter-charger to replace the OEM converter in his NEW Sunnybrook trailer. He has heard that the original unit may harm appliances as well as NOT charge his batteries. I seconded the latter while pointing out that as long as his batteries are hooked up, they will buffer the spikes from the converter. (I hope that is right)        He leaves his trailer for the summer at my brother’s cabin which is so isolated he depends on LP and Generator for all power. Dad wants a quality converter charger that will keep his batteries charged by taking advantage of the times that the cabin generator is running.(6 hours/week tops) I recommended a quality battery charger which was rejected. Could someone smarter than me please suggest the proper purchase for this situation. Oh….I almost forgot….he has one small solar panel which likely keeps up with static drain. Lon VanOstran   Williamston, Mi FMCA F227964 Good Sams Life Member

Response:

Lon, Tell him, it is a smart man that listens to his son!! You have the right idea. George – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I know this has been covered in many posts recently. I have ignored most of the subject surrounding converters once I arrived at the conclusion that a quality inverter charger was in the future for me.     I am making a reasonably short  trip to Camping World Friday to have a new awning installed. My Dad asked me to pick up a quality converter-charger to replace the OEM converter in his NEW Sunnybrook trailer. He has heard that the original unit may harm appliances as well as NOT charge his batteries. I seconded the latter while pointing out that as long as his batteries are hooked up, they will buffer the spikes from the converter. (I hope that is right)       He leaves his trailer for the summer at my brother’s cabin which is so isolated he depends on LP and Generator for all power. Dad wants a quality converter charger that will keep his batteries charged by taking advantage of the times that the cabin generator is running.(6 hours/week tops) I recommended a quality battery charger which was rejected. Could someone smarter than me please suggest the proper purchase for this situation. Oh….I almost forgot….he has one small solar panel which likely keeps up with static drain. Lon VanOstran   Williamston, Mi FMCA F227964 Good Sams Life Member

Response:

. . . .He has heard that the original unit may harm appliances as well as NOT charge his batteries. I seconded the latter while pointing out that as long as his batteries are hooked up, they will buffer the spikes from the converter. (I hope that is right)

Sorry, but that’s not right.  It is true that OEM converters often give trouble, but it is usually a question of overcharging batteries when left connected for long periods. Unfortunately, the way most are designed, the battery does NOT “buffer” the noisy converter output, because loads in the rv run off a separate high-current output.   You can almost certainly solve his problem with a $10 timer set to connect power to his rig an hour each day. That will keep the batteries up and avoid any risk of oversharging.   If he is troubled by noise in the radio and TV circuits, those can be re-wired to run directly (via fuse, of course) from the batteries, eliminating the raspy hum problem. Other appliances should not have a problem unless the converter is gone bad. IMO. Will KD3XR

Response:

<Some sipped Dad wants a quality converter charger that will keep his batteries charged by taking advantage of the times that the cabin generator is running.(6 hours/week tops) I recommended a quality battery charger which was rejected. Could someone smarter than me please suggest the proper purchase for this situation.

Lon, Before he rejects your idea, remind him that he needs to get as many Amp-hours into the battery as he can during those six hours. The bigger, the better. (Not so big as to overload the cabin generator) Vince Wirth http://home.earthlink.net?~vincewirth

Response:

Lon,         If your dad has a MagneTek 6300 series converter the thing to do is replace the bottom converter section with the7345RU electronic converter, full 45 amps available for charging, very clean D.C. power (I believe that has been covered in previous posts). If he has a small “box” type converter, any of the electronic type (MagneTek &200 & 7400 series, Progressive Dynamics PD 9140 or 9155, or Todd Engineering PC power source series). My favorites is the Todd PC-45B- it can be mounted in any position (has a small cooling fan) has (as of today) a lifetime warranty (if you register) and is switchable (manually or automatically ) between two voltages to fast charge (14.2 V.D.C .) and a “float” (13.2 V.D.C.). Also these voltages can be changed (at the factory) to any voltage for special needs. I believe C.W. does not carry Todd (could be mistaken though…) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I know this has been covered in many posts recently. I have ignored most of the subject surrounding converters once I arrived at the conclusion that a quality inverter charger was in the future for me.     I am making a reasonably short  trip to Camping World Friday to have a new awning installed. My Dad asked me to pick up a quality converter-charger to replace the OEM converter in his NEW Sunnybrook trailer. He has heard that the original unit may harm appliances as well as NOT charge his batteries. I seconded the latter while pointing out that as long as his batteries are hooked up, they will buffer the spikes from the converter. (I hope that is right)       He leaves his trailer for the summer at my brother’s cabin which is so isolated he depends on LP and Generator for all power. Dad wants a quality converter charger that will keep his batteries charged by taking advantage of the times that the cabin generator is running.(6 hours/week tops) I recommended a quality battery charger which was rejected. Could someone smarter than me please suggest the proper purchase for this situation. Oh….I almost forgot….he has one small solar panel which likely keeps up with static drain. Lon VanOstran   Williamston, Mi FMCA F227964 Good Sams Life Member

Chris Bryant Bryant R.V.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Lon,    If your dad has a MagneTek 6300 series converter the thing to do is replace the bottom converter section with the7345RU electronic converter, full 45 amps available for charging, very clean D.C. power (I believe that has been covered in previous posts). If he has a small “box” type converter, any of the electronic type (MagneTek &200 & 7400 series, Progressive Dynamics PD 9140 or 9155, or Todd Engineering PC power source series). My favorites is the Todd PC-45B- it can be mounted in any position (has a small cooling fan) has (as of today) a lifetime warranty (if you register) and is switchable (manually or automatically ) between two voltages to fast charge (14.2 V.D.C .) and a “float” (13.2 V.D.C.). Also these voltages can be changed (at the factory) to any voltage for special needs. I believe C.W. does not carry Todd (could be mistaken though…) Chris Bryant Bryant R.V. </PRE</HTML

I captured the book package from Dad on his SunnyBrook trailer. I suspect at this point that SunnyBrook has eliminated any percieved problem before it came to pass. The converter is an Inteli-Power 9140 (40 amp) converter with Charge Wizard.  It automatically changes the voltage to 14.4 volts for a limited period or until battery exceeds set voltage level, then resets to 13.6 volts. When system is inactive for a while,  it automatically switches to trickle mode at 13.2 volts. The Inetli-Power 9155 is a 55 amp charger that is advertised in the book to charge at over 50 amps. This tells me the 9140, a 40 amp charger should charge at over 35 amps. I will advise Dad to leave well enough alone. Thank you all for the education. Lon VanOstran   Williamston, Mi FMCA F227964 Good Sams Life Member

Response:

Ron . . . .He has heard that the original unit may harm appliances as well as NOT charge his batteries. I seconded the latter while pointing out that as long as his batteries are hooked up, they will buffer the spikes from the converter. (I hope that is right) Sorry, but that’s not right.  It is true that OEM converters often give trouble, but it is usually a question of overcharging batteries when left connected for long periods. Unfortunately, the way most are designed, the battery does NOT “buffer” the noisy converter output, because loads in the rv run off a separate high-current output.

If there’s no converter on board, where is this other high-current output source for DC power other than the batteries. In every RV I’ve seen, the DC loads (lights, fans, radios etc) run directly off the battery. The converter/rectifier usually provide enough power to maintain the battery under full DC load and even have enough left over to charge. The batteries may not “buffer” enough for sensitive electronic equipment but I’ve had no problem with the TV or laptop (powered from a small inverter). You can almost certainly solve his problem with a $10 timer set to connect power to his rig an hour each day. That will keep the batteries up and avoid any risk of oversharging.   If he is troubled by noise in the radio and TV circuits, those can be re-wired to run directly (via fuse, of course) from the batteries, eliminating the raspy hum problem. Other appliances should not have a problem unless the converter is gone bad. IMO.

They should aleady be wired dirctly to the batteries. Just disconnect (external power cable, circuit breaker, etc.) the inverter. Will KD3XR

Sebastian Fl (originally NJ, toms River, Neptune, Maplewood, Brick)

Response:

Related Posts

Category Categories: rv solar panel battery charger | Comments No Comments »

Leave a Reply