Battery/power/converter advice

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Raymond Berger

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Author Topic: Need advice - batteries / convertor / monitor upgrade, 24 ft tow  (Read 4 times)
Raymond Berger
Posts: 1

Need advice - batteries / convertor / monitor upgrade, 24 ft tow
? on: Today at 01:05:45 am ?
Hey, folks - mom & I bought a 4 yr old 24 ft Trail-lite for our anniversary.
Stock Batteries are shot (Centennial RV/marine batts DP24MFS / 650 cca... )
  - garbage, I know -
Stock coverter = WFCO  WF-8955 PEC 3 stage, cheap OEM...

Want to extend battery life, especially leaving all plugged in over the winter in a remote storage location without frying the (soon to be) new batteries -

Without breaking the bank, this is my opinion on what should serve - your feedback
Is most welcome.

New convertor =
Progressive Dynamics PD-4635 (or 55??)  w/4 stage Charge Wizard

Battery monitor =
Trimetric 2030rv monitor

2 New batteries - ??? A myriad of potentially "ok" 12v batts are available;
Don't want anything "marine" (obviously), but should I really put out the bucks for gel mesh or lithium??

Thanks for your concise advice.






 
Batteries  GC-2 (Golf Car six volt batteries) are taller than a group 24 but should fit in the same tray.. Just taller.

The Group 24 is about 75 AH, at the C/20 (20 hour) rate  Two  make 150 and you can not use much of that about 40 Amp Hours before damage sets in.

THe GC-2 Pair (Two in series) 220 amp hours give or take a bit and you can use HALF safely.

THe Converter..
If it is working properly there is nothing wrong with a WFCO. they do, however have a well deserved reputation for failure.. USUALLY they don't go into "Boost" or "Bulk" mode (Name depends on who is saying it).. When this happens a Progressive Dynamics 4600 will replace the electronics in the unit and you don't have to replace everything.

COnverter size shoudl be about 30% of the batteries's C/20 so for a pair of GC-2 60-70 amps is good, but you may need to upgrade wires if you do that.
 
PD converter is good but this part is an issue for any wet battery because the electrolyte needs to be checked occasionally.

"leaving all plugged in over the winter in a remote storage location"

PD4655 not 35

 
The PD is a much better choice, but the WFCO is adequate. They are both multi-stage chargers, but the PD is more sophisticated and probably maintains battery health better.

I've written an article on battery choices for the RVForum Library. See http://www.rvforum.net/miscfiles/Choosing_right_battery.pdf

The Trimetric is nice to have if you want to monitor consumption and charging closely, but a quality charging system can pretty well handle that on its own. If the rig is plugged to shore power all the time, you probably don't need the Trimetric except to satisfy your personal information desires. 
 
I love my RV 2030 battery monitor, and I use it all the time when boondocking. Like Gary said, it's great for monitoring the status of your batteries, but unless you'll be boondocking, it's an unnecessary expense (IMO.)

Kev
 
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