Non-standard battery charger

[ZuniJayne]

Greetings, gang!

Yep, I'm still alive, but not kicking very hard. <g>  I am sitting in NM at 0 degrees tonight, and am glad I have a wood stove in the old trailer I rehabilitated.  I was feeling nostalgic about Q until I called a friend of mine there tonight and found out how cold and windy it's been there. <g>

Hennyway, I have a battery charger question.  I have four Trojan T-105s that normally do a great job for me along with the two Kyocera 120w panels I have.  However, in temps like these and with snow days, the  batteries are really complaining and I am DEEP cycling them below 12v.

Mind you, I'm not in a "real" RV now, but have a lot of the same issues that y'all do.

I've been trying to charge the batteries with a nice little computer-controlled charger like you'd buy for your auto. I run it off my Honda 2000.  However, my four six volt batteries are really confusing this charger's electronics.  It seems to dump the amps but not the voltage into the battery bank to get it back up to the normal 12.5 or so.  Then the charger throws up its little hands and faults out.

Is it just the cold?  Could I do better with a less high tech battery charger?

I appreciate any info.  I have hitch itch so bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

 

[John From Detroit]

More than likely you need a bigger charger.. Four Trojain Golf Cart batteries can suck up to around 140 amps (perhaps more) for a bit while charging, Most of those little automotive chargers are simply not up to the job,  They have time limits if the battery is not charged enough within so many minutes they assume bad battery.  (They are set for batteries UNDER 100 AMP hour, you have over 450 amp hours of batteries)

A good RV type converter, such as a Progressive Dynamics 9200 series (Get the largest your honda and power) might help

Or start charging with a low-tech heavy duty charger, Something in the 100 - 150 amp range for like one hour, Monitor voltage during this phase and when it hits around 13 or 13.5 .. Switch to the smart charger.

I really like the PD 9200 for this though,  Better option.

 

[glen54737]

you might try charging them in smaller numbers split the bank and charge 2 at a time or eve individually if the charger goes to 6v.

 

[ZuniJayne]

John and Glen,

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm sure you are right about the charger being overwhelmed by the battery bank.  It does have a setting for deep cycle batteries but it is probably only designed to do one 12v deep cycle battery at a time.  It doesn't have a 6v setting.

I'll try charging 1/2 the bank at a time until I get a charger better suited to my situation.  My Arctic Fox tt has a PD charger in it - I think a 9500.  I added the Charge Wizard to it and it did a great job on the two T-105s I had when I was living in it.

I'll look into another PD for my current home.

Thanks again!

Jayne

 

[John From Detroit]

Well, for flooded wet cells, it's hard to beat a PD 9200 or a 9100 with charge wizard

In fact, do not think you can beat one.. Tie it yes, beat it no  and I've looked

 

[ZuniJayne]

John,

Have you checked around on prices for PDs?  Do you know of a reputable place with a great price?  If not, I'll check.

TIA,

Jayne

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Hi Jane,
Try ebay - lots of converter/chargers there. The Iota brand is equivalent to PD - it too offers a charge wizard.

I wouldn't worry much about getting a three stage charger, though, since you aren't running the charger continuously like in an RV.  Your solar panels are the main source, right? And you use the Honda and a charger only when the solar can't keep up. I would think that a less expensive, two stage, 50-60 amp converter would charge those batteries nicely, but it is going to take 4-8 hours If you need to do it faster, you will have to step up to a 100A model and those aren't cheap.

The WFCO brand is a less expensive Asia import now used in a lot of Fleetwood models. The seem to die after 3-4 years of continuous use but probably last many years if only used occasionally.

 

[John From Detroit]

There is a company "bestconverters.com"  I think it's a www.bestconverters.com"

They are currently trying to talk folks out of PD and into something not as good in my not so  humble opinion.

But they often have the best prices

Or, as someone else said E-bay or Craig's list.  As Roamer said, the Iota brand is equivalent, for all I know may be identical (And to be honest I don't know much there)

 

[ZuniJayne]

Greetings, gang...

The battery charger seems to do much better charging two batteries at a time.  I'm going to put in a call to Schumacher and get their input on the situation.  The charger is out of warranty, so they shouldn't scream too much about me abusing it. <g>

Jayne