WFCO ULTRA III Power Center

[Chesley]

So, for the past few months my Geo Pro 19FD has been parked out in the open and connected to a dedicated 30 amp shore power outlet. During my periodic checks inside the unit I never heard the WFCO Power Center fan operating. This week I had a carport installed and moved the unit under it. The distance is such I can no longer reach the 30 amp outlet. So now, I have run a 120v 10 gauge cord from a nearby 120 outlet and am using a 15 amp to 30 amp dog bone and then plugged in the Fusion power cord that came with the unit. My Progressive surge protector is showing 122v with green light indicating everything is OK. My question...the fan in the WFCO power center has operated continuously (approx 4 hours so far). It sounds like it is cycling from a high speed to a lower speed on a continuous basis...is this normal, or is this indicative of something I need to check and address. (On the Go Power, the batteries are showing 13.7v/90%/0.0amps).

[NJKris]

I noticed mine sometimes comes on when I first plug it in, I think it depends on the load. If it's trying to top your batteries off, it's putting out more 12v juice. Remember, you are not getting the solar charging you used to before the carport, so now the converter has to make up for it. Your Go Power sounds like a normal readout. When the carport is blocking the panel, you will have zero amps from it. Congrats on the carport! Beats having to cover/uncover!

[Chesley]

Thanks for the feedback.

[TitanMike]

Time to put solar panels on the carport roof and install a means to merely plug them into the existing solar controller's input while parked. Might get enough power to eliminate the need for even the extension cord when parked.

[Chesley]

I’ve been thinking of doing that. I have a Renogy 100 watt suitcase panel with built in controller. I have battery clips on the cable and am thinking of just clipping them to the battery posts (two 12 volt Interstate) batteries Do you see any problem with that?
I’ve read that the Zamp connector MAY be wired backwards so I’ve not reversed any wiring yet.

[NJKris]

I have the same panel Chesley. With the Renogy adaptor for the side solar inlet, I had to reverse the leads coming out of the controller, very easy. test voltage on side inlet with a digital meter. If negative reading, the polarity is reversed. Just make sure you have pos to pos and neg to neg and you're good. Alligator clamps directly to battery is good too, probably best, slightly less line loss. My battery box top is a little bit of a pain to get off with the propane tanks and such, so I use the side inlet.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Chesley

I’ve been thinking of doing that. I have a Renogy 100 watt suitcase panel with built in controller. I have battery clips on the cable and am thinking of just clipping them to the battery posts (two 12 volt Interstate) batteries Do you see any problem with that?
I’ve read that the Zamp connector MAY be wired backwards so I’ve not reversed any wiring yet.

Check polarity first but if reversed adapters are available on Amazon. Not expensive and you can leave wires in pl AZ ce with color coding intact.