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Old 06-15-2014, 02:04 PM   #1
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First dry camping excursion

We did three nights at a park with no hookups. I added 2 golf cart batteries before heading out. With all LED lighting we could probably go a week or two. The nights were so cool we had to run the furnace each morning

We finished the trip with the batteries showing 12.1 V

When we got home and plugged in the WFCO converter went all the way to 12.9v!!! It will take a month to charge at that voltage

A boondocker charger is next

Linc
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Old 06-15-2014, 02:58 PM   #2
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Solar!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 06-15-2014, 03:03 PM   #3
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Solar would be nice but we are generally deep in the woods. Our site this weekend had no sun exposure, much frustration for my wife!!
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Old 06-15-2014, 05:25 PM   #4
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Dang now that's boondocking..I've been to some shaded sites but have been able to charge up the batteries enough each day to last to the next day. On those trips, we are VERY conservative with the power. Like no inverter.
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Old 06-15-2014, 05:37 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by missing_link View Post
When we got home and plugged in the WFCO converter went all the way to 12.9v!!! It will take a month to charge at that voltage. Linc
Linc, something may be wrong with your converter.

At 12.1 volts, your battery was discharged 50%. At 50% you are on the borderline between Bulk Charge Stage (14.4 charging Volts) and Absorption Stage (13.6 Volts).

12.9 volts could mean something bad is going on with either your battery or converter.

Were you using a digital voltmeter or the status lights to determine the battery voltage?

You may need to do some tests including a LOAD test on the converter to make sure it is working to Spec.
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Old 06-15-2014, 07:14 PM   #6
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I installed a digital volt meter in the lid of my battery box. Should the converter go right to bulk or absorption mode or does it take a while? I only watched for 10 minutes or so after plugging in

Linc
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Old 06-16-2014, 05:57 AM   #7
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I installed a digital volt meter in the lid of my battery box. Should the converter go right to bulk or absorption mode or does it take a while? I only watched for 10 minutes or so after plugging in

Linc
Which stage the converter goes to depends on the battery voltage. If the battery has less than 12.1 volts it will go to Bulk for 4 hours; then absorption for 48 hours; then float.

The converter may be being overloaded by a 12 VDC load in the camper which can pull down the available voltage to charge the battery. Your converter can only supply its rated load (mine is 55 amps) and as the amp demand goes up, the generated voltage decays.

Turn off all 12 VDC items in the camper (including the climate control in the fridge), lights, and the inverter powered items and see if your voltage recovers. If not, you could have blown a diode in the rectifier bridge.
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Old 06-16-2014, 12:04 PM   #8
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I stopped and checked this morning. After 24 hours the battery voltage is at 13.7 so it seems to be in absorption mode now

I will have to try load testing but with all led lights I'm not sure how I would ever get a 55 amp draw using every light, fan and furnace in the trailer

Thanks for the help

Linc
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