Jerry B
Lake of the Ozarks
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Joined: 06/11/2001
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I have two 225 AH 12V deep cycle house batteries and one 12V starting chassis battery. The best I can tell, my converter maintains the batteries at a voltage of about 12.5V which is lower than max battery capacity. Can I hook a dual battery bank Smart Charger to the batteries while camping for extended periods with the shore power plugged in? In otherwords the Converter will also be outputting to the house batteries.
Can you recommend a smart charger with the mulitple charging modes and at a price that won't break my little piggy bank? Thanks.
Jerry B
1996 Dolphin 535,F-53.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi Jerry,
What converter do you have?
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts solar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries 2500 watt inverter.
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eHoefler
ozark mountains
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Joined: 10/22/2011
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Having to chargers hooked up to the same battery or battery bank will cause the chargers to fight each other. While one is charging the other will see the higher voltage and will shut down. If you have a multi stage convertor, you will see different voltages depending on the state of charge in the batteries, load of appliances drawing power, and what stage of charging the convertor is in.
2010 Ram 3500, Crew Cab, Long bed, 4 x 4,Dually, Lights & Siren!
2006 40' Landmark Mt. Rushmore
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Jerry B
Lake of the Ozarks
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Joined: 06/11/2001
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pianotuna wrote:Hi Jerry,
What converter do you have?
I don't know and the Motorhome is in Alabama and I am currently at home in Missouri. The converter is a 50 amp job as furnished by National RV in 1996. So I would guess that it is a run of the mill nothing special set up. My goal is to find a solution to add the whiz bang charging modes without having to upgrade to a smart converter $$.
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wny_pat
Western NYS
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Joined: 08/11/2007
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Jerry B wrote:My goal is to find a solution to add the whiz bang charging modes without having to upgrade to a smart converter $$. Jerry,
My suggestion would be for you to crawl into where ever that converter charger is located and see what you have. Without knowing that, it is hard to make any recommendations.
When I knew I had a boat anchor as a converter/charger, I decided, after much research, to go with the Progressive Dynamics PD9270 with built in smart charger. The Progressive Dynamic converter charger offered me the most effective charger at a very reasonable price under $200. And, depending on your abilities, it is almost remove old, and them plug in and play. Now you can spend 10 times that amount on a converter(inverter)/charger
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Patty98311
Washington
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Joined: 09/11/2006
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Before I did anything with the chargers I would check the batteries, a battery cell shorted also causes this condition, and if you wait you will get to replace both. How old are your batteries?
2000 Country Coach
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jauguston
Bellingham, WA
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Joined: 07/03/2005
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You can use multiple charging devices at the same time. It is done all the time and each will contribute to the overall charge amperage. There is absolutely NO problem doing it.
Lets look at a example. My coach. Driving down the highway on a hot summer day. The engine alternator is charging the chassis batteries AND the house batteries as I drive. It is hot so I start my Onan QD 7500 generator to run our two rooftop airconditioning units. That powers up the entire coach 120v electrical system INCLUDING the Magnum Energy 100a converter/2000w inverter. So that is two. Now I have 800w of solar on the roof that is connected directly to the house batteries. That is three. Using my test meters I have proven that each are contributing to the total charge rate. One does NOT cancel another out.
Jim
2005 Coachman Sportscoach Elite 402 40'
350hp Cat C-7 w/MP-8
7500w Onan quiet diesel generator
6-Kyocera 130w solar panels SB3024i MPPT controller
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1987 Suzuki Samurai tintop Toad w/VW 1.6 turbo diesel power
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gswcgi
Wandering
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Joined: 08/03/2004
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Do you mean a battery charger or a battery maintainer?
'03 Safari, DP, 36" Nissan 4X4 toad
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wny_pat
Western NYS
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I think Jerry is talking about a 1996 National Dolphin Class A. Unless someone one has changed converter/chargers, he is probably boiling his batteries to a quick death. Unless the converter/charger is disconnected, I don't care what you throw at this coach, that converter charger is going to continue to boil the batteries and kill them. Even new batteries. I think that converter/charger has to be addressed and checked out first, unless the coach is never connected to a 110 vac shore power.
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rvrepairnut
bc
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wny_pat wrote:I think Jerry is talking about a 1996 National Dolphin Class A. Unless someone one has changed converter/chargers, he is probably boiling his batteries to a quick death. Unless the converter/charger is disconnected, I don't care what you throw at this coach, that converter charger is going to continue to boil the batteries and kill them. Even new batteries. I think that converter/charger has to be addressed and checked out first, unless the coach is never connected to a 110 vac shore power.
at a full charging rate of 12.5 I rather doubt hes boiling anything
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