Convertors/battery chargers

[Gina D.]

Does your battery charger function if you have the convertor breaker off?

Or is it tapped in the convertor somehow?

my convertor induces noise and instability in any sensitive lines, like for my audio, and frankly, I prefer the heavy thing where just not there. I have a breaker on my power center to shut the convertor down, and still use all other electrical, either AC or battery. I can cure the problem by simly flipping this switch.

BUT... If I do that, is my battery still charging? I ran all day like that yesterday, with some hefty load, but did not see any drop in power.

My meter has walked away (No doubt a dog ate it or it's hiding under a cushion.. I used it yesterday morning and now it's nowhere to be seen!) or I would just check at the battery input lines with the breaker off to see if there is anything there.

[Gina D.]

Never mind, I found my meter tucked in behind a cushion... arrgh!

Anyway, answered my own question.. nope, the charger does no work unless the convertor is on.

Time for a little modifying...

[dsheets70]

Never mind, I found my meter tucked in behind a cushion... arrgh!

Anyway, answered my own question.. nope, the charger does no work unless the convertor is on.

Time for a little modifying...

Gina
You talked about noise and interference. That sounds to me like you have a bad capacitor in that converter. I wonder if you can find someone with an oscilloscope to look at the signal on the dc voltage.
Doug

[Mike Taylor]

I think you're better off just yanking that thing out and hard wire in a good 3 stage smart battery charger. Just make sure you get one that doesn't also generate rf noise on the radio. My first charger did that. I don't know why anyone would need a converter if they have a good battery charger replacing anything used on the 12 volt side. A 10-12 amp charger should replace any load you would use. Mike

[jrnutpaul]

Gina

I recently put in a Wizard "smart" charger...I was able to remove quite a lot of antiquated wiring when I put in the charger. Somewhere on this site is thread detailing the installation.

It was really quite simple. Now if I run down the battery it will recharge at a high rate and be fully recharged in less than 4 hours. After that it goes to a maintenance rate which does not boil out the water and keeps it at peak power.

Paul

[Gina D.]

First chance I get to have some time to mess with it, out it comes! I will bypass the charger and convertor. As mentioned in an earlier thread, the distribution panel is useful, tho it isn't what I would have done from scratch, but it's there already. The 30 amp service is useful for the air conditioner, should I ever have an opportunity to use it.

Meanwhile, I will just flip the convertor breaker when I want to use the audio etc. Since I am without hook ups most of the time, this really isn't a huge problem. The solar will do what it has always done.

Getting rid of the excess weight appeals, however.

Doug, I don't have a schematic, but a scope is easy.. but I am not going to bother. It is more like a line sag, followed by a spike. The Brown Sound abounds! I suspect it is when the charger kicks in..

[Pete Dumbleton]

I think you're better off just yanking that thing out and hard wire in a good 3 stage smart battery charger. Just make sure you get one that doesn't also generate rf noise on the radio. My first charger did that. I don't know why anyone would need a converter if they have a good battery charger replacing anything used on the 12 volt side. A 10-12 amp charger should replace any load you would use. Mike

I tore out the heavy converter that came with my 1991 Scamp 13, and I use a smart battery charger instead to charge my battery, but my Vector charger doesn't replace the converter's primary function as a 12VDC power supply (battery charging is a dim secondary function, esp on older converters) because it doesn't turn itself on when it sees a load -- It has to be turned on manually -- I suspect many of the current crop of electronic (as opposed to transformer-based) chargers also have manual start -- I run my 12VDC stuf off the battery and then charge it later, either with the charger if I have 120VAC available or with the truck, going down the road.

Gina, different converters have different quirks, including the way they are wired on both the 12VDC and 120VAC sides -- Best bet is to call the manf and ask (and see if they have any instuctions and schematics).

[Loren G. Hedahl]

Does your battery charger function if you have the convertor breaker off?

Or is it tapped in the convertor somehow?

my convertor induces noise and instability in any sensitive lines, like for my audio, and frankly, I prefer the heavy thing where just not there. I have a breaker on my power center to shut the convertor down, and still use all other electrical, either AC or battery. I can cure the problem by simly flipping this switch.

BUT... If I do that, is my battery still charging? I ran all day like that yesterday, with some hefty load, but did not see any drop in power.

My meter has walked away [b](No doubt a dog ate it or it's hiding under a cushion.. I used it yesterday morning and now it's nowhere to be seen!) or I would just check at the battery input lines with the breaker off to see if there is anything there.

How's the dog doing?

Loren

[Gina D.]

Everytime he burps, I hear the continuity signal.

Thank heavens he is not in "continent"... Off to my room!

I have permanently switched off the convertor and installed a regular charger. Right now it needs to be plugged in with a seperate power cord. When I get some time, I will suss out the lines and do a permanent wiring.

Works MUCH gooder...