Lithium Battery Owners - Some Useful Data

[TucsonJim]

Thanks for the info Jim,

Caught my eye that the 14.4V Lithium charge voltage matches the PD9200's Boost Voltage you can manually select with their charge wizard pendant.
PD9200 SERIES OWNERS MANUAL
Attachment 15370

Gene

That's a good point Gene. If someone needed to replace their charger and they planned on adding lithium in the future, it might be a viable alternative.

Jim

[gbkims]

That's a good point Gene. If someone needed to replace their charger and they planned on adding lithium in the future, it might be a viable alternative.

Jim

That's the 1st thing I thought of, could be an bridge when converting to lithium.
I use the Boost mode when just charging off the generator for a couple of hours.

Gene

[J&G garage]

Now you have me thinking.... Dang it!
But you also have 14.4 to 14.6 VDC when your standard converter goes into boost mode.

Jim

Lol. If I could only get my stock converter to put out more than 13.6. Even with batteries at 50% capacity it never gets above 13.6. I don't think it works correctly. . I'm just trying to understand the answers to all these questions that pop into my head.

[klenger]

Thanks for the review Jim. I have two comments:

(1) I've never been charged for Amazon return shipping if you select a reason that is not the buyer's fault. Wrong item shipped and web site description wrong are two examples.

(2) The stock WFCO converter is advertised as a 3 stage converter, but after several weeks of using a Honda EU2000 to charge my batteries while my RV was in storage and I was installing my electrical mods, I never say it charge at more than 13.6 VDC. I pulled it out and replaced it with a Xantrex True Charge 2 40 amp battery charger and it has worked very well, even though it has a lower amp capacity. Many others have observed that the WFCO had the same issues.

If I ever do upgrade to the Battle Born batteries, I will certainly switch to a constant voltage converter like the PD model you noted.

[TucsonJim]

(1) I've never been charged for Amazon return shipping if you select a reason that is not the buyer's fault. Wrong item shipped and web site description wrong are two examples.

(

Yep, that's a first for me too. The seller in this case seemed very shady. I tried to get help from Amazon, and they just weren't interested.

Jim

[DaveMatthewsBand]

Hey Jim thanks for the info.
.
Some folks may not know this, but you can get a good name brand inverter that also has a charger built-in.
I mean if you switch to lithium, you're going to want an inverter anyway to take full advantage of it.
Then you just remove your WFCO from the equation completely.
Our Magnum MSH-3012 is an inverter/converter/charger and charges our batteries at 125 amps on float!

[MidwestCamper]

Jim, is it possible to force the WFCO unit to only run in boost mode for lithium's? Is it possible that the WFCO unit is moving out of boost mode and is lengthening the charge time? I use lithium batteries for RC airplanes (and a sophisticated smart charger) and never run them below 20%. Its odd that battle born would recommend going lower.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

Jim, is it possible to force the WFCO unit to only run in boost mode for lithium's? Is it possible that the WFCO unit is moving out of boost mode and is lengthening the charge time? I use lithium batteries for RC airplanes (and a sophisticated smart charger) and never run them below 20%. Its odd that battle born would recommend going lower.

I’m guessing your lithium’s are lithium ion which is a much different chemical makeup than the lithium phosphate (LiFeP04) that Battle Born uses.


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[MidwestCamper]

I’m guessing your lithium’s are lithium ion which is a much different chemical makeup than the lithium phosphate (LiFeP04) that Battle Born uses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I use LiFeP04. Its common practice to never go below 20%. Not sure what's up but I set my alarm on my radio to alert me at 20% in which I land. For autos, plug in hybrids also do not typically go below 20%. At 20% cutoff there was still far more energy consumed versus a lead acid or AGM so this would not bother me at all.

[gbkims]

Jim, is it possible to force the WFCO unit to only run in boost mode for lithium's? Is it possible that the WFCO unit is moving out of boost mode and is lengthening the charge time? I use lithium batteries for RC airplanes (and a sophisticated smart charger) and never run them below 20%. Its odd that battle born would recommend going lower.

Don't think it can be forced. Found http://rv52.com/wp-content/uploads/2...-9865-9875.pdf
"Automatic Microprocessor Operation
Your WFCO power converter is equipped with a microcontroller mounted on the converter's PC board. The microcontroller is fully automatic and
requires no additional equipment to operate. The microcontroller continuously monitors the battery condition and determines what mode
the converter need to be in. Below are the function of the microcontroller.
Our output voltage controlled microprocessor has been designed into the converter PC board to avoid the need for additional equipment
when power is initially applied to the power converter, the microcontroller cycles though its mode to determine which mode it needs.
After the test cycle the power switches to Absorption mode(13.6VDC) when power is on.
When the output of the power converter is connected to a battery and the load is applied (anything in the RV) the microcontroller checks to see which mode it need to be in.
If the output voltage drops to 13.2VDC, the converter automatically changes to Buck mode 14.4VDC. Normally when the output voltage drops to 13.2VDC it means that the battery energy is less than 50%.
Under Buck mode when the power converter senses that output voltage is at 14.4VDC. It will change back to absorption mode.
This is important to battery durability and battery life.
After a period of sensing no load the microprocessor automatically places the converter in Float mode 13.2VDC.
The design of out microcontroller is to senses the battery volt age then make a decision to select the proper mode automatically."

There was an good read on trying to MOD a WFCO from about 8 years ago: https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...g/1/page/2.cfm

Gene