Moderator Note -- don't miss CasadeMike's outstanding follow up in post 13! A critical data point from his post:
Progressive Dynamics ...makes a direct replacement power center for the WFCO 8735-AD. It's called the PD4135KW2B. This unit has the same number of branch AC circuits and an additional DC circuit. It has a physical switch (novel concept) to change between Lithium and Lead Acid charging profile. It's only about $180.
Hoping I can pick the minds of some electrical system experts here.
I have a GD 2023 21BHE. It came with the WF-8735-AD-GE "auto-detect" converter/charger. I have installed (2) 100AH Battleborn Lithium batteries.
I read that for your first charge, the batteries must be depleted for the auto-detect system to work. I drained my batteries until they were about 11.5V (according to the Furion Shunt Meter that came with the trailer). I wasn't totally comfortable draining them much further than that.
I plugged the trailer in and it failed to start charging at the required 14.4 to 14.6V (it hovered around 13.3V charging). Even after 24 hours the batteries were not charged to 80%. So basically I think it's slow charging on a Lead Acid profile.
I've read online that many of these units fail to "auto-detect" Lithium and even if they do, they often fall back to Lead Acid profiles after for no known reason.
Basically I'm assuming this converter/charger is junk. I'm also dubious that if it did work, it would charge at the promised 35 amps since by my calculations the wire run to the batteries from the converter is about 20 feet and the battery leads are clearly marked 8AWG. I'd love to be wrong here (I'm not an expert, just a proficient googler).
The converter is built into the electrical panel. Not a floor mount underneath or behind it. Space behind the electrical panel is limited - and I'm still not sure about the run length/gauge of my existing wires.
What are the options here? So far I've thought I could try and squeeze in something better behind the panel and hope the wire run is sufficient to at least charge at 30 amps. OR, I could buy charger only and mount it in the front storage and run higher gauge wire to the batteries and just plug it in using the plug in the front storage compartment.
What I'm unsure about is can I keep a lithium charger hooked up AND this WFCO converter (in its Lead Acid profile) or would that do damage. I'm assuming I still need some sort of converter when plugged into shore power, or would the Lithium charger provide enough power? I'm also unsure about doing this and bypassing the battery switch.
I'm open to any and all suggestions. Not afraid to spend money to just make it right. But my first choice would be using existing wiring.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
Progressive Dynamics ...makes a direct replacement power center for the WFCO 8735-AD. It's called the PD4135KW2B. This unit has the same number of branch AC circuits and an additional DC circuit. It has a physical switch (novel concept) to change between Lithium and Lead Acid charging profile. It's only about $180.
Hoping I can pick the minds of some electrical system experts here.
I have a GD 2023 21BHE. It came with the WF-8735-AD-GE "auto-detect" converter/charger. I have installed (2) 100AH Battleborn Lithium batteries.
I read that for your first charge, the batteries must be depleted for the auto-detect system to work. I drained my batteries until they were about 11.5V (according to the Furion Shunt Meter that came with the trailer). I wasn't totally comfortable draining them much further than that.
I plugged the trailer in and it failed to start charging at the required 14.4 to 14.6V (it hovered around 13.3V charging). Even after 24 hours the batteries were not charged to 80%. So basically I think it's slow charging on a Lead Acid profile.
I've read online that many of these units fail to "auto-detect" Lithium and even if they do, they often fall back to Lead Acid profiles after for no known reason.
Basically I'm assuming this converter/charger is junk. I'm also dubious that if it did work, it would charge at the promised 35 amps since by my calculations the wire run to the batteries from the converter is about 20 feet and the battery leads are clearly marked 8AWG. I'd love to be wrong here (I'm not an expert, just a proficient googler).
The converter is built into the electrical panel. Not a floor mount underneath or behind it. Space behind the electrical panel is limited - and I'm still not sure about the run length/gauge of my existing wires.
What are the options here? So far I've thought I could try and squeeze in something better behind the panel and hope the wire run is sufficient to at least charge at 30 amps. OR, I could buy charger only and mount it in the front storage and run higher gauge wire to the batteries and just plug it in using the plug in the front storage compartment.
What I'm unsure about is can I keep a lithium charger hooked up AND this WFCO converter (in its Lead Acid profile) or would that do damage. I'm assuming I still need some sort of converter when plugged into shore power, or would the Lithium charger provide enough power? I'm also unsure about doing this and bypassing the battery switch.
I'm open to any and all suggestions. Not afraid to spend money to just make it right. But my first choice would be using existing wiring.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
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