WEFCO converter reliability

[Guest]

Moving to the Progressive Dynamics converter has worked well for us too. Its a lithium model and is mounted in the passthrough next to the battery with 4 awg cable. My original WFCO never seemed to put out more than 10 amps so it took forever for the original lead acid battery to charge. We moved to lithium since the constant generator use to get through the night for heat diminished the dry camping experience.

Jim

[Dale B]

I reconfigure my 2ea 200ah lithium batteries so the RV was only operating on one. Turning on everything possible, including the inverter so the POS Norcold was on electric I had a 90ah + load. The battery went 2 hours 15 minutes before the BMS shut it down, the internal bluetooth still functioned so I could see the vitals. Interesting to watch & see all of this happen just like it is suppose to.

Flamed up the Honda & charge current was 49ah, within a few minutes the charge was @ 55ah as the converter is advertised. Over the next few hours it slowly ramped down to 40ah. Approx 80% battery capacity the charge current dropped to 10ah & held that.

Then I reconnected my parallel battery arrangement for the final top up.

Today my batteries are down, fires & smoke so the solar is not as good as it should be. I started the Honda & voltage immediately went 13.6 then dropped to 13.5. One battery is 99%, the charge current is approx 6ah, the other battery is 87% & the charge current is approx 7ah.

Conclusion is the Auto Detect converter works as advertised. Bad news is you need to do a charge cycle from a discharged battery if you are lithium.....that is an unrealistic however necessary step.

This is one part of the factory solar package, its decent once it all works. The average RV owner would not have a chance.

[Guest]

Our Norcold absorption fridge works perfectly. Odd that some are having issues but I have heard there are issues with lack of airflow to the coil if the fridge is mounted in a slide out. Also my Progressive Dynamics converter will move to full output when we wake up and fire up our generator with the single 100ah battery at 40% SOC. A good converter should not have to sense a dead battery to put out full amperage.

I'm also not sold on solar since we dry camp in the woods in the shade. DCDC charging while towing works well for us also.

Jim

[Dale B]

Our Norcold absorption fridge works perfectly. Odd that some are having issues but I have heard there are issues with lack of airflow to the coil if the fridge is mounted in a slide out. A good converter should not have to sense a dead battery to put out full amperage.



Jim

The issue's with the Norcold fridge is long & well documented on various forums. Once you correct some of the chessy problems it works OK, not great. I have temperature monitors in both compartment's. The monitor stores max & min temps, every 24-48 hours you will see a max temp of 42-44* in the fridge. In other words it goes into defrost every 24-48hours, besides not safe for food the fridge has to recover increasing the duty cycle. The freezer runs approx 10*F, that is not cold.

My last comment on the fridge is the 3000btu right on the door tag, that is a 30lb bottle every 7 days. That is fricken insane in a modern world, if I run it on the inverter approx. 50ah of battery is needed........it is a POS. I feel like one of elites jetting around the world telling everyone else to cut back on fossil fuel & be more green

I'm not happy with my fridge, I fault myself for assuming it would reflect today's technology. The 12vdc fridge might be a better solution, I'm not sure yet. Being off grid & moving into very low solar conditions I would have to upgrade that part.

The discussion about the converter needing to do a complete charge cycle from a full discharge lithium battery is how the "Auto Detect" cct works in the converter. It only has to do that 1 time for the converter to go into Lithium mode. This is the manufacturer trying to be helpful is my guess, many owners & dealers don't understand charge cycles......so they made the converter smart. I really disliked the idea of intentionally fully discharging one of my very expensive batteries, that is why I reconfigure to one battery.....just in case. Going thru the motions I made it a learning experience, having a bluetooth BMS in the battery observing, inverter shut down & warning etc.

[Guest]

I guess we must be lucky where our Norcold will begin to freeze milk and drinks over time and I've gone a week with heat on at night (68F) while dry camping on a single tank. 3000btu is at 100% duty cycle.
I'm not against the 12V solution where they are much safer in travel than an absorption fridge with the gas on but we dry camp in the spring and fall. As a result I would need more batteries and have to run the generator much more. I was curious in how much a 12V fridge draws where my single lithium battery would be completely depleted in 10 hrs wth a 12V fridge. Right now it drops 60% in 24hrs with the old school appliances. My converter puts out a full current when activated.
If we never dry camped or dry camped with open skies with solar, I would opt for a 12V if my absorption fridge ever failed. But I will not replace it based on its current performance. This is why I suspect poor performance in how the Norcold is mounted in some rigs and the lack of airflow across the coils. Otherwise I have no idea in why some do not perform.

I believe GDRV needs to accommodate folks with different camping needs and to drop the tankless hot water tank and 12V fridge options and provide customers with a Dry Camp Package. This could be an absorption fridge, suburban hot water heater, single 12V lithium battery, lithium converter, a single solar panel and a small inverter to operate the TV.

Otherwise for those that camp exclusively in sites with AC, the home appliances would be ideal.

Wait til your forced into your 150K EV truck (charged by coal and NG) which only tows 100 miles. Can't go further on that one. LOL.

Jim

[howson]

Guest -- I suspect a variable that is helping your refrigerator's performance is that in a 2600RB it's NOT installed in a slide, thus the top vent is in the roof (versus a side wall). Absorption refrigerators work best with a roof vent (since, of course, heat rises).

[Guest]

Guest -- I suspect a variable that is helping your refrigerator's performance is that in a 2600RB it's NOT installed in a slide, thus the top vent is in the roof (versus a side wall). Absorption refrigerators work best with a roof vent (since, of course, heat rises).

Howard,

I agree where this has to be the main factor in the Norcold working well in our Imagine. Are folks having success in using fans in the units mounted in the slides?

Jim

[Country Campers]

Just a reminder that this is a Converter Reliability thread.

Brian

[Guest]

Our progressive dynamics converter the way we use it works perfectly. At 40% SOC in the morning during dry camping and when I fire up the generator to make coffee, the converter will put out full capacity. There may however be a catch if solar or other means of charging is coupled with the converter to trip it up. We do not couple multiple charge sources. Here is verbiage from Progressive Dynamics where it looks like they added the Charge Wizard (CW) add on to lithium chargers. I like mine without this feature.

Why didn’t my battery charge?
Like any computerized device, data in affects the data out. Influences from outside the converter may cause the CW to operate in an unexpected mode. A large battery bank, a high current demand from the RV or additional charging sources such as an alternator or solar will influence the operation of the CW. If the battery bank isn’t full after 8 hours of charging, the CW won’t know this. Your bank may be too big for your charger or some of the charging current is taken up by the RV and is not allowing enough current to fully charge the bank. Voltage from the alternator or your solar controller will also influence the CW and appear to indicate a fully charged bank. When you supply AC power to the converter, the CW will stay in idle mode.

Jim

[Dale B]

Disappointing Indeed.

After following the recommended procedure, fully discharging the lithium battery(I did not like doing that). The -AD converter work as advertised for a few days. Our fifth wheel is located off grid on our recreational property. We spent a few wonderful fall days out there as the season comes to an end.

Our latitude of 50* does not favour flat roof solar & cooler temps so I was firing the Honda in the mornings. The usual coffee, heat, give batteries a head start to limited solar for the day. Testing the various heat source's, fireplace & heat pump.

The last morning monitoring the bluetooth BMS I noticed very low charge current from the -AD....WTF? That was a few days ago & we had packed up & headed home.

Today I'm back, the batteries are @ 60%. Solar does not do well this time of year & had been keeping up no problem until now.

So the the -AD @ 60% battery was running around 15ah, far from the rated 55. Pulling out the basement panel armed with a voltmeter the display LED is green! It has reverted back to AGM LA battery.

I will be contacting WFCO Monday, I will not discharge the lithium battery again for a complete charge cycle

[howson]

Dale B -- I'll be very interested in what WFCO tells you. Please post a follow-up. Your report is disappointing as it appears to suggest the AD version may not be a reliable option. I hope your WFCO's hiccup is just an outlier.

Howard

[Dale B]

Dale B -- I'll be very interested in what WFCO tells you. Please post a follow-up. Your report is disappointing as it appears to suggest the AD version may not be a reliable option. I hope your WFCO's hiccup is just an outlier.

Howard

For sure I will update, I've no idea why -AD would default & do not care. As mentioned previously the average RV'r would have no hope with instruction to fully discharge a lithium battery allowing the converter to learn a charge cycle......only a non practical engineer would come up with that.

It will not happen again.

[Guest]

Our WFCO is still in place and used as a backup should I need to send the expensive lithium battery in for warranty and buy a lead acid to keep us going. The breaker is off on the WFCO and the Progressive Dynamics unit is mounted in the passthrough next to the lithium battery in the OEM battery box. The OEM wires are kept in the rig to mount a back-up lead acid back out on the tongue of the trailer. This type of redundancy may appeal to folks....or not.

Jim

[mtnwest]

I have the same converter (AD) and have experienced identical results as you. I spoke with WFCO several times on the phone. If my 200ah lithium battery is over 25% then the converter sends very little current off either the 4k onan or ac power. It hasn't defaulted back to lead acid mode, still blue light for lithium. Very frustrating seeing 8-10 amp charge when battery is only 50%.

MidwestCamper, what PD converter do you have?

[Guest]

I have the same converter (AD) and have experienced identical results as you. I spoke with WFCO several times on the phone. If my 200ah lithium battery is over 25% then the converter sends very little current off either the 4k onan or ac power. It hasn't defaulted back to lead acid mode, still blue light for lithium. Very frustrating seeing 8-10 amp charge when battery is only 50%.

MidwestCamper, what PD converter do you have?

We use the Progressive Dynamics PD9160ALV. If you use this unit, use wire ferrules on the ends of the 4 AWG cables but do not pre-crimp them. Let the screws on the PD unit crimp the ferrules and there will be no chance of the cables pulling out.

https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-D...73652162&psc=1

Jim