Battery Charger Question

[luckydad71]

I have a 2010 Jayco Octane 29 toyhauler and I want to upgrade the battery. It came with 1 12v deep cycle and I want to upgrade to 2 6v. I want to make sure that the charger that is built into the toyhauler is sufficient, or should be upgraded. I tried to access the area (in wardrobe in bedroom) where they are installed, however it is tight. I put my camera in the area and all I can see is a large silver box, unmarked, and then the iota transfer switch (its-30rl). I'm assuming the silver box is the charger, but I can't see any markings on it to determine what size or model charger it is.

I'm hoping that being a newer model that the charger/converter is decent, but am not sure. I've read on different threads that they upgraded in 2010, but i'm not sure. I do a lot of dry camping and believe the 6 volts will hold up better, however I want to make sure that I have a decent charger to charge them as quickly and efficiently as possible. I am also thinking about adding a small solar system to help when we are out riding and not running our generator.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Hope everyone is having a great day!

[Rustic Eagle]

Luckydad71,

Welcome to the Jayco forums.

Your correct that Jayco changed from the IOTA (2-stage charger) to a Progressive Dynamics (3-stage) converter/chargers during the 2010 model year, and it sounds like you may have the IOTA model. The IOTA can be upgraded to a 3-stage with a $20 IQ-4 smart charger. "Some" IOTA models came with a connection port for adding the IQ-4, it looks like this:



Also, you can contact Jayco with your VIN and they can confirm what model converter/charger you have.

I do agree that ideally a 3-stage converter/charger is best for maintaining the batteries. Here are a couple of forum threads that may be helpful:

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...highlight=iota

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...highlight=iota

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...highlight=iota

.....and my (2) 6V Deep Cycle upgrade: http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthread.php?t=2752

I'm sure some of the data you have run across before, but it it confirms/supports your findings.

Bob

[luckydad71]

Thank you very much for the quick reply. I will read up on those threads and give Jayco a call.

[Seann45]

Congrats on going with the pair of 6's you will not regret it

[Terry]

As far as being sufficient - you should not damage the charger with a larger bank of batteries - the size of your converter will determine how long it will take to charge your batteries. In theory you could charge a dozen batteries - it would just take days.