Upgrading Batteries and Power Center

[rbreding]

Objective: Adding two 6V Trojans in replacement of 12V "deep Cycle" battery that came with the trailer. 220ah equivalent storage capacity is the target.

Complication: The factory WF-8735 Converter is on the small side amps wise and only has 3 stage (of which I have only seen it do 2 stages). I don't want to invest in the battery setup and have to worry about them charging when connected to shore or even worse having to run the generator so long to get them to charge.

Solutions:

1. Add some sort of 4 stage charger to the current setup to better charge the new batteries.

2. Replace the whole power center with a better one that is almost identical in physical size (Progressive dynamics PD4135). The complication I see with this unit is it is only rated at 40amps DC. It does however state it has 4 stage "Charge Wizard" technology that will charge in 3-6 hrs @ 90%. Specs are limited and I haven't heard back yet from PD regarding what size bank they are assuming for this 3-6 hrs.

3. Replace the whole power center with a bigger one (Progressive Dynamics PD4060). This would necessitate enlarging of the mounting hole of which there is space. The DC Amps of this unit is rated at 60 which should be enough for the proposed battery banks. Side benefit is more circuits to better isolate loads (AC and DC).



Lastly I do plan on adding an inverter and eventually solar to this configuration so I have already started pulling and upgrading the wiring to facilitate this. Adding in an automatic transfer switch to go back and forth between inverter and shore/gen set to make it easy, but still searching for solutions to automate the disabling of the converter/charger circuit while on inverter. The EMS-HW30C hardwired surge protector has already been installed and integrated into this configuration.


Any other suggestions?


I know I am probably not reinventing the wheel and have been scouring the interwebs for "WF-8735 upgrades"

[Mustang65]

Originally Posted by rbreding

Objective: Adding two 6V Trojans in replacement of 12V "deep Cycle" battery that came with the trailer. 220ah equivalent storage capacity is the target.

Complication: The factory WF-8735 Converter is on the small side amps wise and only has 3 stage (of which I have only seen it do 2 stages). I don't want to invest in the battery setup and have to worry about them charging when connected to shore or even worse having to run the generator so long to get them to charge.

Solutions:

1. Add some sort of 4 stage charger to the current setup to better charge the new batteries.

2. Replace the whole power center with a better one that is almost identical in physical size (Progressive dynamics PD4135). The complication I see with this unit is it is only rated at 40amps DC. It does however state it has 4 stage "Charge Wizard" technology that will charge in 3-6 hrs @ 90%. Specs are limited and I haven't heard back yet from PD regarding what size bank they are assuming for this 3-6 hrs.

I have not seen any reviews on the PD4135, but it will be plenty for your T105's (220Ah). If you plan on adding another set of T105's you may want to look into upgrading to the PD4045 which is 60 amps (came with my TT) or the PD4060 which is 75Amps. I have 2 T145 (260Ah) batteries and on SOLAR. The max output from my MPPT SOLAR charge controller with the 250 watt panel is 20Amps (19.5Amps) and my batteries are charged by 2 pm each day, sun permitting, otherwise by 4PM they are charged.

One point, there is a 20 amp MAIN fuse between the battery(s) and the TT's DC charge controller.

3. Replace the whole power center with a bigger one (Progressive Dynamics PD4060). This would necessitate enlarging of the mounting hole of which there is space. The DC Amps of this unit is rated at 60 which should be enough for the proposed battery banks. Side benefit is more circuits to better isolate loads (AC and DC).

I had my unit out when I was installing a spice cabinet between the stove and sink. The enlarging task will be easy!



Lastly I do plan on adding an inverter and eventually solar to this configuration so I have already started pulling and upgrading the wiring to facilitate this. Adding in an automatic transfer switch to go back and forth between inverter and shore/gen set to make it easy, but still searching for solutions to automate the disabling of the converter/charger circuit while on inverter. The EMS-HW30C hardwired surge protector has already been installed and integrated into this configuration.

Run a romax between the new Automatic Transfer switch to your TT's DC Charge controller. Remove the DC charge controllers 110VAC source wire from the TT's 110VAC power source and connect it to the romax. Now, connect the other end of the romax cable to a (new) 15Amp breaker box, (near the Switch), the other side of the breaker will connect to the Shore Power input side of the Automatic Transfer switch. This way when the Shore power has 110VAC, the TT's converter will have 110VAC. When the Automatic Transfer switch is in INVERTER mode and there is NO SHORE POWER, the DC converter will not be powered.


Any other suggestions?

A digital voltage/current display to monitor your batteries. So you know when you need to stop using 12Volt DC things when the batteries voltage hits 12.2 Volts.


I know I am probably not reinventing the wheel and have been scouring the interwebs for "WF-8735 upgrades"

Good Luck,
Don
My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[CampNow]

Originally Posted by rbreding

. . .

The factory WF-8735 Converter is on the small side amps wise and only has 3 stage (of which I have only seen it do 2 stages).

. . .

Progressive dynamics PD4135. The complication I see with this unit is it is only rated at 40amps DC. It does however state it has 4 stage "Charge Wizard" technology that will charge in 3-6 hrs @ 90%. Specs are limited and I haven't heard back yet from PD regarding what size bank they are assuming for this 3-6 hrs.

. . .

Progressive Dynamics PD4060 . . . The DC Amps of this unit is rated at 60 which should be enough for the proposed battery banks . . .

WFCO converters (WF-8xxx) are notorious for rarely going into bulk (14.4v) charge mode. They typically remain in absorption mode (13.6v), even when the batteries are significantly discharged. Charge times are significantly higher in absorption mode (vs. bulk mode).

A Progressive Dynamic converter (and/or power center) is a good choice. They're good about going into bulk mode automatically when appropriate, or they can be placed in float/absorption/bulk modes manually using the "Charge Wizard".

As for charge times, we have a PD-4060 Inteli-Power power center with a 60-amp converter. It will typically charge two GC2, 6-volt batteries (discharged to 50%) to 90% in approx. 2.5 hours in bulk mode. I'd guess-estimate a 40-amp converter (charging these same two batteries in bulk mode from 50 to 90%) would take approx. 4.0 hrs.

[rbreding]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Mustang 65 that's a good idea on the separate line to eliminate the charging loop for the inverter. Will do that.

Seems the pd4060 might very well be my go to then. Mustang65 you mentioned the the pd4060 had 75 amps available? Did I read the specs wrong? Thought it had 60.

[Mustang65]

Originally Posted by rbreding

Thanks for the comments guys.

Mustang 65 that's a good idea on the separate line to eliminate the charging loop for the inverter. Will do that.

Seems the pd4060 might very well be my go to then. Mustang65 you mentioned the the pd4060 had 75 amps available? Did I read the specs wrong? Thought it had 60.

Your correct.. it is a 45 or 60 amp. Wrong advertisement
Don
My Registry

RVing with SOLAR