Chinook RV

Great job David!! I just knew you could do it!! I ordered my Coleman 30 amp solar controller just today. That will complete all I'm doing for electrical upgrades. I bought one on e-bay for $88 I think. Should be here within a week. Not like I'm going anywhere yet!! Your photos look like you did a very neat job!! What's next??

Thanks for the kudos.
What's next...been thinking about an upgrade of the propane heater to something much more efficient so as not to draw as much battery...but for now--a good power wash, clean, and wax will keep me out of trouble for at least a few days!
David

So, I have had Turtle plugged in to a 120 outlet on the side of the house for 24 hours already and the Charge Wizard is still blinking "normal" at one blink per second. I am getting a reading of 13.6 volts into the battery (from the readout on my 1000 watt inverter that is tied directly to House Bank). How long should it take this PD4645 to fully charge my two group 31 batteries? I know that when using my NOCO Genius 15000 smart charger connected directly to the batteries, it can sometimes take a couple of days till it reads 100%...is this the same? The resting voltage readout when I started was 12.5.
As stated before, I am electrically challenged...so need some help from my forum friends who know so much more about this than I do.
David

The PD4645 is 45 Amp, while the NOCO is 15 Amp, so you are looking at 3X faster charging rate. *But* nothing works linearly, so it is not going to be just 24 hrs. vs 8 hrs. Most smart charger will tappers off near the end, and it can take 2 or 3 times as long to get the last 5% charged than to get to the 95% mark. Look at it another way, the group 31 battery is... what?... 100Ah each? so you are talking about 200 Ah, and if you look at the NOCO salesman document, it should not take more than 7 hours either (3.3 hr for 100 Ah is that I see). Just saying... They don't say 3.3 hrs from what either. I know for example, it will take forever if I use any charger to charge up my 20 years old dead battery that I have that is completely dried.

With that said, I feel it is a bit longer than I expected. I would use a voltmeter to measure the voltage at the PD4645, and compare to the voltage at the battery terminals. if the voltage is significantly different, then it is probably resistant in the wiring that account for the longer charge time. Yours should not be different from my rig, so I don't think it is that bad. Personally, I am not too concerned about it the first time. You do have a warranty with PD, so if it is a consistent issue, give them a call, and the tech there will walk you thru. They are honest folks there, and will send you a new one if there is any suspicion that it is defective.

Thanks Chin_k for response. at 13.6 volt readout from the battery, I can't see it hurting anything to leave it plugged-in for another day or so. And, if at that time, it hasn't progressed to next stage of charging, I will call PD to discuss...though, truth-to-tell, I'm not anxious to go through another install right away. I'll report out any relevant findings.
David

I would use a voltmeter to test the voltage. Don't trust the inverter reading unless you had compare it to a known value and know the reading is good. Anyway, at 1 PPS, it is not at 90% charge level, according to the PD document. You may want to test the voltage at the converter to see if there is any voltage drop at the output. If the resting voltage is only 12.5 V, it may kick on the boost mode if you turn on the converter after a long rest. I don't remember completely, but I think 12.5 is more than half full, or maybe 3/4 full for the flooded battery. (~12.6 is fully charged resting voltage. )

David, I don't think you ever said if you are using NEW BATTERIES? Can you read your date codes? Maybe that could be some of your problems. Just asking. It only took mine "with 2 new batteries" about 4 hours for it to go into the final resting stage. It flashes once about every 8 seconds. But I read I am using totally different batteries than you are,I'm using 27 DS group.

Flame...I bought these two Group 31 wet cell deep cycle batteries just before we left on our trip out here to CO. They are both dated March 2020, and I was able to fully charge them just before we left with the NOCO Genius 15000 smart charger. When I use that charger, I connect it directly to the battery bank, so load cut-off switch in ceiling of cab can (and is) shut off. In particular, that means that the sensors are not active. This is obviously different than this current situation where I am using "shore power" run through the new PD4645 to charge the batteries. In this case, both sensors (and whatever other incidental loads are being drawn from the battery--though frig is off and no lights are on) are creating some draw...which makes me wonder--could this be why it is taking so long for batteries to register float (13.2-13.4)? I believe the reading from my pure sine inverter tied directly to the House (via 1/0 wire to minimize drop) is accurate...and holding steady at 13.6. I don't know enough about temp variation to do a calculation (today here in Longmont temp ranged from 55-69 F), so I think I will just continue keeping them charging through the PD4645 for another day or so and see what happens. I did also put a call into Progressive Dynamics Customer Service...imagine they will call back at some point. Stay tuned.
David

Thanks David, Let us know what Pro Dynamic say if you don't mind. We all can learn. They may be fully charged up this morning though!!

SUCCESS!...went out this morning to check on PD4645 and voila...charge wizard is telling me that it is in storage mode. Battery voltage (as read off of the inverter that is tied directly to batteries) is a sweet 13.2. All Good.
So, it looks like it could take up to 50 hours or so to get a full charge. I will confirm that with PD Tech Support when (if) I talk to them.
Thanks again all for being on my shoulder through all of this. Great networking and advice! What a wonderful Forum. Thanks to Manitou for keeping us going...by the way, how are your funds holding up? Need some bread in the Tip Jar?
David