Don Horner
2012 Unity IB
I received my WFCO Ultra III converter/charger yesterday and installed it today. The installation was very easy, except that the mounting box must have been bent a little and the screw holes were very difficult to line up. It took me a few minutes to mount the box to the cabinet, and it was a lot harder and longer to get it straightened out enough to install the access door/cover back over the whole assembly. However, it now looks great and seems to work well.
I bought a "Volt Minder" volt display gadget from Randy at bestconverter.com at the same time. It's not the most sophisticated model on the market, but it suits my needs. Basically, it displays the battery voltage and has an adjustable alarm setting for a low battery. It comes with a cigarette-lighter plug, which is all that's needed to hook it up. Randy said it would be most efficient if connected to one of the 12v leads on the converter, but I had no convenient mounting spot near that. So, I took the cover off the Winegard antenna booster, which also has a 12v outlet, cut the wires on the Volt Minder, and wired it in direct behind the cover plate on the Winegard unit. I mounted the Volt Minder on the same panel as the booster, which is right next to all the other indicators and switches on a Leisure Travel. It shows the voltage when charging and, when the shore power is disconnected, the generator is off and the engine is off, so it is not charging, it shows the battery state in volts. If you are dry camping and the battery reaches the "low battery" state that you program in, it sounds an alarm. Randy suggested 12.2v as the alarm level.
My only other comment is similar to mpsan -- the cooling fan on the WFCO unit comes on really easy and is kinda noisy. The old Parallax fan didn't come on as often and was more quiet. However, it's no worse than the fan on the inverter, and I'll get used to it. My fan comes on when only one flourescent ceiling light is lit -- but the battery was in a pretty low state. It might get better when the battery is fully charged.
I haven't mounted any extra batteries yet, and as much as I want the twin 6v batteries, I'm beginning to re-think that. If I mount them behind the passenger seat, where I originally wanted to, I will face some pretty complex venting issues. Also, I would have to build the battery box. I have an LTV-supplied box for one 12v battery under the rear sofa; I think I may cop-out on the 6v batteries for now, mount that box and add one more 12v battery. That will double my present capacity, and I can get it done quicker.
I bought a "Volt Minder" volt display gadget from Randy at bestconverter.com at the same time. It's not the most sophisticated model on the market, but it suits my needs. Basically, it displays the battery voltage and has an adjustable alarm setting for a low battery. It comes with a cigarette-lighter plug, which is all that's needed to hook it up. Randy said it would be most efficient if connected to one of the 12v leads on the converter, but I had no convenient mounting spot near that. So, I took the cover off the Winegard antenna booster, which also has a 12v outlet, cut the wires on the Volt Minder, and wired it in direct behind the cover plate on the Winegard unit. I mounted the Volt Minder on the same panel as the booster, which is right next to all the other indicators and switches on a Leisure Travel. It shows the voltage when charging and, when the shore power is disconnected, the generator is off and the engine is off, so it is not charging, it shows the battery state in volts. If you are dry camping and the battery reaches the "low battery" state that you program in, it sounds an alarm. Randy suggested 12.2v as the alarm level.
My only other comment is similar to mpsan -- the cooling fan on the WFCO unit comes on really easy and is kinda noisy. The old Parallax fan didn't come on as often and was more quiet. However, it's no worse than the fan on the inverter, and I'll get used to it. My fan comes on when only one flourescent ceiling light is lit -- but the battery was in a pretty low state. It might get better when the battery is fully charged.
I haven't mounted any extra batteries yet, and as much as I want the twin 6v batteries, I'm beginning to re-think that. If I mount them behind the passenger seat, where I originally wanted to, I will face some pretty complex venting issues. Also, I would have to build the battery box. I have an LTV-supplied box for one 12v battery under the rear sofa; I think I may cop-out on the 6v batteries for now, mount that box and add one more 12v battery. That will double my present capacity, and I can get it done quicker.