2007 Montana 2955RL Converter

[bandit]

We are very new to RVing and intend to go to Yellowstone NP in June 2012. We will likely be without power other than occasional use of our generator. My question is at what rate does the converter recharge the battery when hooked to power or generator. I have a 40 amp battery charger I can take along if it would recharge the battery quicker. Many of the camping areas do not even allow generators thus when I can utilize it I must recharge to the max. Any advice will be much appreciated.

[firetrucker]

If you discharge a 50 AH battery by 50% and recharge at a C/10 rate, it will take longer than 5 hours to recharge it. I don't think the converter charges at the C/10 rate, though.

Batteries are made to be charged at a certain rate, usually C (capacity in AH)/20, and can be pushed to C/10. The higher the charge rate, the more heat that will be generated, so if you double the charge rate, you will not halve the charge time.

And a 40 amp charger will not charge twice as fast as a 20 amp charger; it can charge a bigger battery, or batteries, though.

Bob

[camper4]

I don't know the charge rate of your on board charger so I would take the 40 amp charger to be safe. I had an 05 2955 and it took a long time to charge my batteries. I used a separate 40 amp charger and that was much faster.
Enjoy Yellowstone! You are,going at a great time, before the 4th of July. Lots of game that time of year.,carry bear mace.

[Ozz]

Bandit, do you have the Charge Wizard? if not, get one. I have a 2007 3400RL, mine did not come with one, I added it, simple plug-in.
Read about it here: http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_d...zard_9105.html

[bandit]

Thanks Ozz, I will check on this. Will I find the converter in the area where I see the breakers? I looked at the Montana PDF file on the 2007's and it indicates my unit has a 55 amp 10ta converter and when I looked at their website they offered a item called the " IQ Charger Controller " which claimed the following--
Description

The IQ Smart Controller offers automatic charging control for the DLS power converters/chargers to provide longer and safer use of your system's battery. The IQ Controller is compatible with any DLS model, and is covered under our standard Two-Year Warranty.

The IQ Controller allows the DLS charger to operate as an automatic 3-stage "smart charger". This gives the customer the benefit of Bulk, Absorption, and Float stage charging, increasing the charging capacity of the DLS charger and decreasing charge times, insuring proper and safe battery charging and minimizing over-charging. This "smart" technology monitors the battery at all times. If the DLS voltage remains in the long term float stage for more than 7 days, the IQ will automatically deliver a boost charge for a predetermined time, then automatically return to the normal float stage

Does this sound like the same thing as the Charge Wizard and would the Charge Wizard fit this 10ta DSL 55 amp converter/charger? Again thanks for your advise.

[8.1al]

That's what you need for your Iota

[Ozz]

Yes, like Charlie said. It is behind the breaker box in mine, probably yours also. It may have the IQ smart controller (charge Wizard) and it may not, mine did not come with it, I had to buy and plug in mine. It's just like a telephone plug connector, it will show you where to plug it in.
Just take all of the screws out of the electrical panel, and gently pull it out, the wires have about 3' of slack in them. I would unplug the 'shore power' first, just to be safe.
I will see if I can find the pictures of mine for you.

[mhs4771]

On the 2010 model 2955RL the Converter is located under the steps to the bedroom. It's attached to the floor behind the bottom step.

[Carl n Susan]

On a 2005 2955RL, the easiest way to access the converter is from the curbside of the basement. Remove the four screws holding the aft panel and there it is.

Montana never shipped an Iota converter with the IQ4 smart charger. So you have to buy one but they are fairly reasonable (~ $25) on the Internet

[hookman]

Our 2008 it is behind the panel on the curbside by the stairs.The IQ controller works great

[bandit]

quote:Originally posted by Carl n Susan

On a 2005 2955RL, the easiest way to access the converter is from the curbside of the basement. Remove the four screws holding the aft panel and there it is.

Montana never shipped an Iota converter with the IQ4 smart charger. So you have to buy one but they are fairly reasonable (~ $25) on the Internet

[bandit]

Thanks Carl, that is exactly where I found it. The converter was a DSL 75amp without the IQ4 Smart Charger. I have ordered it off the internet thus should be charging better soon. Thank you

[tonycamacho]

I have a 2005 2955RL also, this summer we spent 8 days dry camping and fishing salmon in Bodega Bay, California. I use a CPAP machine and power it with a 700 watt inverter at nights when dry camping. My batteries will normally carry me through the night. While in Bodega I was lent a solar panel and charge moniter. Just by placing the solar panel on the roof and running wire down to the charge moniter which fed the batteries I was able to keep batteries up. I do have a 5500 Onan but only use it to run the Microwave as my wife needed for cooking or no more than 10 minutes per day. My project while back in Puerto Vallarta is now to install the previous mention solar panel and moniter. It worked so well I convince my buddy to sell it to me.

Happy New Years to all Montana Owners,

Tony & Ann

[Art-n-Marge]

Regarding running Generators in Yosemite, I have tent camped there several times and generators are running up until 10pm with no problems. If they are running past that time a Ranger will come by and ask them to shut it down (turn off campfires, too).

While I have been to Yosemite many times I haven't had the guts to tow the RV into Yosemite Valley, but there are plenty who do, with great success, generators and all. Just pay attention to the quiet hours, the campfire hours and other rules of camping and you should do fine. The biggest problem you will have is finding a big enough site to park the rig. Not all sites are the same size. Do reserve as early in the year that's allowable as you can!!!

And Happy New Year to you, too, Tonycamacho!

[2 for Him]

I think I'll have to cut that access hole from the basement, my 2005 2955RLS doesn't have it and I got to my inverter by removing the furnace air inlet grill under the fridge. Makes my old joints hurt just thinking about it. When I replaced my converter I got the one with the IQ regulator built in. My old one was set to high charge manually so I didn't see that much difference in charging speed, but my batteries started lasting longer,and using less water. 'Course now the solar does it all, but a backup is nice.
Tom

[troutchasers]

Please pardon bringing this thread back up but I came across it when searching for converter upgrades. If I upgrade our converter to a 60amp PD9100 and add the Charge Wizard, is it smart practice to also add a battery monitoring device, or is the Charge Wizard sufficient? We are going to add 4 6V AGM batteries to the new rig. We will hold off doing anything more than adding the new AGM's and upgrading the converter until we have been using the unit for a while and make some lifestyle observations.

Thanks!

[Bill-N-Donna]

With the Tow/Haul mode I don’t even think about it much anymore; I just drive and enjoy the ride. Before I had that, with the gas Dodge it would kick in and out a lot if I tried to use the O/D.