Using an external battery charger

[bigben]

We boondock for about 2-3 months in Florida. Quiet time is from 11-7 each day. At 7:00 AM it is time to bring the batteries back up to full charge. We have and onboard generator used for cooking and AC. We tried running and external generator to bring the charge back up to 13.2 volts via the on board convertor. Slow process. Contemplating using an external charger like a NOCO G26000 plugged directly into an inverter/generator (like a Honda 2000) running directly to the batteries.

Has anyone tried this?

Issues?

Thanks

[16ACE27]

It would probably be even slower at a max rate of 26 amps. You need a charger in the 100 amp range to do this quickly.

[K0LCB]

You really take a chance frying your converter by using external charger unless you disconnect

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by K0LCB

You really take a chance frying your converter by using external charger unless you disconnect

Agree...stick with the system design. What type portable unit are you using now? Seems like running it a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours just before 11PM should work, as you are running the house generator during the day, right?

[Beau388]

All battery manufacture the max charge current of 10 to 13% of the batteries capacity. Assuming you have 4 - 225 ah 6 volt batteries the is 450 ah so the max charge rate for bulk charging would be around 60 amps. If you draw those batteries down to 50% capacity it will take about 5 hours to fully charge the batteries (2 hours of bulk and 3 hours of adsorption).