Can I stay plugged into shore power for winter and not fry the coach batteries?

[Jamo]

In my new (to me) 89 Chieftain I have an Intellipower 9100 converter, model PD9145A.  Can I leave the rig plugged into shore power for the Winter without cooking the coach batteries?

John

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Not without the optional Charge Controller that simply plugs in.  A PD92xx series does not require the charge controller. The PD92xx series  charge controller was an option so you could also monitor and manually control the unit.

[Jamo]

I'm confused.  Do I have to operate the controller or is it something that I plug into the converter and call it good? Also what is a PD92xx controller?

John

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

The PD9100 Series converter that you have requires a PD9105 Charge Wizard plugged into it in order to enable 3/4 stage charging.  Without the Charge Wizard it is simply a 13.6VDC converter which could boil the batteries dry over time.  With the Charge Wizard, your model converter would drop back to a 13.1VDC trickle charge (stage 3) to help prevent boiling the batteries dry.

The PD9200 Series converter does not require the PD9105 Charge Wizard to provide 3/4 stage charging.  However you can connect a PD9105 Charge Wizard to it in order to monitor and control the status of the PD9200 Series converter.


PD9105 Charge wizard that plugs into these converters.  Approximately $25.

[Jamo]

Dave,

Thanks for the info.  A Charge Wizard it is...

John