The whole term "converter" in this meaning comes from the USA RV industry, which historically really sucked optimizing DC electrics for off grid use.Aguyfromohio wrote:John61CT wrote:A quality high-amp charger will do everything even the smartest "converter" can....
That point has confused me for while.
If the system has a battery powering the 12VDC loads and has a charger capable of, say, 20 or 30 amps, it seems like the 12VDC power bus should be held up by the charger through the battery when shore power is available and the battery is low. Perhaps some folks prefer low amp chargers and need the converter, but otherwise I don't see the functionality of converting 120 VAC shore power to 12VDC.
Lots of smart people around here buy them, so I must be missing something.
They used to be plain power supplies, no staged charging intelligence.
Same as old-school cheap garage chargers.
Modern expensive converters are as good as quality marine chargers these days, except for general build-quality, profile adjustability and weather resistance.
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As long as the bank is full, a good charger goes to Float voltage, and as long as the amps capacity is greater than the loads, the batteries aren't touched.
If a load kicks in with higher-current needs, then the bank starts getting depleted to make up the difference.
Once that load goes offline, the charger detects that SoC has dropped, and bring voltage back up to Absorb to recharge the bank.
Hope that helps.