Progressive Dynamics 9180ALV charger/converter - 80AMP charging, 20AMP AC outlet

[huntindog]

ok so that model would charge 2 -100 amp lithiums without a problem

It would work great with 2.

[RickLight]

I know I'm late to the party but here's what I did.

I moved my 3 lithium batteries inside to conditioned space and upgraded to a 75A charger. That shortened the charger power lines and let me replace them and the main breaker. The OEM 55A on #6 was just wasting power heating those wires. Now everything is up to at least 100A, the size of the main breaker.

Check your Wfco manual, most have a 20A outlet, but even a 15 will power a huge charger. While the charger mentioned comes with a 20A plug it actually draws 1300w or under 12A.

[Barnabas]

Very helpful thread, thanks all!

[wjpatter]

I will be upgrading the charger/converter in my 2020 Reflection 303RLS to support Lithium batteries. The Progressive Dynamics 9160ALV seems to be popular on this forum. Has anyone considered the 9180ALV? It will charge at 80 amps instead of 60 amps so it will charge faster. It requires a 20-amp AC outlet though. My RV is in storage so I can't check to see if the AC outlet the stock WFCO charger uses is 20-amp (I'm curious if any of the outlets in the storage compartments are 20-amp as well). Does anyone know? Also, I am hoping the existing battery wiring from the charger to the front-compartment will be OK for the extra boost in current, the existing breakers are adequate, etc. It would sure be nice to charge quicker, especially when using a generator. Any downsides to going with the 9180ALV instead of the 9160ALV?

Jeff

Look at where the converter is plugged into. If it is like my unit, it is plugged into rear receptacle of the the WF-8930/50 Distribution panel. I currently have a 15 amp breaker for the converter but the wire size and 8" run would certainly support upsizing it to a 20 amp. That is a $5.00 breaker and 15 minutes of work.

[Gainestr]

Look at where the converter is plugged into. If it is like my unit, it is plugged into rear receptacle of the the WF-8930/50 Distribution panel. I currently have a 15 amp breaker for the converter but the wire size and 8" run would certainly support upsizing it to a 20 amp. That is a $5.00 breaker and 15 minutes of work.

I have the exact setup as you do with my 337RLS. 20Amp outlet 15Amp breaker in the WF-8930/50 and I also have the WF-9855.
I have just installed a 206Ah LiFePO4 battery as well as a Victron SmartShunt. I have noticed that the WF-9855 has never put out a full 55Amp charge to the battery. I don’t ever remember seeing it get past 12 or 15 amps. This does not work for me when I’m trying to charge my battery using a generator.

My question is, when you upgraded to your new charge controller that is designed for lithium batteries, are you getting a higher amperage output now or does the controller only put out 14.4v and a fluctuating amperage output?

I have an AC/DC wall charger that has a CC/CV profile that outputs a full 20Amps Constant Current until the battery reaches 14.6 volts then it switches to Constant Voltage and you can watch the Amps drop until it reaches about 2 Amps of output and then it switches off. Is this how your new charge controller works or does the Amp output fluctuate?

I am looking at the WF-9855LiS module that clams to have a 50Amp output but I’m wondering if that is a Constant current or constant voltage profile.

[orbiker]

I have the exact setup as you do with my 337RLS. 20Amp outlet 15Amp breaker in the WF-8930/50 and I also have the WF-9855.
I have just installed a 206Ah LiFePO4 battery as well as a Victron SmartShunt. I have noticed that the WF-9855 has never put out a full 55Amp charge to the battery. I don’t ever remember seeing it get past 12 or 15 amps. This does not work for me when I’m trying to charge my battery using a generator.

My question is, when you upgraded to your new charge controller that is designed for lithium batteries, are you getting a higher amperage output now or does the controller only put out 14.4v and a fluctuating amperage output?

I have an AC/DC wall charger that has a CC/CV profile that outputs a full 20Amps Constant Current until the battery reaches 14.6 volts then it switches to Constant Voltage and you can watch the Amps drop until it reaches about 2 Amps of output and then it switches off. Is this how your new charge controller works or does the Amp output fluctuate?

I am looking at the WF-9855LiS module that clams to have a 50Amp output but IÂ’m wondering if that is a Constant current or constant voltage profile.

This chart will help pick the correct size converter.
https://www.progressivedyn.com/wp-co...ver-list-1.pdf

[Gainestr]

This chart will help pick the correct size converter.
https://www.progressivedyn.com/wp-co...ver-list-1.pdf

Thanks for that info. It will help in determining which one to buy. I’d still like to know if you are getting a constant current Amp output? What does your battery monitor show?

[orbiker]

Thanks for that info. It will help in determining which one to buy. I’d still like to know if you are getting a constant current Amp output? What does your battery monitor show?

I believe it is a bit less then 20a AC. It goes down a little when it gets closer to full. I like that it's less then 20, because I only have a Honda 2000 for backup power.

My small solar array keeps the 400ah of lithium charged most of the time so the converter is turned off. KEN

I have the 60a Progressive Dynamics converter. KEN

[gbkims]

I saw ~12 Amps on 120V while the PD9170ALV was charging up 2 100Ah battleborn.
The amps remained high till batteries got charged and the BMS stopped the charging.
Initial charge of the batteries took ~1-3/4 hours to reach 14.6V


Close to full charge

[Gainestr]

So, you have a 70Amp Converter/charger that puts out 12Amps? Is this normal? Exactly how are these manufacturers rating their products? I feel like I’m missing something here. EDIT: I can see that your getting 61Amps of DC power. That’s more like I expected to see.

I thought that I could charge my battery using my 55Amp Lead Acid converter to the 13.65 volt output that it claims to have and then I could top off once a month or so using my small 20Amp LiFePO4 charger. I’ve discovered that my small LiFePO4 charger has more output (20 Amps) than the WFCO controller has (around 12 - 15 at most). And I’m not a fan at all of the way Progressive Dynamics chargers work with a constant 14.6 volt charge with no shut off. Even if I disconnect the Progressive Dynamics charger from the battery it is still providing an over voltage of 14.6v to my DC lights and appliances (it should drop to 13.6-13.8V) That can’t be good long term at all.
I need a controller that I can manually switch from bulk charge of 14.6V down to a float charge of 13.6V or one that will do it manually but I also want a constant Amp output of between 40 and 50 Amps while charging.
I guess I need to look at a solar option for charging and remove the controller/charger from the LiFePO4 battery all together. But that still won’t help me when I want to quickly charge my battery using a generator.