Another Unhappy WFCO WF-9855-AD Customer

[Fivecodys]

Last summer I upgraded the battery in my rig to a BattleBorn 100AH. I changed the WFCO stock converter to the WF-9855-AD and added a Victron Smart Shunt.
It sounded like a great idea to me.

After reading numerous forum posts on this unit not 'auto detecting' the Lithium battery I began to run some tests and sure enough, I have the same issue.

NRVTA (Todd's Two Minute Tech Tip Tuesday) put out a YouTube video several days ago about this very issue. They were going to get back to us with their conclusion but I haven't seen a new video yet.

I have tried all the different suggestions to get the unit to do its thing but none have been successful.

My emails to WFCO have gone un answered.

Looks like I wasted my time and money and it sounds like many others have done the same.

So, My question to you fine folks is.....What is the best replacement for my new WFCO unit?

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.

[MoonShadow_1911]

Last summer I upgraded the battery in my rig to a BattleBorn 100AH. I changed the WFCO stock converter to the WF-9855-AD and added a Victron Smart Shunt.
It sounded like a great idea to me.

After reading numerous forum posts on this unit not 'auto detecting' the Lithium battery I began to run some tests and sure enough, I have the same issue.

NRVTA (Todd's Two Minute Tech Tip Tuesday) put out a YouTube video several days ago about this very issue. They were going to get back to us with their conclusion but I haven't seen a new video yet.

I have tried all the different suggestions to get the unit to do its thing but none have been successful.

My emails to WFCO have gone un answered.

Looks like I wasted my time and money and it sounds like many others have done the same.

So, My question to you fine folks is.....What is the best replacement for my new WFCO unit?

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.

Progressive Dynamics. Match the amperage and away you go!

[ajg617]

Progressive Dynamics. Match the amperage and away you go!

They are having their issues as well. Just got off the phone with Battleborn today and all the auto-detect seem to have their quirks. I was also on the phone with PD and they are doing away with the ALV and coming out with a new auto-detect later this year. Even my ALV gets stuck in absorption and wouldn't go back into bulk - had to buy the remote pendant to force it.

[MoonShadow_1911]

They are having their issues as well. Just got off the phone with Battleborn today and all the auto-detect seem to have their quirks. I was also on the phone with PD and they are doing away with the ALV and coming out with a new auto-detect later this year. Even my ALV gets stuck in absorption and wouldn't go back into bulk - had to buy the remote pendant to force it.

Oh, bummer. Thanks for the update. [emoji24]

So, it looks like Victron is the only stable player?

[Fivecodys]

They are having their issues as well. Just got off the phone with Battleborn today and all the auto-detect seem to have their quirks. I was also on the phone with PD and they are doing away with the ALV and coming out with a new auto-detect later this year. Even my ALV gets stuck in absorption and wouldn't go back into bulk - had to buy the remote pendant to force it.

Uh oh! That's a bummer. Doesn't anyone just make a charger converter for lithium with out all the fancy auto-detect features?

[FT4NOW]

Uh oh! That's a bummer. Doesn't anyone just make a charger converter for lithium with out all the fancy auto-detect features?

I'm pretty sure the Progressive Dynamics 9100L series is lithium only, not to be confused with the ALV.

[ajg617]

Uh oh! That's a bummer. Doesn't anyone just make a charger converter for lithium with out all the fancy auto-detect features?

The Progressive Dynamics 9160ALV which I bought is lithium only. Has bulk and float but seems to have difficulty when other charge sources are present (like solar or genset). And from what they told me, they are discontinuing it. I read this after going 11 days without being able to get it into bulk charge until I dropped the battery voltage down to about 12.8. Had to disconnect all charging sources and run the batteries down to get it back into bulk mode. If I had known, I would have purchased the $14 charge pendant which allows me to push a button and force it back to bulk.

"Why didn’t my battery charge?
Like any computerized device, data in affects the data out. Influences from outside the
converter may cause the CW to operate in an unexpected mode.
A large battery bank, a high current demand from the RV or additional charging sources such as
an alternator or solar will influence the operation of the CW.
If the battery bank isn’t full after 8 hours of charging, the CW won’t know this. Your bank may
be too big for your charger or some of the charging current is taken up by the RV and
is not allowing enough current to fully charge the bank.
Voltage from the alternator or your solar controller will also influence the CW and appear to
indicate a fully charged bank. When you supply AC power to the converter, the CW will stay in
idle mode."

[ajg617]

I'm pretty sure the Progressive Dynamics 9100L series is lithium only, not to be confused with the ALV.

The ALV is the lithium only two phase charger.

[BobinICT]

Man, I guess I got lucky. I've been doing system checks and the last one on the list was run down the batts and turn on the converter after removing the front panel so I can see the lite. Blue lite right away when the batts were at 45% SOC. Still have the solar off and will check SOC in the morning.

[COGrandDes]

Uh oh! That's a bummer. Doesn't anyone just make a charger converter for lithium with out all the fancy auto-detect features?

I have this one with 120A and love it. Easy peasy. https://powermaxconverters.com/produ...ithium-series/

Here's why:
1. It's an exact replacement for WF-9800 LiS or PD9100ALV.
2. It is lithium only---no worrying about the auto features of switching between battery types.
3. It comes in several different amperages that can be tuned to your battery charging requirements. I have the 120A version.
4. Recommended by the DragonFly (Battleborn) team.