Re: [A/S] Univolt/Charger replacement

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom & Barb,
 Actually, you can do exactly as you propose, just use a 10-amp
automatic battery charger in place of a UniVolt. The only drawback is
that it won't keep up with the maximum instantaneous load. That's not
really a problem if you have a good battery because there's plenty of
off-peak time for the charger to catch up.

FWIW: on the last time out with our A/S, the UniVolt crapped out, so we
went to the local Wal-Mart and got a $40.00 battery charger. It's 10 amp
or so capacity with a "starting boost" function. I've used it quite a
lot since.

When we got the Avion, I replaced the converter with a StatPower 3-stage
battery charger. As nice as that thing was, it broke after only a couple
of weeks' use. Naturally, we weren't carrying that $40.00 battery
charger, so we again visited the local Wal-Mart and bought another one,
very similar to the first. Connected it to the batteries and used it for
the next week or more until we got to a Camping World and bought an
Inteli-Power converter with the Charge Wizard, making it into a 3-stage
charger.

Monitoring the eMeter in the trailer, I could see that the charger was
not keeping up with peak loads. However, the voltage on the batteries
was keeping right at what it was supposed to be, over the long term.
Frannkly, I see no reason that we couldn't have finished our trip
(another 6 weeks) with just that battery charger.

You can bet that I'll carry one of those chargers on any future extended
trip. <<grin>>

                                    <<Jim>>