RV LITHIUM Battery Converter/Charger MALFUNCTION: Diagnosis & Solution

We replaced our RV's original WFCO standard Converter/Charger 3 months prior with a WFCO Lithium Battery Converter/Charger. After being alerted by an alarm on our battery monitor, we found the problem and resolved the issue. Join us as we review the diagnosis & solution.

[@EddieAtLarge]

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[@dustytravels9458]

Hey Buddy ! You never told me that you had problems with your converter upgrade. Glad to see this and I will try the same trouble shooting before calling WFCO .

[@jonminer9891]

Hi, Homey. glad you got a working replacement. Good luck with it. Let us. know how it goes. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy! Peace! Love! Charity!

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Jon Miner Thanks Jon! All has been working well with the new converter now for the past several weeks since replacement. Let's hope we have better luck with this one... As always, thanks for watching and commenting! Please also stay safe, happy & healthy!

[@laughingram7287]

How did I miss this one…. I’m in the process of trying to do the conversion over to lithium. We have a short camping trip coming up in February before a hopefully long one in May and I would like to have this done before the short trip in order to make sure everything is good. Thanks for sharing! Ram

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Laughing Ram Hey Ram! It's pretty easy to do and well worth it! I just finished putting 400 Watts of solar on our roof. Leaving Texas to head west on Monday. Safe travels!

[@bobcole3852]

Thanks for sharing both of these videos. I am getting ready (fixing to) do the same conversion and trying to decide between WFCO unit or Progressive Dynamics. Customer service is important but I have never seen any negatives on PD, and have read that WFCO is mediocre at best. You helped me determine which way to go so...thanks!

[@EddieAtLarge]

@bob cole Glad the information was useful! I can definitely understand your concern with the quality. I will say that since replacement we have not had any issues with the new converter. On the other hand, I believe PD has the capability to adjust the parameters? Whereas the WFCO lithium converter does not have that option. In other news, I just upgraded our battery bank to 3 lithium Battleborns with custom wiring and will be putting out a video on that in the next week or 2. Stay tuned for that and good luck with your installation!

[@btownes5632]

Thanks for the update!!

[@CheSmi9966]

I’m getting ready to install that new lithium charge controller in my airstream 19 foot but I have two batteries that I put it in but I just want to know if you have had any more problems and everything is working good with that charge controller

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Cheryl Smith Hi Cheryl, no further issues with the lithium converter/charger. Been working great. Congrats on your upgrade!

[@bobmakow55]

Frustrating I am sure, but all turned out well, hope the warranty dept didn't argue when they received the old one regarding it being defective. I went to their website and they have a board with the charger with a switch between Lead Acid and Lithium. That interests me because if I decide to trade at some point, I could put the LA's back in and just change the switch. Was that an option when you were looking for replacements.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Hey Bob, all worked out well. No hassle at all with WFCO. And the new converter has also been working well. I had not looked at the switch option. It is easy enough to swap out the converter, so, if we ever sell or trade in, I will just change out the converter and batteries at that time.

[@ssyoumans]

Great two videos on the changeout to a charger for lithium batteries. If all other dc loads were off, and in bulk charge mode, what is the max amps you see going to the battery from the 50 amp converter? Sounded like you were around 36-38 amps.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Scott Thank you! We will get around 36-38 amps in bulk mode. I do believe if we had larger wire in the rig, we would have less voltage drop and would be able to charge at a higher amperage. We currently have 6AWG and it runs from the middle of the rig at the panel all the way to the front with a disconnect in the middle.

[@ttttenney]

Enjoying watching several of your videos and they're exactly what I'm looking for. Did you have make any modifications between your vehicles alternator and the converter / power center in order to handle the higher voltage requirement to charge your lithium batteries while driving? Thanks.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@tttenney Great to hear! I have not made any modifications for charging while driving, however, I have noticed that my alternator is not charging the batteries at all when driving. I may add a DC to DC charger down the road.

[@bob847vid]

@@EddieAtLarge I wonder if it wouldn’t be charging because you may be over that 80% state of charge. It would be an interesting test to see if your vehicle would charge the batteries when they are at maybe 50% or lower. All else should be the same.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@bob847vid Not sure if you are referring to the truck batteries or the camper batteries being below 50%? Wouldn't want to take the truck batteries below 50% as it would damage them. We've had the camper batteries below 80% and still not charge coming from the alternator. Someone told me that one of the wires on the camper to truck lead may not be connected. Something about some truck alternators wouldn't be able to handle the draw. (I don't recall exactly though) Great news for us is that we've now installed solar on the camper roof, so, that charges for us when we are moving and it's been great! No need for the DC to DC charger now. Fortunately there aren't many cloudy days out west.

[@bob847vid]

@@EddieAtLarge I was suggesting that the camper lifepo4 batteries may not take voltage from the truck lead acid system because the voltage is higher in the lifepo4 batteries than a fully charged battery in the truck. For power to flow from the truck to the camper the voltage in the truck would have to be higher than the voltage in the camper. Rough numbers, a 100% charged lead acid (truck) battery is at 12.7v but may hang out at 13.9v while running with the alternator. At least that’s how my truck is. For the lifepo4 camper battery 100% charge is 13.5-14.4v and 15% charge is about 12.7v. So until you really drain your battle born batteries, there may just not be enough difference in voltage for current to be sent to the trailer from the truck. You could put an amp meter between truck and trailer to be sure but that may not be worth it. Run down your battle borns and see if your truck will maintain them over 12.7v. Or… if your battle borns and solar are disconnected, will your truck still power your trailer proving your trailer gets 12v from the truck? This is almost an important safety test to make sure your trailer breaks will still power in the event of the 12v system on your trailer being off or damaged. Just some ideas to play with. Don’t mean to TLDR the post. Im thinking of converting to lithium too so it has my interest.

[@busdaddy1547]

Another great, informative video. And thanks for the quick response and redirect. Subbed!

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Bus Daddy Awesome, thank you!

[@americaisanoblecountry2427]

Thank you. Have you completed any solar power on your unit yet?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Mike M Hey Mike! We have installed a solar controller and have 2 ea. 100 watt panels that I put together into a "solar suitcase". I still need to put a video together for that. It was fairly easy to install and works great!

[@OPSteel97]

Homie, looking forward to seeing your solar system and how it works with your lithium. Thanks for your videos!

[@OPSteel97]

Is this a multi or single stage converter?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Chris it is a 2 Stage Intelligent Charger, utilizing Bulk and Absorption modes. Here is a link to the manufacturer product page. wfcoelectronics.com/product/wf-9850l2/

[@OPSteel97]

@@EddieAtLarge thanks! Do you remember what you paid for it? I don’t see the price on the site.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Chris NP. I paid $242 on Amazon, however, I don’t see it on there now. Not sure if WFCO is discontinuing this model? They do have a new version on Amazon for about the same price that is 55 amps charge rate and has a switch to go from lead acid to Lithium. Model #WF-9855LiS.

[@OPSteel97]

@@EddieAtLarge thank you for the intel

[@JohnSmith-ug5ci]

If that converter is a 50 amp why does it only charge at 36 amps?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@John Smith Hey John, not 100% sure, however, I suspect that it may be because the factory wire running from the converter to the batteries is only 6 AWG and it is probably about 20' long (runs to the shutoff and then to the batteries with excess wire coiled up along the way). That being said, the resistance in the wire is limiting the amperage throughput. I may swap it out with 10 AWG down the road to see if that makes a difference, however, we are mostly boondocking now, running off solar and I haven't used the converter in over 3 months...

[@JohnSmith-ug5ci]

@@EddieAtLarge thanks for the reply. I can tell you it is absolutely NOT because of the 6 AWG wire even when it is 20 foot long. That being said you should shorten the run as much as possible to limit the loss. In a 10 foot run you would only lose about 2% with that size wire. Also DO NOT go to 10 AWG. That is a smaller wire and would not carry the load. If you want larger wire for less resistance you need a 4 AWG. My guess is that you converter is not doing what they claim and needs to be returned to the manufacturer if it does not have any settings to manually fix it on your end.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@John Smith My bad. I had 10 AWG on the brain as I just ran that for my solar extension. Yes, you are correct, 4 AWG (or lower) is the way to go. I may contact the manufacturer as you suggest when we get off the road this fall/winter as we won't be on shore power again until September to see if they can assist. Thanks for your suggestions.

[@Sadie04074]

Homie, Great customer support yes, but why don't these manufactures check their units before they ship them? Do they actually have quality control at their subcontractor's facilities in China? I am constantly amazed when I watch some of the channels (like Will P) that actually buy electrical components, test them, and find that the claimed specs are nowhere near what the manufacturer claims. Our time is valuable and we shouldn't be so willing to be satisfied by helpful tech support after the fact. (Rant over ) My WFCO install was more complicated than yours because there was no place to plug in the plug and I had to hard wire it. Makes me wonder if WFCO would void my warranty LOL? I guess I should check mine today to verify that I am getting 14.6 volts. I didn't see anything in my instructions from WFCO ,that I remember, giving me that spec? (Geez, I guess I am still ranting, sorry about that) Once again, thank you for a good, clear and concise video.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Sadie04074 Hmmmm. Not sure what protocols they have in place at WFCO for checking the units. I will say that I agree that there should be quality inspections in place. The unit did seem to work properly for about 3 months and it's hard to say what may have caused the malfunction. I guess I'm a little more patient than most people when these problems arise as I used to work in customer service and I know it's no fun dealing with angry customers. It also helps that I am able to repair most problems on my own and usually don't have to pay for a repairman and/or haul my rig somewhere to get it repaired. That being said, I always try to be nice as pie when working with customer service and tech services for issues like this (It really does go a long way). I didn't include this, but, I actually made a mistake on the warranty form by transposing the 2 numbers in the part number and they in turn sent me the incorrect converter (completely my fault). I explained my mistake and they sent me the correct converter within 2 days, express shipping and never charged me for the return shipping cost of the incorrect unit (even though I offered to pay for it). Again, that is why I am so patient as I know mistakes can easily be made and no one is infallible. Very interesting that your setup is hardwired vs the plug. The plug definitely made my replacement(s) easier. Regarding them voiding your warranty, I would think they would honor it if you explained your situation (nicely, of course) ;) It probably would be a good idea to check your converter to see if it is outputting 14.6. Just be sure to remove all wires from your battery before you do so otherwise, you won't get the correct reading. I thought I could just cut off my battery disconnect, however, found that does not work and will not produce an accurate reading. I don't believe there is anything in the instructions regarding this test. I guess that's where these KZbin videos come in handy, right? That's why I like to share my experiences as I have learned so much from other KZbinrs that I'm happy to give back when I can. As always, thanks for watching and commenting! Glad to have you aboard as one of our subs. Always a pleasure.