Trojan t105 battery charger

[Bartman53]

I have 2 t105s, anyone have a suggestion for a decent battery charger that will actually charge them up fully and wont break the bank? The charger invertor built in is not charging the batteries fully.

[smlranger]

Have you checked the voltage at the batteries during the charging cycle? If the inverter is a multistage charger (most are), there should be a bulk charge of about 14V or so, followed by a float charge of 13 - 13.5V, then it should stop charging and just go into a standby mode (batteries should read around 12.7 - 12.6). When battery voltage drops below 12.6, charger should come out of standby mode and go back to float mode and bring them back up to full charge.

Have you checked the batteries? Disconnect them and load test them if possible or test each cell with a hydrometer. If the batteries are weak or failing, they may not be able to be brought up to a full charge. I recently replaced my house batteries for that very reason. They would never get to a full charge and the inverter/charger would just bang away at them in the float charge mode forever.

[Bartman53]

The old charger only get the pair to something like 12.5, what I have read is that the onboard charger converter, even a modern 3 stage converter,does not charge the trojan batteries to the right voltage. I would like to add solar but cant justify that expense right now. Discuss.....

[Triker56]

Put in a Inverter/Charger with a 3 stage charging.
My 99 Fleetwood came with a Freedom 10 and has been charging a pair of T-105's OK for the last 15 years. I just put the 3rd pair in last week.

Here is a used one

4 Days left on bids

Many other choices

[vsheetz]

Trojan 105's should be abortion mode charged to 14.8 volts, per Trojan. If not, a goodly amount of capacity is not realized. My Morningstar TS-60 solar charge controller can and is configured to do this. Many chargers will not charge to 14.8 volts, or if they will are not configured to do so - one reason being that many inverters will sense over-voltage and shut down. Manufacturers of chargers are aware of this and design or configure to a lower voltage.

If one wants to fully charge Trojan 105's and other similar charge voltage batteries one should carefully select their charger and inverter accordingly.

[CountryFit]

Originally Posted by vsheetz

Trojan 105's should be abortion mode charged to 14.8 volts, per Trojan. If not, a goodly amount of capacity is not realized. My Morningstar TS-60 solar charge controller can and is configured to do this. Many chargers will not charge to 14.8 volts, or if they will are not configured to do so - one reason being that many inverters will sense over-voltage and shut down. Manufacturers of chargers are aware of this and design or configure to a lower voltage.

If one wants to fully charge Trojan 105's and other similar charge voltage batteries one should carefully select their charger and inverter accordingly.

agreed. my inverter freedom 20d only charges up to 14.4v max for an hour then shifts to float at 13.5v. I set my solar controller to 14.8v.
for those without solar charging, the best bet would be every couple months doing an equalizing, which will run at 16.3v for 8 hours.

[camaraderie]

Since you have 225 amphours of capacity...you are best served by a charger that can put out 15-20% of that. I recommend the IOTA 45amp charger with the IQ smart charge system. Amazon.com: IOTA DLS-45/IQ4 12 VOLT 45 AMP 4 STAGE AUTOMATIC SMART BATTERY CHARGER / POWER SUPPLY: Automotive

This is a fine company, excellent price and superior unit.
Bulk with the IQ module will be 14.8V, Absorbtion 14.2 and Float at 13.6 all ideal for the Trojans. There is also a 7 day brief autoEQ mode to "flex" sitting batteries to prevent sulfation.

Note that this model is sold without the IQ module as well...DO NOT buy or use one without the IQ~~ !!

[Bartman53]

How would you install this? Would it replace the existing charge convertor?

[Gary RVRoamer]

You need to check out that inverter/charger and the batteries themselves. It is highly unusual for a charger to be working partially, e.g. working but at a low voltage. A more likely explanation is that one or both batteries is bad and the charger cannot get the voltage up where it belongs. A single dead cell in one battery would do that. "Dead" could mean shorted or high resistance - either one would have that symptom. A corroded connection on any of the main wires could also drag voltage down. So could lack of water in one of the cells.

Borrow any portable 12v charger and try that on the batteries (disconnect the other charger's leads) and see if it does any better. Any charger will do - some just take longer to reach full charger than others. If after 24-48 ours the pair of 6v's hasn't come up to 13.3-13.6v, it is the battery (s) that are the problem.

[camaraderie]

Originally Posted by Bartman53

How would you install this? Would it replace the existing charge convertor?

I would...but if your converter is working then I'd just leave it in place (disconnected) as a potential backup.
More tech info here: IOTA DLS Series AC/DC Power Converters and Battery Chargers

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by Bartman53

How would you install this? Would it replace the existing charge convertor?

I would replace the existing electrically but not physically if possible.