Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » PD or Iota?
| PD or Iota? [message #85861] |
Mon, 24 May 2010 16:25  |
Chr$
Messages: 2690
Registered: January 2004
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Folks,
I'm looking at two power converters. As I understand it, there are two camps here, and I've spoken to a few of you in the past, but CRS is taking hold and I cannae remember who said what about which unit!!!
The top two choices here seem to be:
- Progressive dynamics PD92XX (9245, etc.)
- IOTA DLS-XX (DLS-45, etc.)
Both appear to be priced similarly, and have similar features.
I'm looking at 45A as a good size for two 6 volt golf car batteries and a Yadina combiner.
I s'pose I'm running a poll. 
Any horror stories about either of these units?
BTW, My generator problem appears to be a dead Circuit breaker. the sucker cracked on me. New one on order from WIlley's electronics (Thanks John Blankenship.)
-Chr$: Perpetual SmartAss
Scottsdale, AZ
77 Ex-Kingsley 455 SOLD!
2010 Nomad 24 Ft TT 390W PV W/MPPT, EV4010 and custom cargo door.
Photosite: Chrisc GMC:"It has Begun" TT: "The Other Woman"
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #85868 is a reply to message #85861] |
Mon, 24 May 2010 17:17  |
jknezek
Messages: 1057
Registered: December 2007
Karma: 5
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Senior Member |
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Can't speak about the IOTA but I have a PD9260 that was an easy install and runs great. Not had a problem since I installed it and does a nice job with keeping the batteries from gassing even when left plugged in over the winter.
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
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| Re: [GMCnet] PD or Iota? [message #85872 is a reply to message #85861] |
Mon, 24 May 2010 17:33 |
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ljdavick
Messages: 3548
Registered: March 2007
Location: Fremont, CA
Karma: -3
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Senior Member |
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I bought the progressive dynamics 45 (?) from the eBay seller in
Oregon that others had good success with.
It seems to work well for me, but then I have only one battery in back.
Ljdavick at comcast.net
On May 24, 2010, at 2:25 PM, Chris Choffat <cchoffataz@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> Folks,
>
> I'm looking at two power converters. As I understand it, there are
> two camps here, and I've spoken to a few of you in the past, but CRS
> is taking hold and I cannae remember who said what about which unit!!!
>
> The top two choices here seem to be:
>
> - Progressive dynamics PD92XX (9245, etc.)
> - IOTA DLS-XX (DLS-45, etc.)
>
> Both appear to be priced similarly, and have similar features.
>
> I'm looking at 45A as a good size for two 6 volt golf car batteries
> and a Yadina combiner.
>
> I s'pose I'm running a poll. :roll:
>
> Any horror stories about either of these units?
>
> BTW, My generator problem appears to be a dead Circuit breaker. the
> sucker cracked on me. New one on order from WIlley's electronics
> (Thanks John Blankenship.)
>
> --
> -Chr$: Perpetual SmartAss
> 77 Ex-Kingsley 455, Power Drive, 3:21 FD U S S Kobiashi Maru: The
> Engineer's Motorhome
> Scottsdale, AZ
>
> Photosite: Chrisc "It has Begun"
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
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Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, Ca
Howell EFI + EBL + Electronic Dizzy
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| Re: [GMCnet] PD or Iota? [message #85911 is a reply to message #85871] |
Mon, 24 May 2010 19:25 |
Chr$
Messages: 2690
Registered: January 2004
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Rob, it was in my Onan Post:
http://gmc.mybirdfeeder.net/GMCforum/index.php?t=msg&goto=85135&rid=73#msg_85135
They have a $10 minimum. I also ordered the silicone button cover and a relay for my headlamps.
| Robert Mueller wrote on Mon, 24 May 2010 15:30 |
Chris,
I bought a PD9260 because the dimensions allowed me to install it on top of
the wheel well under a shelf in the bathroom.
I've only had it installed for a year.
It came from a seller on eBay.
I missed the message from John Blankenship could you repeat the details on
the company that sold you the Onan C/B.
Regards,
Rob Mueller
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion-The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion-Double Trouble TZE365V100426
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-Chr$: Perpetual SmartAss
Scottsdale, AZ
77 Ex-Kingsley 455 SOLD!
2010 Nomad 24 Ft TT 390W PV W/MPPT, EV4010 and custom cargo door.
Photosite: Chrisc GMC:"It has Begun" TT: "The Other Woman"
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #85912 is a reply to message #85861] |
Mon, 24 May 2010 19:27 |
Chr$
Messages: 2690
Registered: January 2004
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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60 amps seem to be what is more commonly used, so it seems...
-Chr$: Perpetual SmartAss
Scottsdale, AZ
77 Ex-Kingsley 455 SOLD!
2010 Nomad 24 Ft TT 390W PV W/MPPT, EV4010 and custom cargo door.
Photosite: Chrisc GMC:"It has Begun" TT: "The Other Woman"
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #85921 is a reply to message #85861] |
Mon, 24 May 2010 19:59 |
GeorgeRud
Messages: 1380
Registered: February 2007
Location: Chicago, IL
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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I have installed the PD60 last year. It fit in the place of the original buzzbox nicely, installed easily, and has worked flawlessly.
George Rudawsky
Chicago, IL
75 Palm Beach
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #85931 is a reply to message #85861] |
Mon, 24 May 2010 20:15 |
jknezek
Messages: 1057
Registered: December 2007
Karma: 5
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Senior Member |
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I agree with Dan. I run the 9260 because we are an all electric coach. We use the Onan a lot while driving or sightseeing because we usually have the dog in the coach. We also plug in everywhere out of necessity. The 9260 gives a good quick charge once we're back on the road (if we run the batteries down without the Onan and using the combiner of course), is a little heavier duty, and meets our needs. But it's probably overkill for most coaches.
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #86005 is a reply to message #85985] |
Tue, 25 May 2010 10:32 |
Chr$
Messages: 2690
Registered: January 2004
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Yeah, I'm leaning towards the PD 9260.
-Chr$: Perpetual SmartAss
Scottsdale, AZ
77 Ex-Kingsley 455 SOLD!
2010 Nomad 24 Ft TT 390W PV W/MPPT, EV4010 and custom cargo door.
Photosite: Chrisc GMC:"It has Begun" TT: "The Other Woman"
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #86008 is a reply to message #86005] |
Tue, 25 May 2010 11:11 |
Carl S.
Messages: 4186
Registered: January 2009
Location: Tucson, AZ.
Karma: 13
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Senior Member |
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Chris,
One of the first things I did to my coach after buying it from Bruce Tara, was to replace the charger/converter. It had the old 'buzz box' in it and had boiled the batteries dry. I bought a PD45 from Jim Bounds at his suggestion. It truly is a plug-and-play unit. My set-up uses two golf cart batteries and a combiner and it works just fine on an electric refrigerator equipped coach.
At the GMCMI rally in Pueblo, I sat in on a seminar about this subject and the consensus was to use a 60 amp charger. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have gone with the PD6o, although as I said, the 45 amp works fine and I have never had a problem with it.
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles, Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #86050 is a reply to message #85861] |
Tue, 25 May 2010 17:07 |
Luvn737s
Messages: 1106
Registered: June 2007
Karma: 2
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Senior Member |
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Chris-
I'm running a PD unit, but I am having some DC electrics problems that I thought were solved with the PD, but apparently are still there. Also, my PD unit's cooling fan never runs. Is this typical?
Wanna help ring out my DC circuits sometime?
Randy
1973 26' Painted Desert
Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ
[Updated on: Tue, 25 May 2010 17:08] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #86060 is a reply to message #85861] |
Tue, 25 May 2010 18:10 |
JohnL455
Messages: 4447
Registered: October 2006
Location: Woodstock, IL
Karma: 12
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Senior Member |
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I've got the Iota DLS-45. Saves a lot of space and seems pretty "smart" Very slight fan noise when fan runs but not bad.
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #86072 is a reply to message #86061] |
Tue, 25 May 2010 19:02 |
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WD0AFQ
Messages: 7111
Registered: November 2004
Location: Dexter, Mo.
Karma: 207
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Senior Member |
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The PD units rarely heat up enough for the fan to come on. When they do, you will not hear them. Fan is small. Might stay on 30 seconds.
Chris, pay attention to what Matt said about checking the wire size to the battery bank. All of my batteries are up front. The pd is across from the bath. The wire running to the batteries has to be 20 feet. Mine is not large enough to carry anywhere near 45 amps. Some po put the wire in. I have number 6 welding cable to replace it, one of these days. In the meantime, I have 2 battery lugs in the passenger area that go directly to the battery banks. I have a Black and Decker 3 stage charger that I plug in to GMC house ac and charge batteries when I am in a hurry, which is pretty rare with the solar.
The pd is a 3 or 4 stage, which is what you want. Has built in charge wizard. For 10 bux you can buy a plug in contoller so you can manually switch stage or to just watch and see which stage it is in. Pretty hard to beat these things, for the money. If everything is properly installed you wont be boiling your batteries with this setup, until one starts going bad.
Dan
3 In Stainless Exhaust Headers
One Ton All Discs/Reaction Arm
355 FD/Quad Bag/Alum Radiator Manny Tran/New eng.
Holley EFI/10 Tire Air Monitoring System
Solarized Coach/Upgraded Windows
Satelite TV/On Demand Hot Water/3Way Refer
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #86102 is a reply to message #86050] |
Tue, 25 May 2010 23:18 |
Chr$
Messages: 2690
Registered: January 2004
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Sure Randy. PM me with the problems, and we can get together and figure it out.
| Luvn737s wrote on Tue, 25 May 2010 15:07 |
Chris-
I'm running a PD unit, but I am having some DC electrics problems that I thought were solved with the PD, but apparently are still there. Also, my PD unit's cooling fan never runs. Is this typical?
Wanna help ring out my DC circuits sometime?
|
-Chr$: Perpetual SmartAss
Scottsdale, AZ
77 Ex-Kingsley 455 SOLD!
2010 Nomad 24 Ft TT 390W PV W/MPPT, EV4010 and custom cargo door.
Photosite: Chrisc GMC:"It has Begun" TT: "The Other Woman"
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #86103 is a reply to message #86072] |
Tue, 25 May 2010 23:41 |
Chr$
Messages: 2690
Registered: January 2004
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Dan, thanks for the info. I plan to install two 6V golf car batteries in the rear by the genny. Eventually when I add some solar, I'll put two more up front, but that is way down the road for us. The current cabling is sufficient. I plan to oversize the connections to reduce any voltage loss. 12V is not much. I really want to go 24V, but I don't want to have all oddball stuff and voltage dividers all over the coach for the 12V stuff... I am going to get the plug in controller. Things are really starting to come together on this rig of mine. Plan to take a trek to Tucson in a few weeks, and then a road trip to Topeka Graphics. I need to get with them and coordinate that. your's and other's advice on that has really helped.
| WD0AFQ wrote on Tue, 25 May 2010 17:02 |
The PD units rarely heat up enough for the fan to come on. When they do, you will not hear them. Fan is small. Might stay on 30 seconds.
Chris, pay attention to what Matt said about checking the wire size to the battery bank. All of my batteries are up front. The pd is across from the bath. The wire running to the batteries has to be 20 feet. Mine is not large enough to carry anywhere near 45 amps. Some po put the wire in. I have number 6 welding cable to replace it, one of these days. In the meantime, I have 2 battery lugs in the passenger area that go directly to the battery banks. I have a Black and Decker 3 stage charger that I plug in to GMC house ac and charge batteries when I am in a hurry, which is pretty rare with the solar.
The pd is a 3 or 4 stage, which is what you want. Has built in charge wizard. For 10 bux you can buy a plug in contoller so you can manually switch stage or to just watch and see which stage it is in. Pretty hard to beat these things, for the money. If everything is properly installed you wont be boiling your batteries with this setup, until one starts going bad.
Dan
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-Chr$: Perpetual SmartAss
Scottsdale, AZ
77 Ex-Kingsley 455 SOLD!
2010 Nomad 24 Ft TT 390W PV W/MPPT, EV4010 and custom cargo door.
Photosite: Chrisc GMC:"It has Begun" TT: "The Other Woman"
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| Re: PD or Iota? [message #86113 is a reply to message #85861] |
Wed, 26 May 2010 03:01 |
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mike miller
Messages: 3576
Registered: February 2004
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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| Chr$ wrote on Mon, 24 May 2010 14:25 |
Folks,
I'm looking at two power converters. ...
The top two choices here seem to be:
- Progressive dynamics PD92XX (9245, etc.)
- IOTA DLS-XX (DLS-45, etc.)
Both appear to be priced similarly, and have similar features. ...
|
Mostly as a recap of other posts:
Progressive Dynamics vs. IOTA: they are so close that the main deciding factor will be price.
60 vs 45 amps: There is a price difference and most of us only NEED 45 amps. (GM did know what they where doing when they sized the buzz box converter.) For boondockers, a 60 amp unit should "in theory" charge the batteries quicker... maybe minimizing generator run times and saving fuel. If you are plugged in often, this isn't an issue, in fact a slower charge is better for your batteries.
The 45 amp units are smaller and might fit better in some locations on coaches. This is an issue on rigs with minimum storage, like my Birchaven.
I have one 60amp and one 45amp, both PD's. No issues with either unit. I "think" I found the fan running on one of my PD's... once.
Mike Miller -- Hillsboro, OR -- on the Black list
(#2)`78 23' Birchaven Rear Bath -- (#3)`77 23' Birchaven Side Bath
More Sidekicks than GMC's and a late model Malibu called 'Boo'
http://m000035.blogspot.com
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