Battery Charger cooling fan

System

Good Day...

I have a DLS45 charger with IQ4 connected to two AGM batteries
for house power in my RV. Also have Honda 1000 watt charger for
when we are drycamping. The cooling fan on the charger runs constantly.
Is there a rheostat, or other adjustment for that fan?? I'm afraid its gonna
wear itself out. Its been running for a year and a half now. I keep it hooked
to the batteries all the time. even when the RV is not being used.
Fred

mike95490

Re: Battery Charger cooling fan

Does the fan run when the charger is connected to the batteries, without AC power to charge ?

If you are NOT actually charging, and the charger does not need cooling, the fan appears redundant. After a charge cycle, just pull the charger off the battery, with no AC, and no DC the fan should stop. Are there PV'c connected to the charger? (I've no idea what a DLS45 & IQ4 is)

crewzer

Re: Battery Charger cooling fan

The Iota Engineering DLS 45 is a 120 VAC to 12 VDC (nominal) power converter. Plugging in the optional IQ4 Smart Charger turns the DLS 45 into a sort-of smart multi-stage 12 V battery charger. See: http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls45.htm

The converter’s manual says this about the fan:

4) Over-Temperature Protection. In addition, it is designed with a unique “proportional” fan control circuit. Fan speed is directly proportional to the converter’s internal ambient temperature. This enables the fan to turn on andoff very slowly, minimizing unwanted fan-starting noise.

A continuously running fan doesn’t sound good to me… it may be time to contact Iota about a diagnosis and repair.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

System2

Re: Battery Charger cooling fan

Thanks for the replies.
The fan does not run unless 110ac is applied. I have it more or less
permanently installed in my motorhome to use as a 12 volt power source and
also to charge the batteries. I did not use the Motor Home last winter,
and the charger was attatched and plugged in. The fan ran all the time
and the batteries were fully charged.
I have e-mailed Iota engineering twice about this problem and get
no reply from them. Hoping that I can get some info here to adjust
the fan switch. We are presently in Florida for the winter and the
DLS45 is performing well. Its just the constantly running fan that bothers
me.
Thanks again for the replies Fred

crewzer

Re: Battery Charger cooling fan

Fred,

Understand that the fan only runs when 110 VAC is applied. The DLS is inoperative when not connected to 110. When connected to 110 VAC and to the batteries, the charger will always be supplying current to the batteries, even when they’re full. This is normal operation for the float stage. The point here is that the charger will always be giving off some waste heat when connected to 110 VAC and to batteries and/or other loads.

Sorry to hear that Iota hasn’t responded to your messages. Perhaps you might try customer service instead of engineering:

Louis LoPorto
Sales / Customer Service
lloporto@iotaengineering.com

Mariette Francis
Inside Sales / Customer Service
mfrancis@iotaengineering.com

Here are are issues to consider; Iota may ask you similar questions:

1) Does the charger’s installation allow for adequate air circulation?
2) Are the intakes and/or exhaust grille(s) blocked?
3) Besides the batteries, are there any other constant loads on the charger? For example, is the fridge running in 12 VDC mode? Constant loads will cause the charger to heat up.
4) Does the fan speed ever change, or does it always seem to be running at full/constant speed?




Best of luck!
Jim / crewzer

Brock

Re: Battery Charger cooling fan

I would agree, the fans on my iota's don't run unless they get warm or I should say hot. In your case could something else be warming the charger thus causing the fan to remain on? Mine also slowly ramp up speed depending on how hot they are.