craig333
Riley's Human
I have the LifePo4 dongle on my IOTA and it charges appropriately. I accidentally shut off the solar and it dropped to 40% S.O.C. Took about two hours to charge after plugging in.
It has the dongle port but also a sticker that says it has been disabled.Outnabout,
Are you sure your IOTA DLS does not have the dongle port? It is an RJ11 (telephone cable) jack on the back side. I had to pull the face off of my cabinet to be able to rotate the IOTA unit around to get to the port.
I do not know when the RJ11 jack first appeared on IOTA units but it was prior to 2006.
Interesting. When I initially tried to charge my new LiPo battery I did not see the higher voltage. I should give it another look. I am currently running the battery down for storage but will try the charger again. This what the label on my unit states. Accor o your information it seems capable.Outnabout,
It seems the IQ4 capability is built into your IOTA model.
Most DLS Models are available withthe IQ4 charge controller built into the unit. Models with internal IQ4 are designated by ‘/IQ4’ at the end of the model name.
"Some Things to Note About the DLS Dual Voltage Jack
- If the DLS Charger model includes an internal IQ charging module, then the Dual Voltage Jack is disabled. There is no need to insert either a Dual Voltage Jack module or an external IQ charging accessory into the port because the internal IQ circuitry is already engaged and monitoring the output voltage to the connected load. A DLS with an internal IQ module is identified with the suffix 'IQ4' (ie. "DLS 15A IQ4)
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What is the IOTA DLS Dual Voltage Jack?
The Dual Voltage Jack is a convenient feature on IOTA DLS battery chargers that allows for modification of the output charging voltage of the DLS.insights.acuitybrands.com
Thanks. I will check it out.Outnabout,
I hope it works for you. It should.
Here is a link to some technical information on your Iota DLS-30/IQ4 M
Here is a link to the IOTA Technical documents page for the DLS-30
DLS 30A Converter and Charger - 30 Amp AC\DC Power Converter and Battery Charger for DC load operation and 12V battery charging
The DLS 30A Power Converter/Battery Charger from IOTA converts nominal 108-132 AC voltage to 13.4 DC voltage for both DC load operation and 12V battery charging. As a power supply , the unit'swww.iotaengineering.com
I hope this helps
Regards,
Craig
When you say “DC charger,” do you mean a DC to DC converter/charger like the Victron Orion?When I get around to putting my DC charger (up to 50A output) in the camper, I plan to move the Iota DLS30/IQ4 DC output from the fuse block bus to the input side of the DC charger (which is the input from the truck power). I would also likely replace the ACR relay with the DC charger, they will function the same and the DC Charger's trickle charge be permitted to run properly. The auto-resetting breaker next to the ACR would remain. Even though the DC Charger truck side current is limited to 1 amp, The IOTA can be 30A.
Upsides:
1. The charger can run at high rate, it looks like the same power coming from the truck. When the battery is charged, the current out of the DC charger is roughly equal to the camper load. The battery acts as a ripple filter/voltage regulator. This topology is that of a UPS (uninterruptible power supply).
2. Retains Iota shore power option with a simple 1 wire relocation only inches away.
3. My DC charger will trickle charge the truck battery at 1A.
4. The Iota can still bulk charge the truck battery.
Down-sides:
1. If the LiFe battery is removed and the IOTA is on shore power, the DC charger may not be a suitable low ripple well regulated (i.e. clean) DC power supply. I figure that is not a mode I plan to operate in.
2. Pulling the Load Disconnect switch will not disconnect the IOTA from the truck side or DC charger input (assuming they (Iota and DC Charger) are both connected at the ACR, or in series with the ACR).
Up and or Downside TBD:
1. Moving the IOTA to the truck side of the DC charger means it will not supply meaningful load current until the LiFe battery discharges down to the 13.x volts the IOTA is trying to run at.
2. Not sure what the interaction will look like when the Iota changes voltage/current thinking there is an AGM battery attached when it is a DC charger (interaction). 13.xVDC still yields a fairly well charged up LiFe battery.
3. The charger may be working more than "normal". Since mine is also a solar MPPT charger it is pretty much always online anyway much of the year.
In my case it gets more complicated. I have a front dinette camper and the current pair of AGMs are next to my rear bumper. I plan to install the LiFe battery in the front under the driver side dinette seat. This reduces weight far aft and moves what is left all the way forward. It shortens the total wire length by several feet keeping the Iota, DC charger, LiFe battery and cable out to the truck as short as practical. It does mean I will be moving battery and solar charging wiring from the back to the front though they will be much shorter in the end.
I would like to open up the Iota/IQ4 unit (I have a 2022) and see if I can put an external LiFePO4 module in, but I will be trying to avoid taking the cabinet apart and just fish the wires best I can.
- Mike K7MDL
If you try to operate a 50 amp dc to dc charger from the output of a DLS-30, I would expect the internal fuse in the DLS-30 to open the first time the dc to dc charger tries to draw 50 plus amps in bulk (output current limited) mode. One or two people here have mentioned they were considering trying to power a 30 amp dc to dc charger from the DLS-30, but I never saw a post about whether it actually worked without blowing the DLS-30 fuse. According to the readings in the Victron app, my Victron Orion 12/12-30 draws about 35 amps from the truck when its output is at 30 amps.Yes, Replace DC Charger with DC-DC charger, not to be confused wit the Iota which is a DC charger.