IOTA Engineering - DLS-75 Converter and Charger

Update 9/19/24: The units are delivered with a small modular stub wire, when that stub is plugged into the modular receiver on the unit the output is set to 14.2v and my DLS45 produces 30a in this condition. I am driving it right now with an EU2000 Honda and my SOK 12/206 battery is at 80% soc and it’s bluetooth app reports the internal voltage is 13.7v — which means the battery will take whatever amps it can get and it’s only getting 30a from the 45a charger. I haven’t figured out what is causing that but it may be that without an IQ controller the charger simply limits the amps.When nothing is plugged into the modular connector then the output is set to 13.6v and I don’t recall what amps it produced.I need a 14.0v charger for an EQ4 battery and Iota does not make a controller module that can deliver that. However, the unit alone without a controller can be set to produce 14.2v via use of the stub wire which for my case will be sufficient. This charger is ONLY used with a generator on bad solar days at my offgrid cabin. It is permanently wired but only plugged in to AC when needed. So I don’t care about what happens at the end of a normal bulk-mode cycle since I’m going to shut off the generator long before it reaches that point as part of my normal generator-run procedure.I actually have two of the DLS45 chargers so in the future I will be testing the behavior with them both running in parallel. Iota supports this but it’s expensive and not exactly ideal. If you don’t already have two of these in hand you wouldn’t want to buy them when for about the same money you can get a pair of Victron 30a BlueSmart chargers which are totally configurable and have bluetooth. The victron bluetooth app is nothing short of superb.Another option for the EQ4 requirement of 14.0v is the Sterling chargers which are also very configurable. I have a 60a I may test since I don’t remember exactly how far the voltages can be pushed or pulled but they are quite expensive. In their favor however is that they are power-factor corrected if that’s important to you. I think it’s not really.Update 7/23/24: I have to again state how excellent these chargers are and add that the support from Iota is superb. I have a question about paralleling two 45a chargers when my battery bank grows and got a ticket back in 15 seconds. Yes this is an automated response but I’ll have an answer in a day or two at most. I’ve asked numerous questions of their support staff and never been let down.Update 2/16/22: These are just excellent chargers. I got another 45a and a lifepo4 control module for over new battery’s I’m switching to and which have a recommended 40a charge rate. It all works fine as expected. I have been using Iota equipment since the 1980’s and imo the quality has been consistently excellent.Note During setup of the new lifepo4 battery I used a GoPower inverter to drive the Iota charger and there were significant losses. This is not a normal configuration, you wouldn’t use solar-to-inverter-to-ac charger-to-battery except when commissioning a new battery before installing it. Still the numbers are: victron [email protected] -> gopower -> iota -> 44a going into the 200ah SOK battery. That’s 24a lost in conversion, most I expect in the inverter but these Iota chargers are not power factor corrected.Update 1-21-22: I upgraded to the 55A model and moved the 45A to a different location. Both are still going strong. I use it almost daily with a Honda Eu2000 generator during winter months. I have not tried it with anything other than the Eu2000. At full bore this 55A charger would need 825watts at 110v but adding in its inefficiencies (which are unavoidable) you’d probably need a 1200watt generator minimum to drive it. The 45A charger would need 675 watts plus inefficiencies so a 1kw generator might work. I want a backup generator and since the Honda’s are unavailable now I may go for a HarborFrieght clone but I think the 1kw model will be too small for the 55A charger.Update after 1 wkI’ve used it only twice so far to recharge after longish overcast conditions - exactly what I bought it for.I use it with their IQ-Equalizer module and this is just about perfect for my four gc2 deep cycle batteries. The 55amp charger would also work fine but isn’t needed.After discharging 50-60 amp hours the batteries only accept the full 45amp output for 10-15 minutes. After that the internal voltage rises to the point where the current begins it’s downward curve. Within 40 minutes total the charge rate has dropped to 20amps. A 55amp charger just doesn’t improve this by enough to make it worth the extra cost for me. This charge behavior is completely consistent with performance of my 60amp solar controller.IOW: It works perfectly.The IQ-Equalizer plugs in and drives the controller as follows15.4volts for 2 hours13.6 volts foreverDisconnect module to restart.

I purchased this to replace the converter in our RV. The old converter was the same make and model number. I was initially concerned because the photos showed the product a little different from what I had. This new version (same model number) has the mounting brackets on the sides. The older version of the same item had the mounting brackets on the ends. Though the brackets are on different sides, the shape of the converter had change some so that when I put it in where the old converter was at, all of the wires (positive, negative, and ground) all lined up in the same place. So, I had no problem installing the unit where the old one was at.Some photos also showed a 110V plug with one vertical and one horizontal connection (20 amp). I was worried the 45 amp output model would have that plug since the 110V connection in my RV is not 20 amp. But, the plug on this 45 amp output model was a normal plug with both connectors being vertical.The unit has been in service for a couple of weeks now and so far it is performing great!

WORKS GREAT!!

Saved us right before a camping trip. I'm somewhat handy, but not with electrical items. I was able to replace my broken inverter on my camper in an hour and it is working fine.

We had been having issues with our batteries draining daily. 2 different trailer repair shops couldn’t find the issue so we took a chance and replaced this. Works great! Happy customer and no more batter charger on all of the time !

Works as designed!

I was looking for an RV converter that was also good as a charger, and this one looked like the price/performance winner. It's a modern switching power supply with a small footprint, and on command it can operate at a high enough voltage to rapidly bulk charge your properly sized flooded-cell lead-acid deep cycle battery (the dual-voltage key to accomplish this is included with the converter, taped to the cooling fan).Temperature compensation for charge voltage is not available, and I found the use of a square-key bolt for the battery cables perplexing and irritating. I would have much preferred the more common hex-key bolt.Combined with an inexpensive IOTA IQ4 charge controller, the DLS-55 becomes an automatic 3 stage charger with equalization every 7 days. I liked this as a cheaper, modular solution for my battery maintenance needs. If I am not happy with the IQ4, I can easily replace it with a more expensive charge controller and use it with the DLS-55.

Returned - replaced with RECPRO unit - saved $75 - $160 vs $235