Intellipower-- 45 or 60 amp?

[Foureagles]

Hey y'all:

The Univolt in my '71 27' Overlander has apparently gone T-U, so I need a replacement pretty much right now (living at the moment on juice from a car battery charger). By Summer I intend to be way off-grid (permanent, full-time), with sole juice coming from solar (maybe 400 watts or so, several batteries) and likely a morning generator wakeup. My electricity needs are smallish -- no TeeVee, no AC, no microwave or coffeemaker, etc. Basically, I need to run a big hotrod CAD computer (600watt power supply), satellite modem, the furnace pretty much constantly (gets chilly at 12,000', even on summer nights), one light at a time for a few hours at night, maybe the water pump on the occasional above-freezing summer day, and a little 12v radio for semi-sanity.

Now obviously I haven't thought about this very much yet, because I don't even have a solid handle on the typical daily power flow. If I call on a few wonky brain cells (damn Sixties!), I realize that the converter will only come into play when the generator cranks up, or so I "think". But buying a new converter unfortunately must come before attacking the problem rationally, which leads to my question.

Is there any reason in this circumstance, beyond initial price, to prefer a 60 watt Intellipower converter over a 45 watt? Or are there better options for total off-grid use? Thanks in advance for wisdom I could not hope to otherwise tap.

[guy99]

I'd suggest that you give Randy at bestconverter.com a call. He posts here and is very knowledgeable and helpful. I recently replaced my failed PD Intellipower with a WFCO on Randy's recommendation (he sells both).

[AYRSTRM2]

Some might tell you to go higher, but the 60 Amp (not watts) should do the trick. You AC voltage powered items will require the generator or a inverter when the gen is not on, the converter size won't come into play except to the time it would take to recharge the battery. From what you are saying, you will run the gen at least once a day, so your batteries should be topped off enough that you won't need hours to recharge them. 60 Amp will be fine.

[rickandsandi]

Randy will be your best source of info on this one but I agree 60 should me more than enough. Please let us know what you end up doing. Always interested in what people end up doing after posting for help.

[Pick]

I put the small one in mine. Everything works fine.

[Foureagles]

I appreciate the responses. Ended up with a Parallax 4455 w/ temperature compensation (thanks Randy!). Now I just have to figure out mounting & wiring it and the new external 12v fuse panel in light of the relocated battery bank & future solar. I presume that I'll need to replace the two 40A fuses inside the old Univolt with a single inline fuse upstream of the new panel.