guitarlover519 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 im looking for not the cheapest, but affordable upgrade for my current system. Is it very difficult to replace? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90toydolphin Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 what you are replacing is a converter/charger, not inverter charger. you may be able to find one that does all three, not sure. hardest part may be exposing the unit there so you can easily get to all the wiring and then remove and replace. of course knowing where are the wire is coming from and going to is very important so you don't send 120V through 12V wiring. ) once you have all that straight it will be the matter of reconnecting all the wires to the right connections on the new unit. you'll have the 120V shore power going to it. you'll also have the coach batter connecting to it supplying 12V to the fuse panel for the inside lights etc as well as the converter supplying the same. this connection may also be the same connection that connects the charger part to the coach batter, it will probably be a separate connection. if the exiting unit isn't labeled well as to what goes where you may want to find a manual on it if you aren't sure about which wire goes where. none of it hard, just very important you hook up the wires correctly or you could be testing out your fire extinguisher or buying a second converter/charger, neither recommended. i'm sure you'll get some info from those here who have done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90toydolphin Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 here's a link to some directions on installing a converter/charger. http://home.earthlink.net/~whemme/ just copy and paste into your browser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarlover519 Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Mine seems pretty accessible. but like ive said before im not much of an electrician. I will probably just end up having my neighbor do it in exchange for some beer or something... any suggestions in models? what you are replacing is a converter/charger, not inverter charger. you may be able to find one that does all three, not sure. hardest part may be exposing the unit there so you can easily get to all the wiring and then remove and replace. of course knowing where are the wire is coming from and going to is very important so you don't send 120V through 12V wiring. ) once you have all that straight it will be the matter of reconnecting all the wires to the right connections on the new unit. you'll have the 120V shore power going to it. you'll also have the coach batter connecting to it supplying 12V to the fuse panel for the inside lights etc as well as the converter supplying the same. this connection may also be the same connection that connects the charger part to the coach batter, it will probably be a separate connection. if the exiting unit isn't labeled well as to what goes where you may want to find a manual on it if you aren't sure about which wire goes where. none of it hard, just very important you hook up the wires correctly or you could be testing out your fire extinguisher or buying a second converter/charger, neither recommended. i'm sure you'll get some info from those here who have done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Depending on the converter setup you have now there a couple of choices. 1. Replace the whole thing panel and all. 2. Replace the guts and use the same panel and C/Bs. Depends on what your friend thinks about things. On Ebay a 35-45 amp conversion and full replacement are about the same $$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I upgraded my converter to one of the new three stage types. The upgrade was easy, While you have things torn apart, give all the wiring a little tug to make sure things are tight. I found the 110 wires were falling out of wire nuts and circuit breaker connections were loose. http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3517 John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I was lucky in replacing the converter/charger. My Damon Escaper with rear bath/kitchen had the converter under the sink. All of the wires are right there. All i had to do was cut the feed line from the converter to the power panel and attach the wires to my new Progressive Dynamic 9200. It was just a cut and tighten affair. The converter gets its power from an outlet right under the cabinet. It took a whopping 5 minutes to complete the change. The Progressive Dynamics puts out 45 watts and has three stage charging. Like most modern systems, it goes to sleep when not needed and cycles on and off as power consumption requires. Before installing it in the MH, I had it wired up in my basement to a couple of 12 volt wheel chair batteries running lights, 12 v fans, and a 12 v cooler. I had it running for about 2 weeks and I checked the voltage a couple of times a day (just for giggles) whenever I walked by. The batteries all stayed fully charges and the cooling fan rarely came on. I even hooked up my inverter to try it out, and ran several 120 volt items off of the juryrigged system. The batteries remained charged and happy. My wife thought that I was nuts but i wanted to check everything out before putting it in the MH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Best upgrade you can do some are very simple some are not. Some use the existing panel some are intergrated units meaning you have to take things a part and do some rewiring but the results are more then worth it. Buy your neighbor some good craft beer that way you maybe able to get out of it for less then $200+ the beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85mirage Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Did you upgrade yet? If so what converter did you use. I am replacing my entire old 25amp unit and was thinking of this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/WFCO-WF-8935-RV-POWER-CENTER-CONVERTER-35-amp-W-PANEL-/290693488706?_trksid=m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8072284130250752477#ht_1226wt_1147 Do you know if i need bigger wire as some suggest? Does difference in amps mean diff in charging battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Before bidding on that one, you'd better check with the seller if it's a 35 or 45 amp unit you'll get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Good looking unit, good price. Should be just about bolt in compatible. no need for bigger wire. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85mirage Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks guys. Derek does the 45amp one charge the house battery quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Yes more amps will charge it faster but it won't make a whole lot of difference if it's not fully discharged. What it will give you is more current to run stuff lights,TV, arc welder (just kidding on the arc welder) usually the difference between the 35 amp and a 45 is not much just a few dollars so why not buy the 45. But don't pass up a good price for 10 amps that you probably won't miss it's light years ahead of your stock one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85mirage Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks Mainea for info wasn't quite sure seems only diff in wf 8700 Vs 8900 series is amount of dc and ac circuits. Is there advantage to fan in the front? http://www.ebay.com/itm/WFCO-WF-8735P-BLACK-35-Amp-RV-Trailer-Power-Converter-Charger-Camper-Trailer-RV-/370607039976?pt=Motors_RV_Trailer_Camper_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5649e6a5e8&vxp=mtr#ht_861wt_1147 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 It will outperform your existing unit. The main two items it gives you are 1) Higher charge rate when you plug in shore power (Your existing unit does about 3-6 amps unregulated) 2) lowered "Trickle" rate You can stay plugged into shore power for a long time without cooking the battery. You original will cook the battery if left plugged in for extended time (weeks to months) As Derek says, you really don't need the high current capacity unless your running an arc welder. :-) JOhn Mc 88 DOlphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks Mainea for info wasn't quite sure seems only diff in wf 8700 Vs 8900 series is amount of dc and ac circuits. Is there advantage to fan in the front? http://www.ebay.com/...r#ht_861wt_1147 All of the modern converter/chargers have a fan the better ones have a variable speed fan. Instead of a 10# transformer they have transistors that take the load and they get quite warm and need a fan. Just replacing the unit with a newer one will increase your fuel mileage by .003% just from the weight difference alone! The old stuff actually had two sides one to charge the battery (poorly) and the other to power the lights, water pump,etc. The charger side was pretty lame for many reasons as waiter has said they have a low charge rate and are very poorly regulated your new one will be capable of charging your battery at full rated current and can be left on as long as you like with out fear for toasting your battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I bet that my MH lost about 25 lbs by just changing the converter. The old one was HEAVY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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