Need help on Inverter/Charger

[Retiredblade]

I have a Islander and in the battery compartment, above the batteries resides the 12v power distribution center (fuses) and to the right of it a Freedom 458 combi inverter/charger, Factory installed. Below it, in the battery compartment, the previous owner, (it looks like) installed a WFCO Ultra lll deckmount converter WF-9800 series. The manual I download from their website shows how to wire it. From the neg terminal on the converter is wired to neg term. on house battery, pos from the converter is wired to the distribution panel (shows a WFCO distribution panel WF-8930/50NP, National put in a RV Custom Products power distribution ctr) then to pos term of house battery. But the way someone wired this thing is: neg is proper, but pos from the converter goes right to the pos term of house battery by passing the distribution panel.
First of all, anyone have something like this? second, why in the world do I need this thing when I have the Freedom inverter/charger? Any ideas? Today I am going to disconnect the WFCO Converter and see what happens.

[Rook]

One thing that occurs to me is .....the 12v battery charge function of your Freedom is kaput or works improperly, so the former owner installed just the Converter to regain the 12v battery charge functions.....but retained the Freedom to get the 117vac benefits of the Inverter function. If the Inverter is fully functional, then you definitely would not need both. Rook

[RJay]

I can't explain why you would need the converter if you have an inverter/charger. The charger part of the inverter would charge the batteries and the batteries would supply DC power to the load center and the inverter to also feed specific AC loads. What does the Freedom 458 owner's manual say about how it's used and if it has to be used in conjunction with a converter. Before you disconnect the converter I suggest you unplug or simply turn it off and operate that way for a while an see if it has any effect, then you can remove it if you find it isn't needed. The prior owner may have disabled the charger feature on the Freedom since the converter would charge the batteries so I would also check the Freedom's charger settings to be sure it is set to properly charge the size and type battery bank you have. Keep us posted.

[radams]

The previous owner may have added it as a backup unit in case the the inverter/converter failed. Redundancy. Or, maybe the added charger has a greater capacity? I carry a separate battery charger JIC. Part of my belts and suspenders program.

[Retiredblade]

Well, went out to the driveway and the M.H. and took the manual to that Wfco power converter. I followed the instructions and when running it puts out 13.6 Volts. So I rewired it to a on-off switch. Turned it off. Then turned on the factory Inverter/Charger, it works fine, when I first went into the M.H. to check the panel on the wall, it read batteries were half charged, later, full charge. So no problems there. So I will keep the WFCO off line unless I feel I need it. One thing I'm going to do is get a xantrax echo charger, because those solar panel just isn't keeping the chassis batteries up to snuff, not enough sun I guess. I disconnected the chassis batteries to avoid anything draining them down.