Replacing Magnatek converter/charger

Has anyone attempted to replace the Magnatek 6300 series converter/charger with a 9100 Inteli-Power unit and Charge Wizard from Progressive Dynamic?

I own a 1998 Bigfoot 2500 10.6 and I've been looking at options to improve the battery charging capacity. I mostly boondock (fishing, hunting)and I have a Honda EU2000 which I use on most days for 2-3 hours for the microwave/coffee pot and to recharge the batteries.

I have considered and rejected solar power as I set up the camper under tree cover and, in any event, the panels may not endure the off-road ride and branch obstacles on the way to my destination. I have also considered installing a Truecharge 40+, but from reading previous posts, I'm concerned that the voltage at times might be too high for some of the electronic boards in the camper.

From all I've read so far on this Forum and elsewhere, it would seem that the most cost-effective solution would be to buy a cheap portable 3-stage battery charger like the Schumaker 12A Ship'n'Shore for charging batteries off the camper (i.e. off season and trolling motor batteries) while installing a PD Inteli-Power 9155A with Charge Wizard in the camper.

I'm not an electrical "wizard", so before jumping in, I would like to hear from those who may have experience with this or otherwise have ideas on how difficult the job might be.

Also, where can one get a PD 9155A converter/charger at good prices?

'02' Ford F-350, 6-spd, SRW, 4x4, V-10, Ext. cab, Rancho 9000s, air bags
'98' Bigfoot 2500 10.6, torklift, Honda EU2000

[dontay]

You don't have to only use a portable charger "off camper." I hook mine to the battery posts and plug the charger into the Honda and charge the camper battery while doing other things around camp. I set the charger on top of my dually wheels in the fender well so even if it rains it is protected. If it is raining I run an extention cord under the rig and put the generator under the awning on the other side. I have been doing this for the past 3 years.
Replacing the charger/converter seems like an expensive way to go if you already have a 110 volt charger you can take with you

[Bobster]

HI,

Your not really giving enough info, Magnatek 6300 series. It depends what letter is after 6300. For example: If you have a Magnatek 6300 Q, it has a 12 amp charger built in it with a 3 amp tickle charge (why buy a 12 amp charger). Plus about 35 amps for the 12 volts systems in reserve. If your not sure what you got, give them a call and ask for the tech. folks. They were very helpful without any sale pitch.

http://www.magnetekpower.com/

1993 Ford F250 351 engine 4X4 Standard Transmission 5 speed
2000 Elkhorn Slide-in 9T(10ft)
SRW BF Goodrich 285x75R 16D
Fleetwood
With options 3200lbs
not including one red dog

[moisheh]

Bobster: I think you gave the wrong URL. The company is Magnatek, not Magnetek. I once spent a whole day searching with the wrong spelling. I did not find their website. I think the company sold their RV division and it has another name.

[Bobster]

Yep, Your right, I posted the wrong site. I remember it took me a half a day find it last time. I'll try to post the correct site tomorrow.

1993 Ford F250 351 engine 4X4 Standard Transmission 5 speed
2000 Elkhorn Slide-in 9T(10ft)
SRW BF Goodrich 285x75R 16D
Fleetwood
With options 3200lbs
not including one red dog

Thanks for the feedback.

Dontay

Your solution is cheap and simple. However, I would worry about charging the batteries that way at the same time as power is being used through the converter. Alternatively, using the genset for the battery charger only seems inefficient. Finally, with a 12 amp charger, it would take quite some time to bring back my 230AH batteries from 50% discharge. This is something I can do at home. While camping, I prefer to use the time to go fishing rather than watch the genset. I guess its a matter of choice.

Bobster

My Magnetek converter is Model 6325A which provides 6 amp charging to the battery and 3 amp trickle - even less efficient than a small portable 3-stage charger. I took your suggestion and called BR Wholsale which handles consumer enquiries for Magnetek converters since the company was acquired by Parallax. They were very helpful. First they're going to fax me a diagram of the 6325 wiring. Second, I discussed my charging problems with the tech represenattive and he agreed that substituting a Progressive Dynamics Inteli-Power 9140A with the PD Charge Wizard is the most cost effective solution to resolving my problems. Apparently what I would have to do is to combine the positive red battery wire with the blue (former converter) positive since the PD 9140 doesen't have or need a relay switch. The rep says its quite doable and relatively easy but I still have to figure it out as I'm somewhat electrically "challenged". Another solution would be to substitute the Magnetek 6325Q which would increase charging to 12 amps. That's more costly than the PD 9140 and not as efficient - i.e. the PD is a smarter 3-stage charger.

See the following link to Ample Power for a refreshing discussion on this issue. I've also included the URL adress for BR Wholesale Customer support.

Still would like to hear from folks who might have tried this out or have ideas on doing it.

BR Wholsale

Ample Power

'02' Ford F-350, 6-spd, SRW, 4x4, V-10, Ext. cab, Rancho 9000s, air bags
'98' Bigfoot 2500 10.6, torklift, Honda EU2000

[Mike Tassinari]

Hello Everyone...

Hello JTS..

Let me give you a few facts about the 6300 Series Magnatek Converter,and the newer 7300 Electronic Series Converter...

6300 series:

On the 45 Amp Output Converter,Magnatek installed a "Filter" for 10 of those Amps...This Filtered Power was for Equiptment that had 12 volt Motors and such so that noise would not interfear with your Radio...ALSO what ever part of that Filtered 10 Amps was not being used by your Equiptment --It would go to charging your R/V battery..In a worse case senerio,if you were drawing the full 10 amps for various Equiptment,and You were plugged into "Shore Power"you would actually be Discharging your R/V battery....because the "charging circuit"of that 6300 series was Maxed out and nothing left for the Battery Charging Circuit...

So when the 7300 ELECTRONIC Series Converter started appearing in the late Ninetys....

The Big differance in the Electronic 7300 Series 45 Amp Converter,is Magnatek put in a huge Filter to do the WHOLE 45 amps...SO that 10 Amp Filter Limitation is now elimated...

The easiest way for you would be to "Up Grade" your 6300 series Converter to a 7300 Electronic Converter....And the best part is if you were to take a very close look at your Magnatek Converter ,you only have to "Change Out" the lower part of your unit...Where you see all the fuses and wires that does not change at all....And the 7300 fits directly into the 6300 series cabinet.No modifications needed at all...If you have a Camping World Catalog,they advertize the 7300series Converter...

P/S--For you Lance owners that had a Gen/Set problem in the Late Ninetys,where the generator would run fine then "Take off" like the governor was disconnected...And if I remember correctly it was the Propane Generac NP3400 Series Generator--Now upgraded to the NP3600 Series, it was that Filter in the Electronic Converter that was causing that particular problem in some of the NP3400 units, so what the Dealers did was to remove the "Electronic 7300 Series" Converter and put in the 6300 series Converter

Mike Tassinari

[Ayeedo2]

Hi Mike,
For a moment I thought I had an answer to my dilemma. I was thinking about getting the 7300 converter to replace the 6345Q. According the manual only 12 Amps of the 6345Q are available for battery charging. When I was searching for the 7300 model converter I just could not find any information on how many Amps can be dedicated for the battery charging. Although I have already installed the Truecharger 40+ that BTW I am very happy with, I sure would like to find out what exactly the 7300 converter can do as far as battery charging is concerned.
Larry
2001 Chev K3500 CC, 8.1L, Ally T
1998 Bigfoot 2500 10.6, EU2000, 1750W Inverter, 4 6V Interstate Total 440AH

[Bobster]

Hi Ayeedo2,

The name of the folks you want to talk to is BR wholesale (http:\\www.brwholesale.com). They handle all the tech stuff for Magnatek and will answer your questions. I tried their site today and it was down. JTS has the link above or use your seach engine for BR wholesale.

1993 Ford F250 351 engine 4X4 Standard Transmission 5 speed
2000 Elkhorn Slide-in 9T(10ft)
SRW BF Goodrich 285x75R 16D
Fleetwood
With options 3200lbs
not including one red dog

[Mike Tassinari]

Evening Everyone...

Evening Eyeedo2...

If I remember Correctly,,,the Magnatek Electronic 7300 Series will charge your battery with what ever portion of the Rated Amps of that Converter that is not being used by your Rig....

Now let Me through out another option you might want to consider,as I have just completed installing it in My 02 Ford Power/stroke...

And I see you also Own a Ford powerstroke......

You may or may not know that the Ford Power/stroke has an Option for a "Second" Altinator,that is located on the Passenger lower side of the Engine....

Ford also recomends that if you DO get the Second Alternator,you cannot "split"the Altinators up,,,I.E----One for the truck and dedicate the second one for charging the R/V battery ...From my research,once your truck batteries are charged-- the regulator will start taporing off the voltage so you do not over/charge and "Boil off" the battery electrolite....SO no matter what state your R/V battery is in,it will just recieve a "trickle charge" as the Alternator or Alternators sence that your Truck batteries are "Fully Charged"...

I purposely got MY Powerstroke with the Single 130 Amp Alternator,and here is what I did,,,,,,,

I located the entire Second Alternator Assembly from a Salvage Yard,and installed it last night in my truck.I wired this alternator completely independant of the Ford charging system,so it sences and charges my twin 8D battery bank ((550 total Amp Hours)))....I will be monitoring my battery bank closely and post results later on in here...

Now in order to do as I have done --You will absolutely have to install a battery somewhere in your truck as I'm told your will burn up the Diodes in the Alternator in very short order....I put one 8D battery on each side of my Truck just forward of rear Dually tires,between the Truck frame and outer-sheetmetal of the truck bed.....

Now as to the costs of these 2 projects,its not cheep at all ,but on the other hand I can comfortable go 10 to 14 days with out ever worrying about getting the "Dead battery"syndrome.....

The battery bank project included the 2 batteries--2 battery boxes--custom 03 Gauge battery cables from Wrangler power products-in line fuse and ME fabricating the battery box holders out of aluminum stock......I think it went just over a $1000.00 bucks

The second Alternator project ----Salvage yard charged me $175.00 pluss shipping so it came to just over 200 bucks...Custom cables and a Voltage gauge inside my truck to monitor the Voltage output of that Indepandant Alternator........$250 or so should cover the entive job...

I really feel the number one issue in truck camper is that small battery box they allow us to have...these rigs are getting bigger and bigger and consume so much power that it is almost impossable to do any long term "dry camping"..

Mike Tassinari

P/S---feel free to "E" mail me if you have any questions or want to set up a time to talk over the phone---Mike T...

[Adk Rebel]

JTS,

How did you make out on your conversion and did you go with the Intelli-Power 9140? Will it fit in the convertor section of your magnetek unit and was it a simple wire-in? I have to do something also to keep from cooking my batteries when plugged in to shore power and this looks like the ticket.

Thanks,
Rich

[Ayeedo2]

Rich,
If I may add a comment please. If you are concerned about cooking your batteries, I don't believe you need to worry at all. I had the 6345Q Magnetek for 5 years now and it worked fine. The way I see it, the 9140 JTS has or my truecharge 40+ have the ability to charge the batteries at a maximum safe rate. My excuse to buy the truecharge 40+ was, when dry camping, I would like to run the generator to charge the batteries for the shortest possible time. Doesn't matter how quiet the EU2000 is, it still makes noise.
cheers,
Larry.
2001 Chev K3500 dually,CC LT 8.1L Ally 1000
1998 Bigfoot 2500 10.6

[Adk Rebel]

Ayeedo2,

I've been doing a little research and found some good information for those trying to understand the difference between the three different types of converters/chargers.

This links below be helpful and a lot has to do with charge rates and the ability of the converter/charger to not only supply 12 volts for power, but to also charge the batteries. The 6 amp charger present in the old 6300 series would take up to 180 hours to fully charge a depleted battery!

Progressive Dynamics - About Power Converters (Click on "About Power Convertors" for the pop-up box)

PD - Battery Management 101 (This is good for those that don't understand charge rates)

Here is Progressive Dynamics homepage.

Camping World has an excellent deal on the PD9140 right now at $197.10 President's Club price with $1 shipping on orders over $75.00.

Add their Charge Wizard for $23.39 and you have a complete four stage battery charging and maintainence system with the ability to completely recharge a battery in 3-4 hours.

I really think this is the way to go.

Rich

[JTS]

Rich,

Yes, I did install a PD9140 and Charge Wizard in my Bigfoot camper. After much research and several posts on Internet here and elsewhere I have uncovered several options for installing the PD9140 in cojunction with or as a replacement for the Magnetek 6325. Here a list of options in no particular order of preference:

1. Replace the converter section of the Magnetek with the PD9140 at the original location. This involves gutting the original Magnetek converter section and some re-wiring.

2. Replace the Magnetek but locate the PD9140 closer and connected directly to the batteries. You need to run new, preferably heavy gauge wire, to the batteries and connect the PD9140 to an AC120 source. You also need to disconnect the AC120 input into the Magnetek and disconnect the white, blue and red wire from the back of the 12VDC circuit board. Then you need to run a wire connecting the 12VDC posts where the red and blue wires were previously connected. This is needed because the 12VDC board has 6 unfiltered connections and 3 separate connections filtered through the battery for sensitive appliances (i.e. radios and TVs). If you don't connect the "blue" and "red" posts, you will only have DC power on the three circuits previously filtered through the battery. Of course, battery filtering is not required with the PD9140 as it's provides its own electronic filtering.

3. Install the PD9140 on a separate breaker and closer to the batteries, such that you can select the converter you wish to use. Unless you can move wires around in the AC panel, this entails running an AC wire from a separate breaker to a location close to the PD9140. That's the approach I chose after hearing from Ayeedo2 on his experience. I have the Magnetek and the PD9140 on separate breakers. I have some redundancy such that if one system fails, I can rely on the other. The disadvantage is that I'm still using the magnetic relay sytem in the Magnetek (I suppose that's where they got the name!) which can be prone to failure or malfunction (i.e. dust deposits, corrosion, etc.)

I tested my system with fully charged batteries and it works very well. I'm particularly pleased with the PD9140 and Charge Wizard. You can manually select the stage on the Wizard for testing. A green indicator light signals the stage of charging. In bulk mode, I get 14.38 volts at the PD9140 and 14.36 volts at the batteries. This is very close to advertised specs. In fact, the difference may be in the lack of precision of my crude voltmeter. The Magnetek 6325 provides a constant 13.4 volts to the batteries as it is connected through 10 gauge wire more or less 15' long. I connected the PD 9140 to 2 type 27 batteries hooked in parallel, with 6.5' of 4 gauge battery wire.

As for cooking your batteries with the Magnetek, I agree with Ayeedo2 that this is unlikely. My reason for installiting the PD9140 and Charge Wizard is that most of my camping is in the boondocks. With the Magnetek I simply could not keep my batteries charged up with 3-4 hours of generator use. Now, with more efficient charging, I believe I can. I'll know more when the $%#@! snow melts away!

BTW, I got the PD9150 for $139 brand new (with warranty card) on eBay for an RV retailer in Texas. The Charge Wizard was a little over $24. In fact, I see new PD91XX for sale on eBay all the time at great prices from reputable sources.

I hope this helps.

Jacques

'02' Ford F-350, 6-spd, SRW, 4x4, V-10, Ext. cab, Rancho 9000s, air bags
'98' Bigfoot 2500 10.6, torklift, Honda EU2000