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bobwalter · 10-22-2012, 02:43 PM

1993 Rexhall 30' class "C" on a 350 Ford. Has two 12 volt Batteries for the house. Two years ago, I upgraded the Magnetek 45 amp converter. Used the WFCO upgrade (WF8945REP) which has the 3 stage charger. Purchased it from Best Converter. Has worked good for the last two years. Now it does not charge.
I took the converter apart to check connections and when I test the power supply in the lower portion of the converter I get 11.8 volts. This 11.8 volts is the voltage in the batteries right now. If I disconnect the wires going to the rest of the converter and check only the power supply with nothing else attached I get 13.9 volts. This tells me that the power supply is able to provide the necessary current. All the fuses in the converter test good. There must be something somewhere in the rest of the converter which is telling the power supply to just sit there and not provide power to the rest of the converter.(and the batteries and the house load). Is there more in the lower unit (Power supply) than just the power supply? Why does it supply 13.9 volts when unhooked but supply nothing when it is connected.

I don't understand the "intelligent" portion of the converter. I guess it is more intelligent than I. If someone out there has the knowledge, please send some my way. I am lost. I can usually figure things like this out on my own but this thing is obviously more "intelligent" than I.

Thanks in advance,

Bob

wardy · 10-22-2012, 02:58 PM

Will the converter power your 12 volt's light's pump etc? How old are your batteries? 11.8 volts is about 0% charge. Have you tried to disconnect the batteries and then run 12 volt light's etc.

bobwalter · 10-22-2012, 03:10 PM

The batteries are new. No the converter will not power the coach alone. Nothing runs without the batteries hooked up.

Bob

wardy · 10-22-2012, 03:19 PM

Bob,

It's not uncommon to have a voltage across open terminals when there is no load even on non functioning output's. Your meter has a very high resistance and poses virtually no load to the converter. If the voltage drops off after adding even the slightest load (such as one light) to the converter then my bet is you need to have the converter serviced by the manufacturer or replaced.

wardy · 10-22-2012, 03:27 PM

Bob,

You mentioned the batteries are new. Any chance the previous connection/cables changed? And just to be certain can you disconnect all loads to the converter and then just add a light 12 volt load to see if you can drive a small load? If you can then maybe a mis wire or overload condition exists.

wardy · 10-22-2012, 03:31 PM

Also Bob, does this converter have a remote on/off and have you tried to toggle it?

clyon51 · 10-22-2012, 04:21 PM

My guess is the charger is shot. WFCOs are made in China and for lack of a nice word, they are junk. With all hooked up on shore, if you are not getting 13.2v+, at the batteries, it is malfuctioning.

If this is the case, do yourself a favor and get yourself a Progressive Dymamics, which is the gold standard for charger/converters. Optionally, get an IOTA, another good American made charger.

bobwalter · 10-23-2012, 03:26 AM

Wardy,
I will try the light load today and post results. Wiring is good. I triple checked it then checked again. I was very careful changing the batteries.

Clyon,
Looks like another converter in my future. This one is 4 months out of warranty. You recommend Progressive Dynamics. Are they U.S. made? Looking at the 9200 series 45 amp with the charge wizard. Does this sound OK?

Thanks to both of you for your response. I will test the charger again later this morning and recheck the wiring again. Hopefully I will find something simple.

Bob

clyon51 · 10-23-2012, 05:53 AM

Bob

Yep PDs are US made. The PD9245 is the right choice for your rig, same one I have.

Added mine 18 months ago and it is plugged in 24/7. Only added water once so far.

**CLIFFTALL** · 10-23-2012, 05:56 AM

My WFCO bit the dust recently and I replaced it with a PD 9260. Works great and I hardly need to add water. I had to add water every week with the WFCO.

Cliff

bobwalter · 10-23-2012, 04:41 PM

Just ordered the Progressive Dynamics 9245 from amazon. Hope I get more than 2 years on this new one. At least it is U.S. made.

Thanks for all your help. Will post the results of the new install.

Bob

rjrvtravel · 10-23-2012, 07:44 PM

Not sure if this is the place - but I have a question (so new - the new title is very nice)
Question - I have a 2007 Four Winds 23A Class C RV. Having lots of problems with the electrical system. Our 2 month old battery went dead after sitting 30 days in the yard after a 17 day trip. I recharge it and put a battery tender on the chassis battery. But I was told to remove the battery tender - and test the battery each day for a week. After the week - it had discharged. a total of 48 volts. I asked our dealer for a electrical layout - then I could determine what is draining this chassis battery. They said they didn't have a service manual to sell - I had to go to Chev. chev told me to order from a book place. I also read our owner book and they talk about a battery isolator controller and a battery isolator? I asked my dealer - what if this battry isolator is bad - could the chassis battery get drained - she said maybe - but she thought the computer on the engine was draining the battery? How is this possible - 30days and a dead battery because of a computer

? Ron

stink · 10-24-2012, 01:20 AM

Rjrvtravel, the pcm (computer) in your rig draws about 30 milliamps when not running. The sterio also draws about 30 milliamps, the ABS module draws about 20 Milliamps. With all this load your cassis battery should last about 10 days. How old is the battery? as batterys age their reserve capacity reduces a lot. If the battery is draining in one week you may have a larger load. You can test with an inline ammeter hooked between the neg cable end and neg battery post. If you have a larger than 80 milliamp load start pulling fuses untell the load drops. this will narrow the search to an effected curcuit.

bobwalter · 10-26-2012, 06:14 AM

Ordered the new charger from Amazon on Tues night. It was on my porch on Thurs at 2;00 in the afternoon. And this was the free shipping option. Can't beat that for service....

Hooked up the new charger and plugged it in. WOW. What a difference. Obviously, the WFCO charger was not doing it's job for a long time. (Maybe ever) The lights are bright and the Fantastic fans actually move air. Lots of it. Right off, it started charging the batteries with 14 volts. They were really low and they say thanks.

Thanks to all of the help I received on this forum. I appreciate it greatly.

Bob