12 volt converter

[Kenny Strong]

Richard my 1993 "Lil" Bigfoot had a MagneTek converter. Mine was 6400 series. It was noisy, humming.
Your Bigfoot may have the same OLD inefficient converter
My converter went junk and fried my battery.
The converter when plugged into a 120vac, would convert to 12 vdc. If the shore power were removed, I had to move a sliding on off switch, on the face of the converter to change the converter over to the trailer 12 vdc source. The converter was not engineered to charge the battery when plugged into shore power. There was no 12vdc line from > the converter to the battery.
There was a 12vdc line to send power from the battery to the converter, to be distributed to all 12vdc needs.
To charge the battery when traveling, the 7 pin connected to the toe would charge the battery, the 7pin went to the battery not to the converter
If I camped at a park with 120vac I could use the source to charge my battery using a 12 volt battery charger or a 12 volt trickle charger. My new Progressive Dynamics converter trickle charges the battery when plugged into shore power; it automatically changes to 12vdc when the 120 volt shore power is removed.
Did this muddy things up ?
Later Kenny

[Clueless]

No you did not muddy up! Question for you and anybody who cares to comment. I don't anticipate going to shore power very much at all.
My AC power works fine, shouldn't need a converter/ charger, do have a3000 watt portable generator . Why not run shore power during day/evening using air conditioning, plug in appliances etc. Then unplug shore power to camper and have a wired trickle charger to house battery over the evening. Difference being cost of new converter/charger for something may not use often.
Starting to get nickel and dimed a little bit. Is it feasible to wire the charger leads to battery terminals then just plug in trickle charger to shore/generator when needed. Crazy, or feasible? Jump in.

[MelH]

The attached diagram may be helpful in understanding the Power Center operation and suggestions made by others. Good luck!

[Glenn Baglo]

If you are planning on camping in BC provincial parks and running that generator, best be aware of the regs:
Generator use is permitted between the hours of 9am – 11am and from 6pm – 8pm. This policy was created to help reduce air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, fuel consumption and noise levels.


You'll also feel the heat of glaring fellow campers.

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by Clueless

Then unplug shore power to camper and have a wired trickle charger to house battery over the evening. Difference being cost of new converter/charger for something may not use often.
Starting to get nickel and dimed a little bit. Is it feasible to wire the charger leads to battery terminals then just plug in trickle charger to shore/generator when needed. Crazy, or feasible? Jump in.

I would like the convenience of a modern converter with a strong battery but using a charger would work. RV’s cost money, but you do not need to do it all at once. A trickle charger is too small, a standard 6 – 10-amp charger would be better. That’s all my sisters Scamp had in it and she got by fine. Note also that some tow vehicles do not fully charge a house battery. (My f150 is one)

[Clueless]

I agree with all you suggest and say. When I had a 19 foot trailer, had no fellow camper difficulty as l follow rules. Thanks so

[Clueless]

ACOVG... GREAT suggestion re 10 amp. Why would this be better than a 5 amp trickle charger, Looking at a 10 amp Dsr rapid charger online. Great price but worried it might fry battery as it is not a "smart" battery. What do you think? Cheers

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by Clueless

ACOVG... GREAT suggestion re 10 amp. Why would this be better than a 5 amp trickle charger, Looking at a 10 amp Dsr rapid charger online. Great price but worried it might fry battery as it is not a "smart" battery. What do you think? Cheers

It depends on how far you drain the battery and how long you want to wait to recharge. When I think of the old trickle chargers, mine were all 1 amp. Good for keeping a battery charged but not for recharging. A 5 amp could work well in some situations. My solar panel is only about 7 amps and counts on having a sunny day to work.

[Clueless]

Thanks, just purchased the 10 amp rapid charger, a great clearance price, if not suitable l can return. Honestly hope the external charger idea works. Crazy to spend a lot of money on something that may not be needed often. Tend to boondock and camp in Canadian, primarily BC sites that are free or don't provide power. Missed doing that, hence the new old rig! Cheers ��

[CarlD]

Just a note on MelH's schematic. A fuse needs to be added at the positive battery terminal in the wiring diagram, reason being, is that there is no way to stop current flow if a fault occurs on the wire and it could be catastrophic. Every power source should have overcurrent protection as close to its output terminal as possible. I does not make sense to have a fuse at the output of the 120 volt fed charger because the output is current limited and a fuse would never blow, so you have to make sure the wire can handle full load current so it doesn't burn up.

[Clueless]

Latest update. A friend who has an oldie camper like mine tore the converter apart. Found that an electro magnet was not closing properly on contacts, tried to fix, couldn't quite get it to work as there was no way to get proper adjustment. So we left, pulled battery, found 1 cell was shot. Will replace in spring. Only good news was might be reason electromagnet malfunctioning.
Probably a long shot. Regardless, I'm sure l described what he found out re converter probably was described erroneously by me.
Cheers everyone. Clueless ��

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Clueless

Latest update. .. Found that an electro magnet was not closing properly on contacts,..Regardless, I'm sure l described what he found out re converter probably was described erroneously by me.

Yes I would guess that you mean an electromagnetic relay, or in this application, it might be referred to as a "contactor". Is this converter 30 years old? If so, time to replace it.. past time in fact.

[Clueless]

My friend said it wasn't the original. Hopefully, in the spring with a new battery might work. We'll see. Cheers, Clueless.

[Burro Owner]

I’m a little late to the party but wanted to add...
Strongly suggest checking the battery and electrolyte level. If the battery has an issue the noise from the converter could be a high charge rate trying to “fix” a bad or discharged battery.
Also attach an amp meter (find a friend with a VOM) between the battery positive terminal and the load (red positive wire) with all 12 volt lights and appliances off and see if you have a power drain. Also suggest the same on the converter with the battery disconnected.
Turning off your 110vac not only shuts off your converter but also turns off 110vac to outlets and appliances.