Help Please, upgrading to PD 4645 converter

[Rzrbrn]

I have a 2013 Casita with a Parallax 7345. I bought a PD 4645 on Amazon and am trying to upgrade. The old converter assembly is out, trying now to install the new. I have the installation and operation guide sent with the PD. This is the unit I bought on Amazon:

Progressive Dynamics (PD4645V) 45 Amp Converter/Charger with Built-In Charge Wizard.

I know nothing about electrical stuff. I have researched the old archives but cannot find any that address my issues

I am using the Installation and Operation Guide supplied by the mfg and which came with the unit. I am at the Removal section, Number 7 in this Guide. (That is at this point I have the old converter assembly out, but have yet to insert the new PD 4645 into the power center. I am working on the DC power distribution board.)

1. Regarding the power distribution board: At line 7 in the Guide, the instructions say to remove wire (singular) from the old "BATT POS" and reconnect to the new "BATT POS+" lug. There were TWO black wires running into the old plug, so I inserted the same TWO black wires into the new plug. Same for the white wires. Is this correct?


2 The instructions then state "Transfer branch circuit wiring and fuses in this same fashion". So I started by detaching from right to left, that is, transferring the old position 9 wire into the new position D12, old 8 into new D11, etc.


This is the reason for this plea for help. I started to take the wires from the old board and inserted into the new board going from RIGHT to left, as noted above. Then I saw that the old board had each connector labeled 1 through 9. The new PD board is labeled D1 through D12, with D1 and D2 being segregated and noted as being for low voltage connections. So instead of transferring from right to left, should I be transferring 1 to D1, 2 to D2, 3 to D3, etc?

That is, the old Parallax has 9 connectors, the new PD has 12 connectors


Also on the old board positions 4 and 5 were empty, should the corresponding positions on the new board be left empty?

Also just to verify, all fuses are blue 15 except for position 4 (from the right), which is a red 10. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any help or thoughts.

[Carolyn and Steve]

Follow the wiring from the old to the new in the same place and number slots.
I will be glad to send you photos.

Again, kKeep the branches in the same slots that the old one had on the smaller board.
This way the tag inside the cover with the branches marked will math the circuit numbers..

I have photos. Did you take photos of the old before transferring the wires to the new unit.

The empty slots are for branch expansion. For example I used one of the slots to add an electric power jack.

The hardest part of the swap was being at floor level or shoelace level to work on the wiring.
Keep everything neat and tight.

The manufacturers instructions were mediocre for one with no electrical experience , but easy enough to follow.
You are doing an almost direct swap.

There were no issues other than having to crouch and get comfortable working down low. I sat on a mat.
Took about an hour and a half with breaks and rechecking everything several times.

Make sure you are unplugged from the house current and the battery is disconnected.

Make sure you are unplugged from the house current and the battery is disconnected.(for emphasis).
Steve
San Clemente

pmail me if you want photos.

[Rzrbrn]

Steve, Thank you for responding.

So if I understand you correctly:

Starting from the left of the DC boards, 1 on the old board should be transferred to D1 on the new PD board, 2 on the old board should be transferred to D2 on the new board, and so on.

I would like to see your pictures

my email:

htrzrbrn106@gmail.com

[rdwatson]

Originally Posted by Carolyn and Steve

Follow the wiring from the old to the new in the same place and number slots.
I will be glad to send you photos.

Again, kKeep the branches in the same slots that the old one had on the smaller board.
This way the tag inside the cover with the branches marked will math the circuit numbers..

I have photos. Did you take photos of the old before transferring the wires to the new unit.

The empty slots are for branch expansion. For example I used one of the slots to add an electric power jack.

The hardest part of the swap was being at floor level or shoelace level to work on the wiring.
Keep everything neat and tight.

The manufacturers instructions were mediocre for one with no electrical experience , but easy enough to follow.
You are doing an almost direct swap.

There were no issues other than having to crouch and get comfortable working down low. I sat on a mat.
Took about an hour and a half with breaks and rechecking everything several times.

Make sure you are unplugged from the house current and the battery is disconnected.

Make sure you are unplugged from the house current and the battery is disconnected.(for emphasis).
Steve
San Clemente

pmail me if you want photos.

Me too -- I am adding this converter to my old Casita. I would like to see your photos as well -->> Thank you, bob@b-bengineering.com

[Casita Greg]

Check Gene's Casita website, same thread topic, for a good how to on this converter swap.

[Rzrbrn]

Success! Everything appears to be working correctly, I tried plugging in without the battery, then with the battery and all is well.

I would like to thank everyone who responded, it is very much appreciated.

[ruscal]

I just read your post and am a little late to help. I just did the same conversion, so it is fresh in my mind.
wiring the DC section fuse board is pretty straight forward. The feeds from your battery pos and neg go to the labeled terminals. Other feeds from the converter attach to their labeled terminals. For the fused load circuits I kept the stock layout originally until I read the part about fuse 1 and 2 were reserved for low amperage circuits, then changed the layout to avoid using those. I made a new label to show the modified layout.
Russ

[Rzrbrn]

Thank you for responding Russ.

I made the transfer of wires and after it was all completed I plugged into my household current and everything worked. I then installed the battery and tried the DC circuits and things worked as they should. It appears it has been a successful installation.