CONVERTER CHARGER

How good is a series 7400 Model 7445 converter/charger. Input 105-130VAC 60HZ; 775 WATTS, Output: 13.6 VDC; 45 AMPS

Had problem with batteries (house) two years ago when first got coach. Believe they were original. Replaced and did not monitor charge and/or water levels as I have read in your forum that I was suppose to do. Anyway batteries had to be replaced and luckily warranty took care of (may have been some faulty batteries) upgraded to next level of battery and have not had any trouble since but I am monitoring the water and charge levels.
Chassis battery looks to be original-I know I have not replaced and it is Ford Motorcraft brand. My coach is 2001 Winnebago Adventurer 35U. Would it be possible for this to be original? Voltage has dropped to 12 and few times but always recharges when I crank the engine. Shore power will let it drop after a few days. Is my converter charger suppose to charge house and chassis batteries?

How do you know when to replace your converter/charger system?? Should I go ahead and replace chassis battery before I get stranded??

My Brother-in-Law's 2004 Winnebago Adventurer does not charge the Chassis Battery while on Shore Power as does not my 2007 Monaco Diplomat.  We have each installed a 750ma Battery Tender.

Jimmy - my experience is that typical (non-premium) flooded cell batteries (like you have) have a usable life span of usually three to five years.  Sometimes batteries will last a lot longer, but generally not.  Crud will gradually collect in the cells and rise until the cell(s) are shorted.

Winnie didn't add the capability for charging both house and chassis banks until sometime in the 2006 model year and I'm not sure how far down the model chain it went.  They installed a device called Trik-L-Start to the house/chassis battery bank bridging solenoid which diverted some charge current to the chassis batteries.  Since I have an '05 model, I added a Xantrex Echo~Charge which is like the Trik-L-Start.

Don't get too worried about replacing your converter/charger until you have good batteries for it to charge and you can then evaluate its performance.

One major problem with the inexpensive chargers is they aren't three-stage, i.e., they won't go into a float mode.  Instead they keep pumping out too much charge current until they boil the water out of your cells.

Where and how did you install the battery tender? Do you have to fix a plug in or can you jump in the battery bank department?

Jimmy,

I use several Battery Minders on various vehicle and vessels. It has options for alligator clips or permanent connection via a quick disconnect. They show the options as "two charging cords" on that web page. One type stays in place, connected to the battery, and I merely pull the plug to remove the BM when I want to use the respective boat or car.

Unfortunately, there's no power where we store the coach, so the batteries just die after some period of storage.

jbostic said:

Where and how did you install the battery tender? Do you have to fix a plug in or can you jump in the battery bank department?

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I recommend permanently installing the Trik-L-Start.  It's fairly inexpensive (~$70-80) and simple to install.  One lead will connect to the house battery side of the solenoid, and the other lead to the other terminal of the solenoid.  Or, you can install the unit near the battery banks and simply run a wire to the house bank and one to the chassis bank.

Back to the three-stage charger thought - you risk ruining the batteries if you leave your charger hooked up for a long period of time (weeks, months - don't know...) unless the charger knows how to properly float the charge.

Reading about the battery tender-question when it says it will handle four batteries at once. Does this mean in my coach it will handle the two coach batteries and the chassis battery at the same time. Do I have to run separate wires to each battery or just one location since all batteries are interconnected for the battery boost feature. When using the battery tender do I disconnect the shore line so there will be no conflict with the on board charger?? If I disconnect shore line I would of course have to run power to the battery tender (other than plugging into outlet on coach powered from on board charger/converter) and would this keep me from having power to other components of the coach like if i wanted to run vacumm cleaner or some other 110 appliance since power would be run to battery tender and not on board converter. Almost confused myself hope you can sort through my question and provide me with simple answer for my simple mind.

You said it is a7400 series however I am not good enough at converters to figure out the make from the series number.. Please provide as I can only do general comments. of which I have 3

Comment 1:Single stage converters either do not charge the battery or over charge it, there is no in between, either is bad

Comment 2:2 or 3 stage (In some cases that depends on how you count stages) can fully charge a battery and not over charge it less you ask it to (There is a reason to do this)

I like Progressive Dynamics and Xantrex but they are by no means the only ones that fall in the "Best" band

Comment 3: Some coaches do have a "Dual charge" system where both the alternator on the engine and the converter in the house keep both house and chassis batteries all nice and charged

Some do not  (Appears yours is in this group)

Xantrex Echo Charge or the Trik-L-Start provide the missing function (house charging of chassis battery) both with a simple 3 wire hook up.  Very good ideas

John, the 7400 series is made by Parallax.
   Perhaps you can add a bit of info now..

The 7445 is a Parallax Power converter - formerly Magnetek. It's an ok charger but not the greatest - I much prefer the Progressive Dynamics w/Charge Wizard or Iota w/IQ Smart Charger for reliable charging without battery damage.

But your OEM batteries were perhaps not all that great a quality either. And did you keep them filled with water? They need to be checked periodically, at least once a month until you know that a longer interval is safe.

Carson,

It is a MagneTek

My converter charger is MagneTek brand code: 01100S1RV4, assy in Mexico
Series 7400 Model  7445 , 45 AMP input 105-130 VAC 60HZ; 775 WATTS, average charge rate =.5amps MAX charte rate: 45 amps

Jimmy, that's what I suspected.

  I had the same one and finally replaced it as it was not charging at all any more. One thing to know is that that charger delivers 45 amp for the general output to run the lights, etc. The battery charge current, however, is only max at 9 amps. If you have low or poor batteries it will take forever to recharge them.

  I changed it to the Progressive Dynamic one with the Charge Wizard (see Gary's notes above) and my problems are over, forever.

  There are several threads on the forum re change-over instructions.

carson FL

Jimmy, I may have given some bad advise. My old Magnatek was a 6345 model.

  Perhaps a little more research is required for the 7445. Sorry for the confusion, I jumped to a conclusion.

carson Fl

jbostic, I mounted a 110v outlet in my Battery Compartment.  Went to Lowes and got a shallow non-metallic box, receptacle, cover and wire.  Attached the box to the sidewall of the Battery Compartment with self-tapping screws and picked up my 110v at the input to my Inverter/Converter which is located in the adjacent compartment, about 2ft of wire. Total cost less than $10 would have been cheaper if I had been at home where I had the parts.

I am partial to Battery tender and use them on my Pontoon boat, Jetskis, John Deere Lawnmower and wife's car (when we are in Florida).  On all of the previous items I use the Tender whenever I am not using the devices.  The Batteries in my boat and Jetskis 4, 5 and 7 yrs old, the John Deere battery would have been that old if I hadn't put it in the Lake.
 
I unplug the Battery Tender when I am driving the MH, not for fear of the alternator hurting it but am concerned that it might vibrate out to the AC Receptacle.  I have dual Chassis Batteries and the Tender has no problem maintaining their charge.

You can get the Battery Tender at Pep Boys for about $35 or go on-line to Pacific Battery and get a pair of them for just over $50 with shipping.

jbostic said:

Reading about the battery tender-question when it says it will handle four batteries at once. Does this mean in my coach it will handle the two coach batteries and the chassis battery at the same time. Do I have to run separate wires to each battery or just one location since all batteries are interconnected for the battery boost feature. When using the battery tender do I disconnect the shore line so there will be no conflict with the on board charger?? If I disconnect shore line I would of course have to run power to the battery tender (other than plugging into outlet on coach powered from on board charger/converter) and would this keep me from having power to other components of the coach like if i wanted to run vacumm cleaner or some other 110 appliance since power would be run to battery tender and not on board converter. Almost confused myself hope you can sort through my question and provide me with simple answer for my simple mind.

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I'm going to quote your entire question since it is several posts up...

Trik-L-Charge or Echo~Charge or whatever product will basically operate like this:  it will 'divert' a certain charge current from your house bank and send it to the other bank.  I think my Echo~Charge will output nine amps to the secondary bank.  It requires no power source other than the battery that is being charged - it takes some current from the charged bank (above a certain voltage, or it shuts off) and sends it out to the target bank.  I know I have restated myself - trying to be clear.

If your batteries are wired in parallel (not a good idea, but we'll save that for another time) like most, one wire will attach to any one of the positive battery terminals, one wire will go to chassis ground (or a battery negative post), and the remaining wire will attach to any one of the positive terminal posts on the chassis batteries.

The limitation of four batteries I suspect is a rule of thumb for how much current the device can deliver to the target bank (chassis batteries) - it makes absolutely no difference if you have one house battery or ten when speaking about the Trik-L-Start (or similar product.)

Once you hook up the Trik-L-Charge, you can safely and completely forget it is there!  You do not need to change any of your current operational habits.  Install and forget - it is really that simple.

One of the very first improvements I did when the coach was almost brand-new was to replace the Dimensions charger/inverter with a Xantrex RS2000 pure sine wave and I replaced the three house batteries with Lifeline AGMs.  A good three-stage charger will take good care of your batteries.

Sorry - I can't speak about any of the chargers/converters mentioned - I'm a Xantrex man  ;D

John,

My chassis batteries are not charged when I'm plugged into shore power. I have four Lifeline AGMs (6 volt series/parallel) for the house batteries and two (don't remember the make) (12 volt parallel) flooded cell chassis batteries.

How does the Trik-L-Start handle the different charging requirements of the different type batteries?

I've been hesitant to try anything that will "parallel" the two banks together because of the different charging requirements. With the cost of AGMs I didn't want to do anything that might damage them.

From the Trik-L-Start FAQ,

WILL TRIK-L-START? OVERCHARGE MY BATTERIES? No, TRIK-L-START? maintains your starting battery(s) at approximately 0.2 volts below your house battery voltage. This is considered to be the ideal setting for starting batteries, and virtually eliminates water loss and gassing. Maintained in this manner, your starting battery(s) will last for many years.

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If anything, since AGM batteries have a lower charging voltage for any given temperature than flooded cell batteries, the only effect might be a longer charging time for the chassis batteries.  I don't see any way the device could affect the house batteries, other than a small lengthening of the charge cycle.

It might be worth an inquiry to the manufacturer about use with AGM batteries, either house, chassis, or both.

Don:

Good point. The Tradewinds came with the Xantrex Echo Charge which is basically similar in that it charges chassis batteries at same rate as coach. I learned the hard way to disconnect the Echo Charge when I equalize the coach Trojan 6v wet cells as the first time I did it the 5 year old chassis "low maintenance" wet cells boiled dry and gave up the ghost

It is a nice option, I have never run down the chassis batteries including the first year we had it before hitting the road. If I did not have it I would add a Battery Minder and not have to worry about the difference in charge rates.

Ned said:

I don't see any way the device could affect the house batteries, other than a small lengthening of the charge cycle.

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Completely agree!

Ok, looked up the Parallex.. Seems it comes in two versions  The "T" version is a 2 step charger (or two stage) I'm not sure if the 2nd stage is trigured by time (Bad) or voltage (Better)

Best advice is to visit http://www.bestconverters.com

Scroll down a bit and a frame titled "Extra Info" should appear on the left

Pick a brand of converter (I see I'm not the only one who likes Xantrex and Progressive dynamics here) and download the proper upgrade PDF from that site.

You can order the new converter and either the Trik-l-charge or Echo-Charge from him too (I'm not sure which one he carries of if he has both)

Or you can get 'em elsewhere if you wish.

But he's got the instructions

And he's also got anything else you may need to do the upgrade too.


The Parallex is a very good power supply... Just not a very good battery charger

As a Ham Radio operator I could use a very good power supply.... (I use the Motor home's 12 volt system which is an Excellent power supply)