Sightseer 37J Dead converter... I think

Had a great week at the lake this past week, after a few days though I began to realize that my batteries were not charging up when when I ran the generator. However they would charge when I ran the engine.  That managed to get me through the rest of the week of dry camping at least.  I have a 2007 35J, I can see the converter/charger behind the circuit breaker panel under the fridge, it appears that the wall behind the slider door that separates the living area from the bunk area has a possible removable wall to access the converter/charger.  There is a piece of the wall board I'd say is 18" high by 24" wide, with a plastic strip of paneling connector between that piece and the one that goes up the rest of the wall on the side of the fridge.  I'm going to see if my extended warranty is still in effect, I think it is.  If not does anyone have advice on how to get to the converter/charger?  Also, would I be advised to upgrade the charger/converter at this time? I can't say the other one had problems, but I'm sure it was a pretty basic unit.  Our RV is stored off site so I bring it home 48 hours before a trip to charge before heading out if that matters.

Thanks

Hard to say if an upgrade is needed - what brand and model of converter/charger is it?  If it's a WFCO, I would definitely change brands because reports indicate they have a habit of dying young.

Since you dry camp I definitely would upgrade to a multi mode converter such as the Progressive Dynamics PD9260. I think you probably have a 45 amp converter now. The multi mode converter will allow you to charge faster and better maintain your batteries.

http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9260c_2.html

Thanks guys, I knew I should have looked at the brand that was in there.  I'll check tonight.  I know it's not a Progressive and I don't think it was a WFCO, but I could be wrong.

Dealer said my coverage is good till 12/2013 - so I'm thankful for that.  Between this and the fridge we've now made our money back and then some on the extended warranty.  Glad I didn't pay full price, but even happier we have it now.

Mine DHL 45 amp just died and I did a lot of research and decided on the Powermax Boondocker 60 amp 3 stage converter charger. $159. Install looks easy, but it should arrive on Friday and I will install it then. For the price difference, there is no reason not to go with the 60 amp version. I have AGM batteries and it does a great job on them. I will post how the install goes.  It would have been a lots easier if the wires were about 12" longer.

Thanks for the input.  I did find I have the Parallax 7445 45-amp unit.  The Powermax looks pretty good.  Searching I find the Parallax unit sells for about $180 so maybe, just maybe, I can get a better unit without laying out much out of my pocket.

Well I've got to give my dealer, Russ Dean RV, kudos for great fast service.  I dropped the RV off last night and by 10:05 this morning they'd called to let me know they had tested, gotten approval and replaced my dead converter with a new Progressive Dynamics 9260, a 60amp 3 stage converter.  I've already got the RV back in storage, only cost was my $75 deductible, as the extended warranty covered the rest.  I appreciated that they listened to me when I told them I wanted to try to upgrade to a multistage converter even if it were to cost me more. 

Progressive Dynamics 9260, a 60amp 3 stage converter.

Click to expand...

Just put that unit in my coach,

Y-Guy said:

Well I've got to give my dealer, Russ Dean RV, kudos for great fast service. ..

Click to expand...

Give your good dealer a plug in the Service and Repair Reviews board!

John Canfield said:

Give your good dealer a plug in the Service and Repair Reviews board!

Click to expand...

Thanks John, it's done.

Y-Guy said:

Well I've got to give my dealer, Russ Dean RV, kudos for great fast service.  I dropped the RV off last night and by 10:05 this morning they'd called to let me know they had tested, gotten approval and replaced my dead converter with a new Progressive Dynamics 9260, a 60amp 3 stage converter.  I've already got the RV back in storage, only cost was my $75 deductible, as the extended warranty covered the rest.  I appreciated that they listened to me when I told them I wanted to try to upgrade to a multistage converter even if it were to cost me more.

Click to expand...

Old Parallax:  Boat anchor single stage convertor, and will cook your batteries.....I replaced mine the first year after we purchased our current motorhome.

New PD 9260: Great 3-stage charger/convertor! I leave my motorhome plugged in year round and only have to add water to my batteries once a year.  Also make sure you get the Charge Wizard (plugs into the side of the convertor via included phone type cord).  That way you can monitor your charging and manually set your charge rate.  Both the convertor and Charge Wizard can be bought on Ebay for about half of what any rv dealer will sell it for.

Im surprised you haven't done this before with all the thousands of posts about these convertors on various forums I see you on.

Hey Mark,

In our case since we don't store the RV with power, I've never have the cooked battery problem.  I guess what's helped as well as the engine charges it so since we drive 2-3 hours anywhere around here the batteries were always getting a good charge.  I've read about the upgrades for a long time, but until you need to do it, it doesn't sink in.

The unit has a built in charge wizard but I think it also comes with the remote pendant too, I had to get it back in storage and off to a meeting. But bringing it home Saturday to play with it and see where the pendant is located.  Since it shows it on the box I'm assuming it's there, if not I'll make a trip back.

Speaking of boat anchor, they gave me the old dead one. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?

Y-Guy said:

...Speaking of boat anchor, they gave me the old dead one. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?

Click to expand...

It's a candidate to sit on the coffee table and be a conversation piece  .

As most of you know I replaced my almost brand new Dimensions charger/inverter on our almost brand new coach with a Xantrex model and it's still going strong.  At that same time I replaced the flooded cell house batteries with Lifeline AGMs, yesterday I replaced the seven year old Lifelines with .. Lifelines.  The new batteries are group 31 XTs - 125 amp/hour per battery.  The old batteries were replaced proactively - I figured they were getting a little long in the tooth.

Y-Guy said:

The unit has a built in charge wizard but I think it also comes with the remote pendant too, I had to get it back in storage and off to a meeting. But bringing it home Saturday to play with it and see where the pendant is located.  Since it shows it on the box I'm assuming it's there, if not I'll make a trip back.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I meant to say Remote Pendant.  Its connected to the converter via a phone cord.  It's important to me to have this as you can tell what stage it's charging, and I will do it manually full bore when we dry camp and run the generator to charge the batteries.

Found the remote, it was laying in the compartment where the water heater by-pass is located, just where I hoped it would be.

Mark thanks for that info, that makes a lot of sense of when to use the manual boost feature when running the generator.  Did you mount your pendant or is it stuffed way? It won't reach far and not sure i want it toyed with so I'm thinking of putting some velcro on it and tacking it just inside the opening so it's not laying on the floor.