1995 Brave DC & Converter Question

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ray45c

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Jun 5, 2013
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6
We recently purchased a 1995 Brave, 29'.  So far the engine battery died and one of the 2 cabin batteries "exploded".  I was told some of the problems could be caused by the DC converter fan not working properly.  The fan does not run all the time but does seem to be controlled by a thermistor. Is that true or is there a fan problem?  The Aux On/Off switch also doesn't seen=m to turn the DC off and not sure if it's related.  Sorry I have so many questions but I'm new to all this and trying to figure out how serious my problems are.  Thank you for all your help  in advance.

Ray ( A serious novice)
 
Hi Ray,

Your chassis (engine) battery has a useable lifespan of three to five years - how old is yours?

As far as the house battery exploding, that happened to my wife's Camry several years ago - nothing wrong with the charging system, the battery literally exploded when she tried to start the car  :eek:, so it's hard to tell if your battery was just one of those things or if overcharging caused gassing and the explosion.

If I were you, start with all brand new high quality batteries.  Always replace all batteries in parallel with the exact kind at the same time.

Search this board for battery charger - many have replaced the stock converter/charger with a three stage Progressive Dynamics three-stage charger - a much better product than the original equipment.  I highly recommend you also replace your charger with this product.
 
Thanks for input and advice John. No idea how old the chassis battery was. Soon as I recover from the expense of the first 2 batteries I will purchase a 3rd. I'll also look into replacing the converter.
Ray
 
There is no way that the fan in the converter not working could affect the batteries. It is temperature controlled.
 
Makes sense that the fan shouldn't be the cause. Does the new converter also have the 120 VAC breakers or is it a separate part from the AC?  Thanks for the help.
 
The converter is separate from the 120 volt breakers, except it may be wired to one as it's source of power.  It feeds the 12 volt fuseboard.

As to it's location, sometimes it's built into the power center housing.  Replacement units that upgrade a built-in converter are usually separate so it will require a little custom wiring to use it with an integrated power center.

See if you can find a make and model number on your present power center, and we can probably tell you how to proceed.
 
The ac/dc box I have now is a Magnetek 6300A Model 6345
45 Amp. Thanks for your help
 
I replaced just the converter section of mine last winter. I did move up to a PD9260 with charge wizard because of ease of installation. Was a breeze with the step by step instructions here.

http://home.earthlink.net/~whemme/

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Progressive-Dynamics-Inteli-power-RV-Converter-PD9260-/140981969029?

I also bought the dongle on E-bay for $12.00

I did buy the dongle for it so you can see what mode it's working in. I didn't put it on the outside like this fellow did. I placed the dongle on the shelf right below the fuse panel. If you go this route, you will need to increase the wire size. I didn't replace the fuse panel on mine I just ran 2 hot wires from the new converter.
 
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