2005 Itasca Sunnova Parallax Charger... Failure?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
" A larger converter allows the charger to run at optimum levels and still have plenty of amps left to power other things."

8) That sounds like my wife waking up on a typical morning here when I'm already gone to work  ;D ...Her Keurig, the furnace or AC, all twenty some-odd lamps/bulbs, and her hair dryer  ::) ;D

Maybe I should push for an 80 DC amp charger  ???  :eek:

I might, if it didn't require rewiring  ;D

But, honestly, I can't say that she's really that bad. With the AC current panel, she religiously watches our demands on shore power, at least enough to know not to run more than two major appliances at once. Sometimes, in the case of her hot flashes  :eek: :-[, both of the two air conditioners simultaneously get priority over the convection oven  ;D
 
With your setup you would probably never have to rewire. The only cable that would possibly have to be rewired would be the battery cables, but you will never run your batteries down completely on shore power. Even if you did the batteries would never use that many charging amps and the 12 volt coach side of things is fused for the 45 amp converter and wouldn't allow more than when the 45 amp converter was in place.
 
That sounds like my wife waking up on a typical morning here when I'm already gone to work  ;D ...Her Keurig, the furnace or AC, all twenty some-odd lamps/bulbs, and her hair dryer
Click to expand...

LOL!  But much of what you mentioned is 120v shore power, not DC. The furnace and all those lights are maybe 30A-35A of DC.
 
John Hilley said:
With your setup you would probably never have to rewire. The only cable that would possibly have to be rewired would be the battery cables, but you will never run your batteries down completely on shore power. Even if you did the batteries would never use that many charging amps and the 12 volt coach side of things is fused for the 45 amp converter and wouldn't allow more than when the 45 amp converter was in place.
Click to expand...

So, John, going with a higher current converter/charger would serve little purpose :eek: than, perhaps, having a slightly ovverrated supply that might feel less taxed due to comparatively less demand.. like, say, my 30 amp Astron supplying my radio in receive (500mA)... The Astron never breaks a sweat, has lasted forever 8)

Your right, Gary, my fault ::) much of those are AC.. I have been taking more notice of the RV’s “Energy Management System” AC current consumption display, especially since using the Astron for supplying the DC. Flick on one pair of lights: another 1 amp+/-; a ‘pair of pairs’ (lights up front): another 2+/-. It adds up, on the AC side of things, too!

What you say, John, makes sense in another respect... I mean, why would an RV manufacturer place a totality of DC loads and their totality of fuses demanding from a power supply/charger of inadequate current? :eek: (and how often do we RV campsite “shoremen” really demand that much DC load at one given time?) ???

I have read that site on lead acid batteries (recommended by kdbgoat), and of numerous persons who have suffered with failing DC 'aux' switches/solenoids/relays (as for me, I often I just tend to forget checking that darned DC 'aux' switch when I climb in), What if I, say, got rid of the solenoid switch mess, put a knife switch in on the coach batt positive, occasionally close it to allow the charger to charge 'em, then open the batt pos knife and allow the charger to supply exclusively to any other DC loads (besides batts), direct to the bus bar/fuses/DC equipment (as the charger/PS usu. is wired, but here w/ batts left removed in a true sitby, batts removed w/o a doubt when knife positive switch is broken). I mean, that site kdbgoat referred me to said periods of months that unused lead acids could go w/o a charge (although I'm sure that a little more often may prevent sulfation?) The batts get involved, when I want/need them to get involved, w/ one less actively failing component (solenoid relay/switch) involved.

Okay, my fault?... quoting kdbgoat recommended site Batteryuniversity: "Lead acid batteries must always be stored in a charged state [does this mean charging present or charged up past tense?]. A topping charge should be applied every 6 months to prevent the voltage from dropping below 2.05V/cell and causing the battery to sulfate"

The Winnie manual says: "Auxiliary Battery (Aux. Batt) Switch The AUX BATT switch disconnects the auxiliary (coach) batteries from the 12-volt system of your coach to avoid long-term battery drain by electrical items that are hooked directly to the coach batteries, such as clock displays and radio memories, etc. Always leave this switch ON except during storage periods."

Sooo
1-WHAT does this 'aux' switch connect/ disconnect (I don't relate a clock display w/ a furnace fan)? ???
2-Which state does the solenoid relay require power for switching to (I wouldn't think that it would actuate relay to disconnect batt, or then maybe that relay coil is really put through its paces (full-time relay coil actuating power), for us 24/7 'shoremen', at least)? ??? Regardless of where the power comes from, you can't expect to hold a relay in forever :eek:

 
The solenoids are for convenience, of course, but also because most of us forget to open and close manual switches, especially for things that work best with some advance planning. Life happens, and we get distracted.  You have a battery disconnected, and then realize you need it and find it totally discharged because it hasn't been switched to the charger recently.  Or you go to turn on a light at night and realize you forgot to switch the power on while it was still light outside. Or whatever.
 
Batteries will self-discharge due to internal resistance, some faster than others due to their particular battery chemistry. The best long term solution for battery health is a continuous float charge at the appropriate voltage. I've owned our Horizon since it was new and the battery banks have always had a float charge.

Charging a battery twice a year might or might not work well. Chances are my Lifeline AGM house batteries could remain at rest for six months but there is zero reason to attempt this.
 
So I guess that I should give up on that wacky idea :-[, leave it as is, keep flicking the 'aux' switch (located inside of the entry door stairway, to make sure it's in the on position while 24/7 'shore' living), and be ready to eventually replace a solenoid and/or switch when it goes kaput :( Would such replacement be like simply pulling out and replacing a vacuum tube 8), or SMT soldering with a shaky hand :eek:?

Oh, momentarily, not continuously...:-[  A latching relay, in effect? 8) After reading abt. them, I'd almost bet that frequent use lubes the mechanics/contacts involved, huh ;)
 
Very simple to replace. The way you are using power, there is never a reason for you to switch it. I have two motor homes and they are plugged in all the time when at home. When we travel we almost exclusively boondock and dry camp with solar power. I never switch mine. You have nothing to worry about once you get a new converter.

The solenoid/relay that is more troublesome is the Battery Isolation Solenoid that separates the house and chassis batteries.
 
Sorry if I’m seeming more and morelike a worrywart, gentlemen, but I greatly, greatly appreciate all of your wisdom and advice. Good news! The 1 ft. 1 ga. batt parallel cables came in today!  :D The terminals are great (at least compared to the aged/shaved ones on there before ::)), lots of contact surface area! 8)

Now, in addition to the pair of 1 ga +/- feeding off the batts into the RV, there are a pair of 8-10 ga wires (+ and - , both fed loosely together inside a shared black split wire loom). The positive of this smaller pair has an inline screw-in fuse, rated 50 amps (VOM says fuse is still good), but one (both?) of these terminals meant for the batt posts are quite ”thin”, somewhat lacking in overall exposed surface area (I think that they’ve been this way since we’ve had this RV for the last 5 years, and the occasional sanding/dremmelling probably hasn’t helped much, either) I pulled out the 32volt, 50 amp fuse and held it beside the cable’s terminal... the cable’s terminal appears to barely exceed the fuses metal thickness/width/surface area, overall. If I find a washer large enough, then the 1 mm thick terminal closed loop may provide about a .5 cm X 1 cm area of contact, between the terminal’s closed hole and its crimped end. While the width of the opposite half completes the loop (it surely still holds it on the post okay), it provides little by way of contact (1 mm width going around this second half of the closed circle). May be time for new terminals (wish that I could show it)? One of these would obviously have to be replaced “at the scene” :'( Wonder if my present Greenlee hand ratcheting crimpers could be adapted for anything comparable...

So, I have two coach batteries, feeding to/from what with the black/red, 1 ga. cable pair?

Same two coach batts, feeding to/from what with the thinner, 8-10 ga./50 amp fused cable pair?


 

 
rookieRV said:
....So, I have two coach batteries, feeding to/from what with the black/red, 1 ga. cable pair?  Same two coach batts, feeding to/from what with the thinner, 8-10 ga./50 amp fused cable pair?
Click to expand...
Have you printed out your wiring diagram?
 
So far on the schematic I’ve found two parallel coach batts going w/ “1/0” ga red positive to battery mode solenoid (and to 1 ga. going to batt disconnect relay, by series extension) and “1/0” ga black to a negative bus bar... and no other wire pair going to any other load off batts ???

Whew! I looked back at the site that I ordered the 1ft. 1 ga parallel batt cables from, they say 1 ga for 245 amps continuous, or 1/0 ga for 285 amps continuous (and you can’t have an oversized cable [until you need a fuse ;)] right?) The old used ones are 1/0 ga, but the Winnie schematic says 1 ga between batts. I doubt that it makes much difference. ???

A 45 amp charger/converter (the now defunct one), and a 50 amp fused 10 ga positive wire going to coach batts. Related? ??? What are these 10 ga wires doing/going from the batts to? ???
 
Once that I get a new charger/converter (or even now, I guess), I could VOM test the 10 ga. fused red positive against its negative 10 ga black counterpart.

Or the, “Don’t connect the 10 ga fused to batts, and see what doesn’t work.” test ;D

Or the really hard way, and get underneath to try and “follow the black split loom path” (when the weather gets a little better) ;D
 
Progressive Dynamics 4645 or 4655 would be a slide in replacement for the existing Parallax unit, about a 30 minute to 1 hr swap and made for this exact replacement scenario.

http://www.bestconverter.com/4600-series-Upgrade-Kits_c_133.html

Eliminates cooked batteries. I only have to add water twice a year, if that.

Charles
2007 Winnebago View 523H on a 2006 Dodge (Daimler-Chrysler aka Mercedes) Sprinter 3500 chassis (T1N). Bought Sept 2015 with 18K miles on it, Prog Ind HW30C, Prog Dymanics PD4645, Coleman Chill Grille, PML/Yourcovers.com deep alum trans pan, AutoMeter 8558 trans temp gauge, Roadmaster sway bar, Koni Red shocks (front & rear), Fantastic Ultra Breeze hood, added OEM parabolic mirrors and RH aspherical mirror, MB grill conversion.
 
CharlesinGA, I like the format of those models of charger/converters, particularly because one has access to the ‘guts’ (fans, resistors, capacitors, etc.) of the appliance 8). My 2005 Itasca, however, has ‘pop rod’ DC circuit breakers already built into the upper right of the steel power panel (across from the AC circuit breakers, on the upper left). While the power panel may offer adequate space for these charger’s sheet metal box chassis down below, it may require cutting off the lower half of the electrical panel :eek: (for mounting/air/access). The RV here is pretty much set for a ‘closed appliance’ charger/converter (but so far,  the cases of all these ‘plug-n-play’ chargers appear riveted together like my Parallax was :mad:, instead of bolts/screws... even my Astrons give me accessability :)). The Parallax charger was screwed to the floor in a crevasse underneath of the kitchen drawers, and most all properly rated ‘sealed appliance’ replacements seem small enough to fit in that area.8)

The DC distribution is pretty much established, from the charger (in the kitchen) to a bus bar (one in the kitchen) to the individual DC circuits (and DC circuit breakers, at one [or 2 points? More DC breakers @ propane tanks!], somewhere along the way). Besides, being a simple 3-wire ‘install & plug’ (the closed box ‘plug-n-play’, ‘sealed appliance’ charger/converter variety), why should I want DC circuit breakers replaced with fuses (do I really want/need to go that far)? ???

Wait! Some Iota use chassis screws! 8) 8)

But most of the Progressives have their sole vent holes on the opposite side of the fan (pulling air across the entire internal area 8) (and the wired wizard) 8)

Hmmm...

 
Okay, my accountant (she doubles as my wife  ::)) has told me, “Buy it.” One issue remains on my mind: Most every brand these days are switching square wave power supplies (not pure sine wave/linear, like, say, the Astrons for my radios 8)). Which brand of charger/converter is the least likely to require additional Faraday shielding/ brute force chokes/ filter capacitors to keep their noise out of my HF radios :mad: :mad:?
 
I have the pure sine wave 2,000 watt Magnum and it's very RF quiet (I use my Elecraft K3s in the coach.) I think most of the higher end non-PSW inverters are modified sine wave, i.e., stepped.
 
Your Astron is a linear supply, all of the inverters I know of use some kind of switching.  Either twice a half cycle to produce a pulsed output (not an actual square wave) or using more steps to approximate a sine wave output.

Pretty much all of them meet the FCC Class B noise standards, but you can get more noise suppression by sending their input and output wires through ferrite cores, etc.  It also helps to make the DC input wires into a twisted pair instead of leaving them straight to act like an antenna between the inverter and the batteries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,336 (members: 27, guests: 1,309)

Forum statistics

Threads
132,009
Posts
1,389,054
Members
137,755
Latest member
cory5999
Back
Top Bottom