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Old 08-10-2018, 06:35 AM   #1
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Converter Replacement

I have a 86 Winnebago and I am replacing the converter with Power Max. The old converter has two positive leads one to the battery cable and the other to the fuse panel. Question is how do I connect the fuse panel? Problem is that I know at time the converter will be putting out 14+ volts and will that hurt my 12 volt system like, lights, refrig controls etc. Any help will be appreciated.
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Old 08-10-2018, 09:21 AM   #2
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1. The 14+ volts won't be an issue, this is standard initial charging voltage and it will taper to a maintenance voltage as your batteries charge. In fact, your new converter will be more battery friendly than your old converter.

2. Can you clarify your current wiring? Are there two positive DC terminals on the old converter, one to the battery and one to the panel, or is there just one terminal with two wires? If there are two positive DC terminals, how are they labeled? Do you have the manual for the old converter showing what they're for? Are the wires to the panel and battery the same gauge wire? It may be that there's no separate, direct connection between your battery and your panel. Can you tell if there is or not? One way to do this is to disconnect the battery wire from your old converter (shore power off) and see if you have 12v power to your lights, etc. If you do, there's a separate feed from the battery to the panel.

3. Have you verified that the wire you say goes to the battery actually does go to it or are you making an assumption based on wire color? I encountered an issue with my 2002 Suncruiser with non-standard color coding.

I have some ideas as to how I'd hook it up but I hesitate to advise you until I know more.
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Old 08-10-2018, 09:58 AM   #3
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there are two positive wires going to the panel one going to heavy battery and the other hook directly to the panel I will try to attach a picture of the old converter on the picture you will see a red wire connecting to one terminal and the blue wire at the top going to the fuse panel
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Old 08-10-2018, 10:31 AM   #4
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I'm going to bow out and hopefully someone who is familiar with this vintage set-up can help you.
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Old 08-10-2018, 06:38 PM   #5
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I am not familiar with that particular WFCO box, either. You should get the number off it's label and find the owners / install manual on google. There's more wires than just for a converter/charger coming from the bottom. The new one likely only has 2 terminals for DC: battery positive (red, yellow, or black typically used) and battery negative (white typically). The old one has 3 wires, I don't know why or what the blue wire is there for.

Good luck.
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Old 08-10-2018, 07:00 PM   #6
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If you look closely at the old converter there are two wires going up to the fuse panel red is hooked to pos battery terminal the blue is hooked to the fuse panel green is neg to the battery.
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Old 08-10-2018, 07:43 PM   #7
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Ok, I can't just sit by and watch.

This is all getting a little confusing with everyone using different descriptions and characterizations of the numbers of wires. Plus, the photo isn't totally clear in showing all the connections and routing.

I see only two wires from the converter section to the panel, one red and one blue.

1. The smaller gauge red wire appears to come from the converter, entering the upper section to the left of the white wire, making an S curve and disappearing behind the fuse panel. I can't see where it connects to the fuse panel. My guess is there is a terminal on the back of the fuse panel that connects to the positive buss of the panel which also connects to the terminal with the larger gauge red wire. The fuse panel needs to be removed to verify this.

2. The blue wire appears to come from the converter, entering the upper section and disappearing behind the fuse panel, then re-appearing over the top and connecting directly to the fuse panel board.

3. The larger gauge red wire on the right appears to be the positive lead to the battery.

My conclusions are:

A. The smaller gauge red wire is positive from the converter to the panel.
B. The blue wire is negative from the converter to the panel.
C. The larger gauge red wire goes from the panel to the battery with no direct connection to the converter.

Ron, can you verify these conclusions?

If my conclusions are verified, and only if they're verified, the positive and negative terminals of the new converter should be connected as follows:

Positive to the smaller gauge red wire to the panel.
Negative to smaller blue wire to the panel.
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Old 08-10-2018, 07:46 PM   #8
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It looks to me like all 3 wires (white, blue, red) are going to the back side of the circuit board with the fuses on it. It looks to me like the blue wire is going to a relay. My guess is that that relay operates when there is 120 volt power being applied to the lower section. My guess is that the blue wire only gets connected to the battery when there is 120 volt power applied to the lower section. The blue wire may feed a particular DC fuse or fuses above that have loads that would drain the battery when not on shore power or using generator. Perhaps a 12 volt heat source mode on the refrigerator. Perhaps tank heaters.

You might be able to figure it out by accessing winnebagoind.com and looking at your RV's wiring diagrams, they should be online.
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Old 08-12-2018, 06:38 AM   #9
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Converter Problem Solved

Problem solved returned Power Max and purchased 1 55-4702 *POWER CENTER, 55A Thanks to all those who helped me.
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