Total Electrical Upgrade

[gexter]

Greetings, Thanks for posting all the info on your upgrade.
It looks like I am in the market for a new converter and interested in how your humming issue works out.
I have the original progressive dynamics in my 87 roadtrek but when you plug it in to shore power it completely drops the 12V system out and does not charge the battery.
The amount of hours it would take me to see if I can fix it would be more than I can afford.
I think just getting the upgraded unit that you bought would be the right idea if you get the humming issue fixed.
Is there anything you would do different or is it too early to tell that yet.
Does your inverter feed the 115 plugs when you are disconnected from shore power, if it does I am not sure how you wired it in.
All the best.

[markopolo]

Progressive Dynamics is sending me a new electronics board to replace the board in the converter part of the Power Center. It is easy to replace, disconnect some wires, remove one screw and slide out the old board. I'll report back as soon as it is installed. I hear the noise when the is no load or when the is only a very light load like less than one amp. I run LED lights so it is hard to even put a one amp load on. A normal RV type bulb draws more than one amp which would stop the noise. Other than that I like the converter and would buy from Best Converter and get Progressive Dynamics products again. Those are two nice companies to deal with.

Have you checked to make sure the AC breakers are on and working? Also, there could be some main DC fuses to check.

Are you sure you have a Progressive Dynamics converter? Sometimes older Roadtreks have Magnatek or Centurion.

The PD4045 I bought: http://www.progressivedyn.com/all_in_one_pd4000.html has both AC and DC panels in addition to the converter charger. You might not need all that. You might just need to upgrade the converter part. You can probably keep the DC fuse board and AC panel. Look at http://www.bestconverter.com/ for all the replacement boards and converter upgrades.

Roger replaced just the converter in his Roadtrek: http://myroadtrek.homestead.com/NewConverter.html
More converter replacement mods and info:
http://home.earthlink.net/~whemme/
http://home.comcast.net/~rabarber/magnetek.htm
http://www.bestconverter.com/4600-serie ... c_133.html
http://www.bestconverter.com/MagnetekPa ... _c_64.html
http://windsurf.mediaforte.com/roadtrek ... agram.html

Yes, my inverter can power one AC circuit in my van. That circuit gives me an outlet in the kitchen one the the rear bed area and my fridge can run on it also. I have other outlets not on the the inverter circuit. It was easy to do with the Xantrex PROwatt SW Auto Transfer Switch http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/d ... relay.aspx
Owner manual: http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Access ... tch%29.pdf

There are two AC lines and a corded plug on the Auto Transfer Switch. One AC is source, the other is load. The plug simply plugs into your inverter. You can unplug it it you are not using it or leave it in for automatic operation. It senses when you have grid power and automatically switches to inverter power when there is no grid power (if inverter is turned on).

I wired the source line of the Auto Transfer Switch into a breaker in the new electrical panel. The the circuit I wanted to power was connected to the load line of the Auto Transfer Switch.

[gexter]

Thanks for all the information, that will keep my busy.
I checked the the fuses and breakers and it is a progressive dynamics.
When this one was working it used to have loud Hum to it. My hearing is not very good at all and I could hear the hum in our old unit, I could not have it on when I was sleeping.

I contacted progressive dynamics to ask if I can hack the existing unit and put in the new replacement board in the old style unit. I doubt they will recommend it because it might be too challenging for most. We shall see what they say.

I will however give best converter an Email and explain what I want to do and see what they also say. I take it that the cost was good even after shipping or you would not have ordered it.

Thanks again for all the information, I look forward to see how things turn out for you. When I get things done I will do a post up on it as well.

[markopolo]

Best Converter will ship via US Post to Canada so you save on all the fee add-ons that FedEx and UPS have. They add up quickly.
Best Converter 1-888-828-1893 is ready to answer the phone when you call. If Randy is not in the office he'll return the call quickly. Let him know the model number of what you have and he'll suggest a replacement.

[gexter]

Thanks Markopolo.

I just E mailed him with my requirements and my model # it is a PD720Q.

I think I may have left this to the last minute as we generally get out before the snow is completely off the ground and the last trip of the year we either have snow or snows while we are out.

Our first trip may have to hold off until the May long weekend but that is cutting it pretty close considering all the other things that also need doing.

Thanks again.

[markopolo]

PD720Q Manual
http://www.progressivedyn.com/service_d ... MANUAL.pdf
It has a troubleshooting section.

Lots of info here: http://dave78chieftain.zxq.net/ConverterInfo.html

[gexter]

That Second link Might be very handy. When I get home as long as there is no pending project as soon as I walk in the door I think I will be pulling it out tonight to have a closer look.
Thanks.

[gexter]

So many things to do and so little time...
instead messing up this thread too bad, I will keep it short. I will be duplicating what you did in your system. I did have a few minutes to check my PD720Q and there are issues.
The information that I would like to pass along is there is a fella named Wes Miller who is at mastertech that knows the progressive dynamics units very well. He gave me some information that might lead me to fixing/ modding or replacing my unit.
If I can sneak away from family responsibilities for a few minutes this weekend I will be doing some testing.
I might start a new thread if anyone is interested.

[markopolo]

I'm interested. You just never know when this stuff will help someone out there.
I can split your posts from this topic to make a new topic no problem.

[markopolo]

The replacement converter/charger arrived yesterday and I installed it today. It was easy to do:
Unplug from AC grid power.
Disconnect DC power to the converter/charger.
Remove one screw and take the cover off.
Disconnect two DC wires and three AC wires.
Remove one screw and slide out the old unit.
Slide in the new unit and replace the screw.
Reconnect two DC wires and three AC wires.
Put the cover back on and replace screw.
Reconnect DC power to the converter/charger.
Plug back into AC grid power.

This one seems to make less noise. It is hard to tell because it is very windy out there this evening. I can't hear this one when I'm in back where the bed is.
Also, it is doing its 24 hrs or so at 13.6v first use phase. I want to hear it at 13.2v float which should happen sometime tomorrow.
My converter is installed exactly at ear height. I might pass by within six inches of the unit. If it was on the floor I don't think I would notice the noise on the new one.

[gexter]

Nice! glad you got on top of your hum issue. Electrical hum just about drives me crazy, Hmmm well the rest of the way to crazy anyway.
Pictures are always nice

[markopolo]

An update on the replacement PD4045 converter from Progressive Dynamics.
This unit won't go into storage mode. It is stuck on 13.6 volts after being on for 4 days.

My batteries were fully charged when I installed the the replacement PD4045 converter from Progressive Dynamics.
The initial output from the replacement converter was 13.6 volts (normal mode). That is exactly what it should have been according to the owner manual.
After approx 24 hrs, with no load, the output voltage should have dropped to 13.2 volts (storage mode) according to the owner manual.

The PD4045 just won't go into storage mode and 13.6 volts is too high for storage use.

The original PD4045 dropped down to 13.2 volts after approx 24 hours when I installed it. It stayed at 13.2 volts all week after that except for a 15 minute period every 24 hours when it went to 14.4 volts in desulfation mode.

I called Progressive Dynamics today but it was too late to speak to a technician. The person I spoke to did give me troubleshooting info but that hasn't helped.

[gexter]

That sucks! you might have to get yet another board.

[markopolo]

Yeah, I doubt that speaking to a tech will solve the problem. There's just nothing to field adjust on these as far as I know.
I rechecked all connections already. Disconnected the batteries. Went through the steps in the troubleshooting guide. And I used a second volt-meter to be sure.
I'll call them next week.

[markopolo]

Just an update and maybe a work-around. I spoke to a tech at Progressive Dynamics on May 14 about the PD4045 not going into storage mode. He confirmed that there was nothing I could fix and that replacing the board was the only option. I told him I'd test it one more time. After 39 hours the PD4045 was still in normal mode (13.6 volts). I called the tech back and he agreed to send me a replacement board. I asked that they pack it a bit better than the last one as it was loose in the shipping box and would have been bounced around quite a bit in transit. He said it wouldn't be shipped right away because he was going to test it first to make sure that it was (1) quiet and (2) operated according to their specifications.

Well, the replacement board never arrived. I have seen the PD4045 in storage mode (13.2 volts) over the summer but I don't know how long it took for it to get in that mode. The tech probably forgot to send it or it got lost. I should have followed up after a month.

Today, I decided to put in a switch to change the output voltage to a Gel battery charging profile for when I want to reduce the voltage. The PD4045 has two charging profiles. Wet cell and AGM batteries have Boost Mode at 14.4 volts, Normal Mode at 13.6 volts for 30 hours and Storage Mode at 13.2 volts. The Gel battery profile reduces each of those voltage by approximately .4 volts. There are two pins on the board that you short with a jumper to change the PD4045 to use it with Gel batteries. Wet or AGM is 14.4v / 13.6v / 13.2v. Gel is 14v / 13.2v / 12.8v.

A properly operating PD4045 uses time to determine when to go into storage mode. It could be sitting there at 13.2 volts in Storage Mode for a week but if you disconnect from grid power and drive to the store and back home and plug in again it will go straight into Normal Mode (13.6v) for 30 hours. I don't like that. The batteries are fully charged so I think it is unnecessary to have them at 13.6 volts again.

I wanted to be able to lower the voltage at will without having to take off the cover of the PD4045 so I installed a small switch instead of just using a jumper to drop the voltage by .4 volts. I can now change the charging profile whenever I want to by sliding the switch on or off. If I've been driving for 6 hours (after leaving home with fully charged batteries) I can now set the PD4045 to 13.2 volts when I plug in at a campground instead of it being at 13.6v for 30 or more hours.

For most RV'ers automatic operation of the charger is best. I closely monitor my batteries so this added level of control is beneficial to me.

The two pins to be shorted to reduce output voltage by approx .4 volts:


I soldered the wires to the switch and protected it with heat shrink:


The wires are long enough to allow me to unplug them if I need to remove the PD4045 cover:


The installed switch:


Closeup of the switch:


The switch is not visible when the access door is closed:

[gexter]

Nice and simple mod, the best kind!

[markopolo]

I checked today and saw that the PD4045 output voltage in Gel battery charging profile had dropped (as it should) to 12.8 volts. I don't know when it changed though. I moved the selector switch to put it back into the Wet or AGM charging profile and the voltage went back up to 13.2 volts as expected. So, this little mod is working as I hoped.