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RV Converter/Charger PD9160 W/Charge Wizard

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Great charging system, but if you plan on using ham radio gear in the RV, you will have to turn the convertor off if you want to hear anything in the 14mhz area. I called them about it, they said "yes, we know about this, but mobile electronics don't have to meet the FCC standards"



So I just leave the ham gear in the truck and play with it there. Keeps my wife happer that way also (she don't have to listen to it)
 
I have one of those in the Automate and I am very happy with its performance. rvpartsoutlet.com has a better deal than camping world on them if anyone is ever interested in them in the future.
 
We have the Progressive Dynamics Intellipower 9155 with Charge Wizard in our Jayco Designer XL 3610RLTS 5th wheel. It works great. The original battery is still in place after 3. 5 years, and despite being plugged into shore power 24/7 while in storage, the battery only requires water perhaps once or, at most, twice a year.



Rusty
 
Anybody install one of these in the Parallax (formerly MagneTek) units? I know the battery charger in the Parallax unit will over charge the batteries if left connected. Will this unit fit in the lower section of the Parallax unit? The charge wizard option on the IntelliPower unit sounds like a great system for maintaining healthy batteries.
 
I'll be installing this unit in my old Magnetek 6325. Apparently if you remove the lower converter/charger section from the breaker panel, the 9160 will physically fit into this space. I believe that some of the websites post the phisical dimensions of the 9160 so you can double check.



P. S. Kermitdafrog over at woodalls.com sent me a well-written procedure with pictures for doing this conversion which leaves the existing 6300 load center in place. I would want to get his permission before posting it here.
 
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I removed the lower section of my old Parallax/Magnatek converter/charger and installed the Intellipower but not actually inside the cabinet. The new unit is roughly where the original was but is attached to the floor.



I didn't think of it when I installed mine but a mobile RV tech told me that it is a mistake to install the new Intellipower at a distance from the batteries like it is in my old Avion TT because of the typical small gauge of the original charge wiring in most older RVs and the distance involved. The original charger section had a charge capacity of only about 5 amps! He pointed out, rightly, that the Intellipower has the capability to produce as much as 60 amps of charging current depending on which unit is installed. If the RV's batteries are discharged, the excessive charging current produced by the Intellipower could burn out the RV's charge wiring. He suggested that it is better to mount the Intellipower in a front compartment, near the batteries, connected to the batteries with a heavy gauge wire. He also suggested that there is no reason why the Intellipower could not receive 115 volt ac input by simply plugging it into the nearest utility outlet in the trailer.



I didn't do either but I think he made good points. Something to think about for future Intellipower installers.



Harvey
 
Harvey, your RV tech brings up some valid points and offers "wise" installation techniques. However, I can assure you that for at least some of the older models (6300 series), they cannot supply this kind of current even if they were sitting on top of the battery. I've examined the schematic and seen the components used. Additionally, they offer a single "fixed" voltage (meaning that the battery will be either undercharged or or will "cook" the battery) and they have "unfiltered" outputs! Yech!
 
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charger/converter conversion complete!

I just finished my conversion from a the MagneTek 6300 Series Charger/Converter to the Inteli-Power PD9160V and Charge Wizard PD9105V. The differences are night and day! I went from a 120-hour charge time to a 3-hour charge time without the potential of harming the battery. If anyone is interested in this procedure with pictures, I outlined it in a Word document. It is roughly 4. 5-Megs however, so expect a long download time with a dial-up.



Edit: After degrading the picture quality a bit more, I now have the procedure down to about 400k which shouldn't be too bad as far as download time is concerned.
 
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Re: charger/converter conversion complete!

Originally posted by dresslered

I just finished my conversion from a the MagneTek 6300 Series Charger/Converter to the Inteli-Power PD9160V and Charge Wizard PD9105V. The differences are night and day! I went from a 120-hour charge time to a 3-hour charge time without the potential of harming the battery. If anyone is interested in this procedure with pictures, I outlined it in a Word document. It is roughly 4. 5-Megs however, so expect a long download time with a dial-up.



Edit: After degrading the picture quality a bit more, I now have the procedure down to about 400k which shouldn't be too bad as far as download time is concerned.
Click to expand...



I'd like to see your conversion. I've got broadband so go ahead and send the original 4. 5 mb document.



My trailer has the Parallax 7355 unit which uses the newer switching technology to provide 12 volts but as far as I can tell the charger section runs at two levels (full charge and trickle). It's not designed to be left connected to the batteries for long periods of time.
 
Slo-ryde (how come I get a tune in my head whenever I say that?), I need you to send me a PM with your email address as I have no way of attaching a document otherwise. I might also add that these chargers are designed for wet-cell batteries and do not support multiple banks. For my application, I did not feel that these features were necessary.
 
I can upload the articles to my website if you want so that anyone can download them. Let me know. Email to -- email address removed -- if you want me to do it.
 
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Thanks Klenger, the draft is on its way. Please feel free to make any changes that I may have left out. I merely intended to capture what I did as I had a couple of friends interested in the conversion as well. Also, if other can add to it, we might be able to cover more than one converter type.
 
David, thanks for the excellent conversion info. You sure do nice work!



Klenger, thanks for making the documents available!
 
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Very Nice Job David, now you have a charging system. I love mine, I keep it plugged in all the time at home and have no problems.
 
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Issue 128 – Digital Version
Digital Magazines
FREE!
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Renew
Subscribe
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Back Issues
Subscription Status
Address Change Form
Buyer's Guides
Ram Diagnostic Trouble Codes
The Perfect Collection
The Perfect Collection Vol. II
TSB Updates
Dodge/Cummins Historical Overview
Cameron Collection
What Makes Us Tick?
Product Showcase
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