Electrical Question on class C
This is a 2002 Coachmen Pathfinder, 29 foot. I've been reading about batteries and charging and smart vs. dumb chargers/converters and i'm trying to figure out what I have. I can't even FIND a cha...
Forum Discussion
On my '98 Coachmen, the electrical panel looks to be identical. The converter is a separate deck-mount unit, in my case in a sort of compartment underneath the pantry shelves next to the fridge. There's a square of paneling with screws in the corners that hides it from view (as well as a cabinet door that also opens for a bit of a cabinet above the converter compartment).
Assuming the original converter is similar to the one I have (i.e. a traditional ferroresonant or similar design with a big honking transformer, rather than a newer switching power supply design), you quite likely could hear it humming away when you're plugged into shore power. That should give a good clue as to where it's located.
I believe the circuitry things in your second picture are mostly self-resetting circuit breakers protecting the main power leads from the house battery. There may be some other electrical things there, too; it all does tend to look somewhat generic and tracing the wires is probably the most useful way to figure it out. (Possibly the control unit for the power step is around there? or the house/chassis battery isolation relay?)
I'm rather envious of you having an enclosed compartment for the circuit breakers; Coachmen cheaped out on mine and just stuck them on some of the nearby house framework, and they're more or less exposed to the outside world's grime (and hence rather filthy at the moment). I've been thinking of adding some sort of a box in my copious free time.
Assuming the original converter is similar to the one I have (i.e. a traditional ferroresonant or similar design with a big honking transformer, rather than a newer switching power supply design), you quite likely could hear it humming away when you're plugged into shore power. That should give a good clue as to where it's located.
I believe the circuitry things in your second picture are mostly self-resetting circuit breakers protecting the main power leads from the house battery. There may be some other electrical things there, too; it all does tend to look somewhat generic and tracing the wires is probably the most useful way to figure it out. (Possibly the control unit for the power step is around there? or the house/chassis battery isolation relay?)
I'm rather envious of you having an enclosed compartment for the circuit breakers; Coachmen cheaped out on mine and just stuck them on some of the nearby house framework, and they're more or less exposed to the outside world's grime (and hence rather filthy at the moment). I've been thinking of adding some sort of a box in my copious free time.
