If I went to a Progressive Dynamics Converter.......

PD in the WFCO slot with existing wire will serve you well. Pull wire only if needed. You probably have #6 already, not a huge deal.

Flip a timer

Thanks for all the info guys. I still don't quite see the logic int he charge wizard and I think it's safe to say I must have read the manual incorrectly. My Solar controller though nothing fancy just charges like a big dog at 14.8 til the batteries are full then shuts down to float. I can set to automatically equalize every 28 days, it will equalize @ 15.3v for 3 hours or I can push a button to manually equalize. I've thought about mounting a converter in the front as mentioned and there is 120v right there, so that would be reasonably possible. Problem is, my little rig is very tight up there and fitting a converter in there will be pretty tight. I don't see the day I need an inverter. I'm a little un-easy about having to throw switch when changing my set up from genny to shore. I don't need another thing to remember! My buddy just toasted his converter forgetting to flip a switch. Kind of why I was thinking of going with some bullet proof(big)wire from a PD unit in the factory location. Everything would be as it was, except that it would work right.

Thanks for the help.

landyacht318 wrote:
If one wants to use thicker cables than will fit in the cable receptacles, there are adapters available, or one can simply destrand at the connection until it fits. It's not going to cause any measurable voltage drop or excessive heating destranding a 0 gauge cable to 4 awg at the connection.

Never, Ever destrand a connection for any reason!!!:M

WTH
A sixty dollar megawatt would do the same for a third the money.

opnspaces wrote:
^ BFL, can you clarify a bit.

Assuming the Original Poster (OP) has the original charge controller somewhere near the middle or rear of the RV.

Ignoring the inverter suggestion for a moment, You are suggesting putting the new Progressive Dynamics (PD) charger in the front storage compartment. This will allow the OP to run a much shorter charge cable to the batteries by going through the floor and up to the batteries on the other side of the wall.

The original #8 wire from battery to old charger/fuse panel can be left alone as it is what powers the coach. The only difference is that this #8 wire is no longer used to charge the batteries.

If possible the OP should find a way to disconnect and cap off the 120V AC and the 12V DC wiring that fed the original charger so it is out of the picture.

This makes sense as far as the battery hookup. But how does the shore power get to the new PD to charge the batteries? Would the OP run an additional three wire (pos, neg, gnd) from the original breaker box down through the floor in the rear and up through the hole in the front by the PD? If this is the suggestion and the user has an 18 foot run, would standard 14g wiring be sufficient for the 120v AC run?

Bringing the inverter back into the equation. Am I correct that your suggestion of running the shore power cord forward and into the front compartment is only for powering the RV through the inverter?

When running the trailer on batteries and using the shore power cord to the inverter. The OP must find a way to disconnect the PD charger to prevent a losing electrical loop. The loop being the batteries power the inverter which goes through the shore power cord to the coach. The coach then uses the newly added AC wiring to the PD charger and tries to charge the batteries. So the batteries are trying to charge the batteries.

Did I get it all correct?

I didn't say OP should get a PD (unless that is what he wants :) )

No need to disconnect the 120v from the WFCO. Just have a way to turn it off if going on inverter. He can then still have the WFCO to do 13.6 on shore power, and he can leave his -perhaps- PowerMax LK set to 14.8v up front to use when on generator off-grid. Saves having to adjust the voltage on the LK so much. Just for equalizing now. Or whatever.

If he sells the rig, the WFCO stays as OEM and he keeps his new converter for himself. It is a spare if the new converter dies for some reason.

There is no DC wiring that feeds the WFCO. Leave its output DC connected to the DC fuse panel as now.

Yes, you need 120v for the new converter up front. In the 5er I just used a receptacle that was on the front wall just inside where the converter was on the other side in the front storage compartment. Depends on the rig what you can do. Pass an extension cord from up front into where it cam be plugged into the nearest receptacle?

Unless it is an 80 amp PD that needs a 20a (120v) circuit and 12g wire, the converter up to 75 amp size will run on a 15a circuit ( a 100a PF corrected one will too) so 14g is ok.

On inverter, just unplug the front converter. The WFCO 120v is turned off however that can be done --add a switch to its 120v or use its breaker if it has its own breaker.

Yes, the shore power cord goes to the inverter after you arrive as part of setting up when off-grid. When you want to recharge the batts, you get out your portable gen, unplug the shore power from the inverter and plug it into the gen.

That means staying on gas to run the fridge going down the road. If you want to run the fridge off inverter going down the road, you need another way to run the cord.

The OP already has solar, so no need to change anything, but you can put the controller in with the inverter and new converter to get a shorter run to the batteries for the controller's output. That can mean not seeing the controller's display so often. Means find a wire route up to the solar panels from there too.

If you add a Trimetric or similar to the deal, now you need the 500a shunt up there with the new things, which means re-route the neg wires now on the battery neg, including the one to the frame. Your long wire to the monitor's display comes through to inside, same hole as for the inverter's remote.

If the controller inside has a remote temp comp wire to the battery bank now, then it must have gone through a hole, which might be useful.

^ BFL, can you clarify a bit.

Assuming the Original Poster (OP) has the original charge controller somewhere near the middle or rear of the RV.

Ignoring the inverter suggestion for a moment, You are suggesting putting the new Progressive Dynamics (PD) charger in the front storage compartment. This will allow the OP to run a much shorter charge cable to the batteries by going through the floor and up to the batteries on the other side of the wall.

The original #8 wire from battery to old charger/fuse panel can be left alone as it is what powers the coach. The only difference is that this #8 wire is no longer used to charge the batteries.

If possible the OP should find a way to disconnect and cap off the 120V AC and the 12V DC wiring that fed the original charger so it is out of the picture.

This makes sense as far as the battery hookup. But how does the shore power get to the new PD to charge the batteries? Would the OP run an additional three wire (pos, neg, gnd) from the original breaker box down through the floor in the rear and up through the hole in the front by the PD? If this is the suggestion and the user has an 18 foot run, would standard 14g wiring be sufficient for the 120v AC run?

Bringing the inverter back into the equation. Am I correct that your suggestion of running the shore power cord forward and into the front compartment is only for powering the RV through the inverter?

When running the trailer on batteries and using the shore power cord to the inverter. The OP must find a way to disconnect the PD charger to prevent a losing electrical loop. The loop being the batteries power the inverter which goes through the shore power cord to the coach. The coach then uses the newly added AC wiring to the PD charger and tries to charge the batteries. So the batteries are trying to charge the batteries.

Did I get it all correct?

https://www.google.ca/search?q=Creekside+20fq&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib8Nq73pLoAhXWFzQIHYsCAYcQ7Al6BAgFECI&biw=1024&bih=422&dpr=1.25

You have a front compartment close to the battery bank on the tongue (assumed location) so you can just put your new converter in there and leave the WFCO and all that wiring work alone.

Getting wires from the front compartment to the batteries in a TT like that seems to be usually done by drilling a hole in the floor and going under and up instead of through the front cap.

Now is your chance to add an inverter to go with the converter. Your four 6s can run a 2000w inverter which can run the MW, eg. They can share the same wires going to the battery bank. You run your shore cable into that front compartment to plug it into the inverter (via 30/15 adapter) and unplug the new converter and disconnect the 120v from the WFCO too. Fridge on LP not on Auto.

You can put a "cable hatch" in the compartment door so you can close and lock the door with the shore cable still in there for when you are away from the rig.

The rig's 12v still uses the same long wires back to the DC fuse panel as now, no need to change any of that.

Choice of converters is mostly about your own style for automatic vs manual being there, as noted above. Your four 6s can take big amps for faster charging but you need a big enough generator for that. EG a typical "2200" can just manage a 75 amp non-PF corrected charger, but a "2000" would be for a 60 amper.

(See my profile for what my choices are for inverter and converters.)

Inverters have a remote on/off switch with a long telephone-like wire you would run back into the TT from that front compartment.

That would be one way to do an upgrade. YMMV of course.

I will try to find a photo of the cable hatch in the door trick I did with the 5er we had.

Vintage465 wrote:
If I went to a Progressive Dynamics retrofit I'd be re-conductoring to #1 or #2 wire from the converter to the batteries. I was reading that their charging profile is to pack 14.4 or 14.6 volts to 90% of the charge. Then somewhat float it up to 100% with 13.5-ish volts? To me this doesn't really seem like that great of "wizardry" even though it's called the charge wizard.

You were informed wrong.
Absorption is 14.4 volts same as bulk Just current is lower
when full it drops to 13.x and then after 20 hours kicks back up for like 15 minutes to keep things stirred up a bit. (Equalization and anti-stratification)

My OEM interstates lasted 9 years with moderate addition of Water.

I have done some research and frankly believe the Wizard to be the best charge controller made.

I switched from the WFCO to the PD and my batteries come up to full charge very fast. With the WFCO, I could be plugged in for over a day and still not be fully charged. Not cheap, but compared to new batteries not a bad investment. If you look at owning an RV, there are really just expenses, not any real "investments."