Converter Fried

[Elkhunter]

Ok, so my Cedar Creek converter died last fall during the last trip out and I am getting ready to replace the lower unit in the converter. Upon taking it apart to inspect, the circuit board was fried and has moved on to another life. So here's my question......I have found a replacement lower unit for it.....it is a Parallax 7355, so one option to replaced is the 7355R which is the lower unit only. That would be replacing with the exact same lower unit it has in it. From what I can find, another option would be the Progressive Dynamics PD4655. Pricing is not the issue as they are both comparably priced. My question is, which is a better unit? We use our fifth wheel most every weekend all summer long, so it stays plugged in to keep the battery up and the refrigerator cold. Most of our camping is dry with no electrical other than my genset. Any recommendations?

[Elkhunter]

I ordered the PD4655 last Sunday night, received it in the mail on Wednesday from Amazon for $216 total including shipping/tax. My electrically minded father in law came down today and in about an hour and a half, we had the old fried converter swapped out and the new one in. He had forgotten his voltmeter but all appears well. It will cycle through the charge modes using the override button, I have lights and everything inside works again! He is coming back down tomorrow and we will check the voltage to make sure it is performing as it is supposed to but right now all seems well.....no smoke, no sparks!

[overthehillbill]

Another vote for the PD 9200 series. I replaced the WFCO when it died three years ago.

[ScottG]

Glad I could help.
No splicing with mine, I got the PD9260 and the pendant just plugs into it.
I don't know of any advantage to the other model but this one fits perfectly. You could also mount it outside the converter which is the way some RV manufacturers use it. (Friends new Arctic Fox has it just mounted inside a cabinet)

Good luck,
Scott

[Elkhunter]

Hey ScottG, thanks for the pics and post. So it looks like the PD4655 that I'm looking at comes with its own metal box that should slide right in and is already drilled. I see in your pics that you also got the pendant thingy. Which PD unit did you purchase? The one I got says that I can also use the pendant but have to cut the harness in half and rewire it. Did you do that?

[ScottG]

Elkhunter wrote:
Well, it sounds like most are leaning towards the Progressive Dynamics. Is the install of the PD very simple? I am certainly not an electrician and when taking the old unit out, took good notes and it was a simple uninstall but was planning on putting back in the same unit to simplify the reinstall.

It has been a while since I looked at my notes, but as I recall, all I had was a black and white coming down from panel. I had to disconnect a white from the back of the bank and a black from a ground. Any corrections and assistance on what it takes to reinstall the PD?

It's not hard really. It boils down to a 120VAC connection to the breaker and a 12VDC connection to the fuse panel. Both of these connection basically just go back where the other ones did. I bypassed the old reverse polarity fuses built into the Paralax fuse panel because the PD has its own but this step isn't critical.
The mounting is just a matter of pulling out the metal box that the old 7355 lives in and removing the electronics. Then justdrill three holes to mount the PDI in there and slide the metal cabinet back in. I was surprised how quickly it went.

Here's a pic of the 7355 converter section in it's metal box.


Here's a pic of the PD9260 installed in the old metal box and put back in the Paralax housing. I also elected to install the light switch on the right of the converter to cut power to it if need be.


Scott

[rhingst]

Get the Progressive Dynamics Intellipower with the Charge Wizard and you will hardly ever have to add water.

[rattleNsmoke]

Here's a good place to order.

http://www.makariosrv.com/pd4655-intelli-power-4600-upgrade-converter-with-charge-wizard-55-amp/


I replaced a failing WFCO unit last spring with a comparable PD converter with the Charge Wizard. So far, so good. Makarios also had the best pricing I could find on a hard wired PI surge protector. Good luck.
Mike

[Elkhunter]

Well, it sounds like most are leaning towards the Progressive Dynamics. Is the install of the PD very simple? I am certainly not an electrician and when taking the old unit out, took good notes and it was a simple uninstall but was planning on putting back in the same unit to simplify the reinstall.

It has been a while since I looked at my notes, but as I recall, all I had was a black and white coming down from panel. I had to disconnect a white from the back of the bank and a black from a ground. Any corrections and assistance on what it takes to reinstall the PD?

[Veebyes]

Since you do mostly dry camping have you considered taking the plunge & marinizing your trailer abit with a 3 stage inverter/charger? Eliminate the converter component.

[Shadow_Catcher]

You have only to do a search on WFCO/paralax problems and then do a similar search for PD. Progressive Dynamics made in the US very good customer service. Everyone else made purity much made in China and of dubious quality.

[shadoow]

when our converter (WFCO) went out (after just 2 yr) I replaced it with a Progressive 3-stage model for about the same price. To me it was a better deal cause the functionality of the Progressive was better, cost about the same and didn't want to go back to the model that just failed.

[RoyB]

I use the PD9260C here with my battery bank. I replaced a perfectly good WFCO Converter/charger with the PD9200 series converter/charger so that I could depend on getting smart mode charging anytime i wanted to. I could never get my WFCO unit go into smart charging mode.

The PD4600 and PD9200 series converter/chargers are great units.

Roy Ken

[VintageRacer]

I have the PD 4635 replacement kit in my truck camper. Very happy with it, it is an intelligent 3 stage converter that uses current limiting to keep a steady 13.6 volts all the time. New ones come with the charge wizard, which does true bulk charging. Nice unit, easy to install.

Brian

[time2roll]

The 4655 is a hundred times better than a 7355 in all conditions.