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72cougarxr7's avatar
72cougarxr7
Explorer
Feb 18, 2016

New converter for my 1988 Prowler

The converter in my 15 foot Prowler is a Magnetek tu-730-2.
It is noisy (constant humming) and takes forever to charge my single 12v battery.
I am considering an upgrade and was looking at the Progressive Dynamics 9100 or 9200 series.
I like the multi stage charging and they are much quieter unit from what I have heard.
I also see that I could upgrade my 30 amp unit and the 40 or 45 amp units are only a few dollars more.

Just looking for advise and suggestions or any other converters I should look at.

Thanks!

6 Replies

  • Your Magnetek 30 Amp converter will only charge at whatever current the battery will accept at a charge voltage of 13.? volts, probably only about 5 amps. The PD will have a charging voltage of 14.4 volts and will charge at a much higher current, depending on your battery. Your converter to battery wire may be too small for the charging current from the new PD converter.

    Depending on the length of the wire and the number of batteries you have, you might be better off replacing the existing converter to battery wire with a larger gauge wire, say #4. The larger wire will also result in a faster charging rate since more of the 14.4v will be reaching the battery, less resistance in the wire.
  • Thanks for the replies! I was looking at either a 9140 or 9245. The wiring going to the battery will be replaced as it has been cut and spliced in a couple spots, so I would feel better with a new larger gauge wire.

    I'm glad my initial thoughts with the PD unit seem to be in the ball park.
  • x3 or whatever on the PD 9245 (or whatever model you choose). Before buying anything much larger than the 45A version, check what gauge wire you have (if you aren't intending to rewire at the same time) and what sort of fuse or circuit breaker protection you have at the other end. It's none too useful to get an 80A converter if the charge current is going through an 8 gauge wire with a 40A self-resetting circuit breaker.
  • A PD 9245 can be powered with a 1000 watt generator.
    Anything bigger needs a 1500 to 2000 watt.
    The PD 9100 series needs the remote charge wizard to make it a 3-4 stage
    The 9200 series has the internal charge wizard, but still needs the remote pendant to give you manual control over the 3 stages.
    And don't get suckered into a Wfco converter that Camping World is selling on ebay !!

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