Power converter issue new to me RV

[Ghostlady]

Hi! I’ve never owned an RV before and we purchased an old 2003 coachmen cascade for pretty cheap. One thing that didn’t work on it when we purchased was any of the 12 volt lighting except for the one in the bathroom. It was used as a full time trailer and actually had a deck built around it, it was totally stationary for most of its former life. So I figured ok maybe this guy said to heck with the power converter when it went out and wired his bathroom light up for 120 volt since he was always plugged into shore power. We plan to move around in it so this would not work for us—also I just want lights and the fans to work. I shouldn’t have assumed that was the case I don’t think.

Because I went to replace the power converter and something is wrong and now neither the DC nor the AC work. Well the AC plug in that I fashioned from the breaker itself does work because the power converter lights up. However the rest of the AC circuits are now not working and neither is the DC. I think it’s also important to mention that the PO disconnected and got rid of the battery entirely.

From what I can tell, there was a red white and blue wire that connected to the old power converter. It must have been doing something since now nothing works after I disconnected it. The black and white wire were the only other wires I disconnected from the old inverter. They were simple enough to fashion to an outlet and do plug in. I should also mention that currently I don’t have the new battery put in either. However I didn’t think that would affect whether or not the converter works.

So any idea what’s going on? The converter won’t even start up although there is a green light to tell me it’s on. This is probably a stupid question but why would the 120 volt stop working now? If all I did was cut off connections that went to the old power converter only? And another stupid question is do the wires you connect come out of the new converter or am I supposed to be using the old wires

[wa8yxm]

I agree without knowing what the old converter is
And the new
Hard to help as there are many systems.

The best Progressive Dynamics or IOTA with IQ4 but which model is the question

[BFL13]

"So any idea what’s going on? The converter won’t even start up although there is a green light to tell me it’s on. This is probably a stupid question but why would the 120 volt stop working now? If all I did was cut off connections that went to the old power converter only? And another stupid question is do the wires you connect come out of the new converter or am I supposed to be using the old wires"

Seems like you got a PowerMax LK deck mount with LED. You took the 120v black and white wires from the old converter connection/breaker, and attached a receptacle to plug in the deck mount which has a plug-in cord for its 120v input. The green light comes on when you plug that in. And the DC output will now be live.

The deck mount has set-screw output terminals, no wires. You need a white wire and a red wire at least #8AWG to go from the converter to the fuse panel lugs.

If there is no 120v anymore, you could have popped the Main breaker or the converter breaker or the one outside where the shore power cord is plugged into.

https://powermaxconverters.com/product/pm3-12v-series/

[CA_Traveler]

First post model numbers and RV type/dates for better input. You may not be able to find the same model equipment but there are substitutes and perhaps better ones.

Also search for and get wiring diagrams and even if not the exact ones they can be useful. Also plan on wiring changes/modifications that need to be corrected or replaced. It could be minor or extensive and you could need equipment and time to resolve.

[time2roll]

Ok this would be a good time to post the model number of the old converter. Model of new converter.
Maybe a picture? Have you measured the battery voltage?

Does it look anything like this?

https://www.bestconverter.com/Magnetek-Upgrade_ep_26-1.html

[BFL13]

"From what I can tell, there was a red white and blue wire that connected to the old power converter. It must have been doing something since now nothing works after I disconnected it. The black and white wire were the only other wires I disconnected from..."

From that it is likely the old converter was a Magnetek/Parallax 63XX type, which is different in some ways from a modern type. To do this right please provide the model/brand of the new converter you are trying to install.

Meanwhile, you need 120v to the converter which you have via the black and white input wires. The output wires go to a DC fuse panel, which has all the fuses for the various 12v circuits you want working.

The battery also connects to this fuse panel which will have set-screw lugs for the pos and neg battery wires.

The 63XX converter has three 12v output wires going to its fuse panel. red and blue are both pos, and the white is the neg.

The 63XX model has dirty 12v output which is ok for lights and fans but not for electronics. So the battery is required to be connected to run the electronics circuits to be a filter so they get clean 12v.

The battery itself provides clean 12v so all circuits can be run from it when off-grid. Modern converters also provide clean 12v so they do not need any battery to act as a filter, and their fuse panels are not split. So they have two output wires, neg and pos. White is neg and often blue is pos. You can use the old split panel if there, but you must jumper the two pos lugs where the red and blue go, and then put the one pos output wire on the new converter to one of those lugs.

You need to organize a fuse panel to get your newer converter working to supply the 12v circuits. You need a battery to run them off grid.

There are units you can buy that have the whole power centre to them, which include an AC breaker panel, a DC fuse panel, and a converter, if your rig no longer has these.

https://powermaxconverters.com/product/ppc-series-draft/

Here is a link with some photos showing some of these things mentioned above where a guy replaced his 6300 with a different converter, to give you some idea what is involved. But the detail for your own situation will be different depending on which model of converter you got and what is still left in the rig after the PO's efforts.

https://www.bestconverter.com/Magnetek-Upgrade_ep_26-1.html