Progressive Dynamics Wizard Pendant

[1L243]

I just installed the Progressive Dynamics 9260C converter. It comes with the Wizard Pendant that is suppose to show the state of charge by flashing at certain intervals.

The install went fine but a little confused on how the pendant is suppose to work.

My batteries showed that they were fully charged by last night after being plugged into the new converter for several hours.

According to my battery monitor the batteries were only taking in .53 of a amp. That should be Float or storage mode and the Wizard should be blinking every 5 seconds or so. BUT it's not it blinking every other second like in Normal mode.

If I use the manual override button to put it in float mode it eventually will go back to normal mode?

Either it's taking much longer to reach float mode or the Pendant is not working right or it's operator error

Any thoughts

[time2roll]

Give Wizard another week. Everything is working as expected.

[Gdetrailer]

1L243 wrote:
I just checked the battery monitor and it said the batteries were at 100% they were receiving a .53 of a amp charge at 13.6 volts with a 6 watt load.

At the same time the Wizard Pendant was flashing in Normal mode.

It's been about 35 hours since I installed the converter and the trailer has been plugged into shore power during that time.

13.6V at .53A is 7.2W, 6W is going to your "load" and 1.2W is going to your batteries which covers self discharge.

That 6W load may be enough to prevent the Charge Wizard from dropping to storage mode (13.2V).

I would suggest removing all loads then try again.

6W load may be "phantom" loads from the stereo memory, fridge control board, water heater control board (DSI), propane detector and if equipped propane shut of solenoid controlled by propane detector.

My RV has no stereo, no fridge with electronic control board and has a manual pilot light water heater.. My PD pendant has no issue dropping to storage mode and the pair of 6V GC batteries use less than 20 oz of water per yr..

[Bobbo]

You keep saying that your battery monitor shows 100% full, but don't post voltages. I am assuming that you are talking about the idiot lights on the RV wall. That light will show 100% charge anytime the voltage at the battery (note that I did not say OF the battery) is 12.7v or 12.8v, or somewhere in that area. Since the absolute LOWEST voltage your PD will output is 13.2v, that idiot light will ALWAYS show 100% charged while plugged in. It is responding to the PD's voltage, not the battery's voltage. That is a totally meaningless reading.

If you want that idiot light to have at least SOME meaning, unplug the RV from shore power and let it sit for a day for the battery's surface charge to dissipate. Then, and ONLY then, will that idiot light have any POSSIBLE meaning. But, it will still be only a vague indication.

[ken56]

Don't over think it. Installed the same converter with the wizard 2 years ago and it's worked fine ever since. Of course if you have a wet cell battery check the water every so often and state of charge when unplugged from shore. I have an AGM battery and I don't pay much attention to mine unless funny things start to happen electrically.

[wa8yxm]

What kind of battery monitor. The standard indicator on the wall of most RV's will always show "Full up" when plugged in, any "Volt meter" type indicator shows full up when plugged into shore power.
The current may also be different than what you think it is .

Give the Wiz at least a day to charge than read it. worked fine on mine.

[1L243]

I just checked the battery monitor and it said the batteries were at 100% they were receiving a .53 of a amp charge at 13.6 volts with a 6 watt load.

At the same time the Wizard Pendant was flashing in Normal mode.

It's been about 35 hours since I installed the converter and the trailer has been plugged into shore power during that time.

[time2roll]

Boost 14.4 up to 4 hours
Normal 13.6
Storage 13.2 after minimal draw for 30 hours.

What does the voltmeter function say on the monitor?

[DrewE]

The charge wizard basically "upshifts" based on time and "downshifts" based on voltage falling below certain thresholds, resetting the timer. It takes it about 30 hours (per the manual) to switch from normal to storage mode, and will go back to normal mode whenever the system (battery) voltage drops below some value, resetting the 30 hour timer. Similarly, there's a lower threshold to switch to boost mode, and a four hour timer to go from boost to normal mode.

I suspect it's working as designed. Normal mode at about 13.6V is pretty close to what older single-stage converters output all the time; several hours at that level aren't going to cause trouble for the batteries, though days upon days will cause their electrolyte level to drop noticeably.

My 9200 converter (I don't recall offhand if I got the 9245 or 9260) has been wholly satisfactory so far; it works quite well when left to its own devices, in my experience, and I top up the water levels once a year whether they need it or not.