magnetek 6345 upgrade to progressive dynamics 4645

[starcraft69]

Time to replace the really old magnetek 6345. I have needed to do this for a while. The old unit has been making more noise and getting warm. So after doing research on here in the truck camper university sticky, thank you for that guys. I have decided to go with the PD4645. This was a super easy project with the instruction's from progressive dynamics. Total time was about a hour and that was really taking my time. I purchased my new PD4645 from local RV trailer supply for about $22.00 more than online. I try to buy all my camper needs from them, and they do there best to be competitive on prices to reward my loyalty. The extra money is worth it, I can walk out with the product and they give me any tech support I may need. Lets get started with the project!!!!!!



The old unit opened up



Note made in America



The new converter/charger and new control board


Swapping the control panel wire for wire and fuses



New board wired now time to swap converter/charger. Note the burn from old converter (SCARY)



New converter/charger in and the last five wires!!!!!!





New fuse panel list and done







I hope this will help anyone wanting to try this. As I had said this is a simple project with step by step instruction's. Thanks for all the help on here guys, The sticky boards have been invaluable in owning a older camper.

[ticki2]

With the cables removed from the converter , the converter plugged in , test with multimeter between + and - terminals on converter for voltage . Report results . Then with cables disconnected from converter and connected to battery check for voltage at the cable ends that where disconnected from the converter , should be battery voltage . Report results .

[biggjb]

I am not sure. I removed all wires attached to the battery. The electric jacks and solar panel were wired directly to battery. The main cables to the camper were the only wires attached. When I removed the old converter I tried to follow the battery cables but could not. I am not sure where I would find the inline fuse if it has one.

[djg]

Does it have an inline fuse to the battery mine has one and it was hidden behind a panel not even on the board found it had a blown fuse, fixed and now all is good Dave

[biggjb]

Yes, however, I have a Todd Engineering Power switch (automatic transfer switch) onboard and was wondering if it could be faulty as the camper is a 1999.

[ItsyRV]

Did you replace both the converter and the DC board?

[biggjb]

I changed out my old Magnetex 6300 with the PD 4645 as well as the old Magnetex was not charging my battery. upon making the change I also noticed that the new converter was not charging my battery as well. I contacted Randy at Best Converter and he tried to walk me through the trouble shooting but we could not find the problem. The new converter provides the 13.8v required to charge the battery but for some reason it will not charge it. With battery out the converter is supposed to provide 12vDC to the DC circuit, however, it does not. I am at a loss as to what the problem. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.

[jmcgsd]

starcraft69 wrote:
Your charging time will decrease by quit a bit. I just got back from a hunting trip way back in the boondocks we watched TV every night and used lights like we were plugged in to shore power. I only had to run the Honda 2000 about 1.5-2 hrs to bring the batts up to full charge. To soon to tell but battery life should last longer.

Interesting. I am considering the upgrade primarily because of the length of time it takes he battery to recharge. How long did it take before the upgrade?
Thanks.
Joe

[arto_wa]

bbaker2001 wrote:
heck I have plenty of room, might use deck mount also.
guess it is same system.

This is what it is:

https://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9160a_2.html


Here is another photo of my installation:

[bbaker2001]

heck I have plenty of room, might use deck mount also.
guess it is same system.

[arto_wa]

Looks like a very nice job!


My upgrade from magnetek was quite a bit easier due to "deck mount" installation:

[garbonz]

bbaker2001 wrote:
my new-old cardinal has the magnetek 6345 unit. I probably should replace it. is PD4645. a 3 stage unit, or is there something else I need to look for.

All PD retrofit converter/chargers are 3 stage well designed chargers.

[bigfootford]

Wow, great job on that install and your confidence that you could do it!

Remember that you do have that button to boost or drop the charging stage. Learn to use it.

You will find sometimes that when you plug in to shore power to charge that the PD sets its charge stage by the voltage of the battery (s). Think 12.3 is the trigger point to go into bulk/boost mode 14.4 vdc. You can just activate boost with that button and reduce the charge time sometimes by more than an hour.

When my battery (s) are hot 90deg + because of hot weather I drop the charge stage to 13.6 Absorb to keep my batteries from boiling too much.

Jim

[jefe_4x4]

Great photos of your PD 4645 upgrade. This should go in TC University's electronic section. So far, I've been very happy with our Mag 4645 upgrade. The old, original 63XX had a ballast resistor, like for a car. Add a few wooly buggers or something that crawls and you have a ripe stage for a fire. Luckily, that never happened. The 63XX just stopped working. It's difficult to access the value of the PD upgrade since we added 200 watts of solar; all interior LED's and a new battery keeping everything up all the time no matter what our watt usage. Once we start using the heater and other more watt-hungry appliances we'll see how close to the edge we actually are. Another upgrade was an aluminum shroud behind the refer exterior grill allowing us to actually travel now with propane running the fridge. I still keep checking everything, but my faith in the upgrades grows daily.

[starcraft69]

Your charging time will decrease by quit a bit. I just got back from a hunting trip way back in the boondocks we watched TV every night and used lights like we were plugged in to shore power. I only had to run the Honda 2000 about 1.5-2 hrs to bring the batts up to full charge. To soon to tell but battery life should last longer.