Birken Vogt
Grass Valley, Ca
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I recently bought an old '74 Ideal TT that needs some creative wiring redone. The house battery was hooked up backwards and the heater and water pump were also in order to compensate, I guess. I am trying to straighten this out and I have come to a problem.
The power converter (a box with a transformer, 2 diodes, and 3 dc wires with no other markings) is located right next to the heater. The converter has 3 wires. Yellow (grounded), red (puts out power when ac is on) and black (connected by an internal relay to the red wire when ac is OFF, not connected to anything when ac is ON).
I am confused by this. I surmise that originally there was another converter to power the dc loads from shore power and that this one includes the relay to trickle charge the battery only. If this is correct then most likely this device was originally in the compartment with the battery.
And no, I don't want to just buy a modern charger because I am trying not to spend money on such an old trailer. Just trying to make it work good enough to get along.
Thanks
Birken
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quaddriver
NW PA
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model numbers help more....but you should be able to find working linear systems in any rv graveyard or retro fit a slightly better BW or Mag system.
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ksg5000
Oregon
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Agree with Wa8yxm. I know you don't want to spent the money but for about $100 you can buy a PD 9245 and they are easy to install. A converter from 74 is probably on it's last leg.
Kevin
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MrWizard
Traveling
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#1
On old trailers , at the battery, the white wire is the neg-grd
The black wire is the Plus-positive
This was copied from "house" 120v wiring, yeah dumb, but it started way back at the turn of the last century
the wiring does not follow Automotive 12v color coding standards
#2
That old magtec converter switches between battery and converter output that why it has 3 wires, it has relay Inside
With no shore power, It should be wired so the battery power passes thru the relay to the converter and onto the 12v fused circuits, when shore power is plugged in the converter comes on and circuits are powered by the converter Not the battery
Gives us a model number and I might have wiring schematic for the magtec
Converter
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wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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Recommendation: Upgrade that converter to a modern 3-stage type. For one thing it will make the job easier. You have the option of "Gutting" the old and putting the new in it's place or just cut the 120 volt line to the old and wire the new one in ... Elsewhere.
Beyond that I'd have to know what else is powered by that battery.
Water pumps and light bulbs, do not much care which way they get fed.
Control boards (And converters and radios and such) very fussy in this regard.
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
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RoyB
King George, VA
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the old converters work just like the newer converters - just have less capabilities.
The purpose of the converter/charger is to provide battery voltage to operate all of your 12VDC appliances and lights when plugged into shore power. Both the converter/charger and the on-board battery feed the same trailer 12VDC distribution system. The other use of the converter/charger is to charge the battery when you are connected to shore power.
The older converters usually housed one 120VAC Main breaker and maybe three 12VDC fused circuits to be the power distribution center for the 120VAC and 12VDC circuits all inside one box.
The newer Power Distribution Center usually have five or so slots for 120VAC Circuit Breakers and many 12VDC Fuse positions (Mine has 11 DC fused circuits). The newer Converter/Chargers operates from 120VAC and incorporate very stable DC power regulation and high DC amps output and many support the "smart Mode" battery charging modes to maintain your Battery(s). This is a separate chassis module that slides into a compartment of the power distribution unit and is a stand-alone unit.
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me
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Birken Vogt
Grass Valley, Ca
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For now I have it wired like it was, to make DC power for the furnace when plugged into the shore and everything else still runs off battery. The problem the guy had before was that the furnace would not heat when on battery even though the fan would run. This is because the battery was all backwards and the fans were running backwards, so that the sail switch would not turn on the gas flow. At least that's better now and it's a lot quieter too after I oiled the bearings of the "permanently lubricated" motor.
Birken
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smkettner
Southern California
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Sounds like a Magnetec 6300 or similar. It may have an output for the main house loads and a small 3a output to charge the battery. The relay I believe then connects the battery to the house loads direct when no 120v power is available.
Here are some old technical documents and owner's manuals.
http://www.parallaxpower.com/linear.htm
May not be the exact one but may offer the clues you need to get connected.
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Birken Vogt
Grass Valley, Ca
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I'm thinking this must have something missing or reconfigured. You all have good advice but it doesn't quite fit what I have here.
1. The box has no model numbers on it anywhere.
2. It is nothing but a transformer, diodes and a relay in a box. No breakers or fuses or any such thing.
3. The red wire gets connected to the charger when it is powered on but the black is not connected to anything. So I am guessing the red was originally for the battery hot, the black went to the 12v accessories along with another 12v power supply perhaps.
This is all conjecture on my part. I guess I will have to hook it up and see what voltage it settles on as it charges the batteries.
Thanks for the help thus far.
Birken
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Hurricaner
Hurricane Utah
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Joined: 02/17/2007
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The original converters were just that...converters not chargers. You either operated off the converter or the battery by way of the relay. The batteries had to be charged from a separate source.
Sam
Sam & Kari
Hurricane, Utah
2004 34' Damon Challenger 315
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