6300 to 7300 Converter Upgrade

[Cateye]

I just installed the upgrade to my 6300 converter purchased from Camping World. All-in-all, it went pretty smoothly and took about 2 hours. It would probably take half that time now that I have perfomed the installation. The only proplem I encountered was removing the old converter since the carpet was installed after the installation of the converter. This also forced me to drill a hole in the converter cabinet for wire access. The instructions were quite good. We'll see how serviceable the new computer is soon....

[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by Cateye

I just installed the upgrade to my 6300 converter purchased from Camping World. All-in-all, it went pretty smoothly and took about 2 hours. It would probably take half that time now that I have perfomed the installation. The only proplem I encountered was removing the old converter since the carpet was installed after the installation of the converter. This also forced me to drill a hole in the converter cabinet for wire access. The instructions were quite good. We'll see how serviceable the new computer is soon....

Will be looking forward to a report of your impressions with the new converter. I'm anticipating installing this upgrade around the 1st of May.

My understanding is the 7500 provides more current (45A vs 32A) and may charge the battery more quickly. It provides a quick charge and a trickle charge like the 6300.

I am looking for a 3-stage unit that will stop charging to prevention overcharging and boiling the battery dry when parked. I have found the Intelli Power by Progressive Dynamics 9100 Series, 40A for $206 or 55A for $251 plus the charge wizzard for $24. Has anyone installed a 3-stage successfully and have anything to report?

The other shortcoming of RV systems is the long cable from TV motor to TM battery has voltage drop preventing full charging while in tow. Running the refrig on 12V aggrivates this problem. Some kind of booster is needed to raise the voltage enough to charge the TM. Any success stories with this issue? The objective is to get to the camp site with a fully charged battery.

Bob Rederick

[Bill]

Bob -

I mounted a 10-amp true-3-stage charger on the wall of the tool compartment of my 2720SL, along with a switch so I could charge from the 6300 converter, or from the 3-stage charger. This is a useful mod for long-term storage, when the 6300 and 7300 series converters both fail so miserably. It works great.

Like you and many others, I have experienced a discharged battery from running the refrig while on the road. How annoying to arrive at a campsite with a flat battery. And if you are arriving at a dry-camping site, it is worse than annoying!

And I agree with your thought that the problem is due, at least in part, to the length of the wiring between the tow vehicle's battery and the camper's battery. In the TM slide models, the battery is located at the far rear of the TM. In the non-slide models, the battery is on the TM tongue, but I don't know if that shortens the wire run at all - depends on how the wire is routed. At any rate, I got so perturbed about this that I actually turned on the refrig, started up the tow vehicle, and made some voltage measurements - at the TV battery, at the 7-pin connector, and at the TM's wire junction under the kitchen sink. As expected, the refrigerator's current drain caused a substantial voltage drop, preventing effective charging of the TM battery. In my case (and it may not be universal), it turned out that 2/3 of the problem was in the tow vehicle wiring. So I dug up a wiring diagram for my vehicle, and found that a) There are at least six separate connectors between the tow vehicle battery and the 7-pin connector, and of course each connector adds resistance. And b), some of the wiring between connectors is done with wiring as light as #14. I was amazed - it should all be done with #10 or heavier. (All of the TM's main-line wiring is #10, BTW.) So I am considering running a separate #10 from the battery to the 7-pin connector - but what a pain! I can't imagine what Ford was thinking.

As you note, some kind of booster is needed. I've been thinking about how to do this for several months, and if I figure it out, I'll post. Haven't found anything commerical, BTW.

Bill

I have been considering upgrading the converter on our TM. I was looking at the Parallax site - they have the 7300 series, the 7300RU series and the 7400 series. Which model is best suited for the TM?

[Bill]

Originally Posted by murphyb74

I have been considering upgrading the converter on our TM. I was looking at the Parallax site - they have the 7300 series, the 7300RU series and the 7400 series. Which model is best suited for the TM?

The 7300 series is a complete converter and AC/DC power distribution center. It is a look-alike for the 6300 series, but has some worthwhile advantages over the 6300 - namely, fully-filtered power, and the ability to charge your house battery at a higher current than the 6300 series can offer.

The 7300RU is an upgrade that converts your old 6300 series to a 7300 series. RU stands for Replacement/Upgrade. The 7300RU is a module that replaces one of the original modules, giving you a 7300 series converter. I haven't done it, but there are lots of descriptions on the web that make it sound pretty easy. It should also be considerably cheaper than a whole new converter.

The 7400 series is in a different physical form factor than the 6300/7300, so it is not appropriate for an upgrade in the TM. It also does not have any AC power distribution, and so again is not appropriate.

If you are even slightly handy, the 7300RU is the way to go. But whether you get a 7300 or 7300RU, be sure to get the "T" (timer) option. This option reduces the battery charge current after a predetermined interval of time, making it less likely that you will overcharge your battery (though it is still possible to do so).

Having said all that, I have been getting very interested in the Progressive Dynamics Inteli-Power 9100 Series Converters. With an option called the Charge Wizard (and despite the cheesy name), it appears to come much closer to being a true 3-stage charger than the Magnetek/Parallax units ever will. And it has a very useful fourth stage (Equalize) that is rare in small chargers. It will fit into the lower half of the 6300/7300 series case, but it is not a simple drop-in replacement like the 7300RU upgrade. Take a look at the converter here

http://www.progressivedyn.com/chargewizard_home.html

Bill

Thanks Bill. I am also looking at the Progressive Dynamics 9100 series and the "Charge Wizard" which seems to make it a 3-stage setup. Here is a link to a conversion with pics by a guy who installed the PD converter in the MagnetTek box:

http://home.comcast.net/~rabarber/magnetek.htm

PD converters come in 30 Amp - 80 AMP. Which would work best with TM?

[Bill]

As the guy in the retrofit article says, the 60-amp unit is the largest that will pyhsically fit into the Magnetek/Parallax case, so I wouldn't go any larger than that. And IIRC, our Magnetek converters are rated 32 amps, so I wouldn't go any smaller than that. Any of the units in between would be fine, with the larger units providing at least the potential for faster battery charging.

Bill

I just completed upgrading my 6300 to a Progressive Dynamics PD9155 plus charge wizard.
You can find some great instructions on the web for upgrading to a PD9160. As mentioned earlier the PD9160 will fit into the Magnetek case, however some of the lower power PD91xx versions including the PD9155 will not fit, so I thought it might be of interest to others how my installation differed.

The PD9155 actually might just squeeze into the lower section of the Magnetek case, both are 4.5" high, but you would need a mallet to help. Suffice it to say that the Progressive Dynamics instructions specifically states that the converter is not designed for a zero clearance installation.
So, what I did was to remove the lower section of the Magnetek altogether and screwed the PD9155 to the TM floor in the resulting freed up space. The converter gets mucho air circulation this way. The problem I encountered was that the Magnetek case's hinged cover mounts to the metalwork that was removed. I got around this by drilling new holes in the cover so I could attach it using holes in the main case and some 5/8" spacers (since the removed part of the case protruded out from the main case by 5/8").

The other change I made was to install a 15amp 120V outlet in the space behind the converter/breaker panel. This allowed me to plug the converter in directly rather than hacking its plug off and hardwiring it into the Magnetek.

Nice Job, Paul. Let me/us know how it works out for you. I certainly like mine.