Progressive Dynamics PD4135 Power Converter Installation

GreatWhiteNorth

Just finished installing the PD4135 converter into our 2004 T@B T2.  It replaced the factory installed WHCO/Century CS3000 converter, which didn't (any longer convert).  It would distribute AC & DC battery power fine, but wouldn't charge the battery, had no 12V output.  I ordered the converter from http://www.bestconverter.com/4135_c_226.html  The installation instructions are inadequate, even for someone with a good understanding of basic electrical.

The instructions: http://www.bestconverter.com/assets/images/Progressive_Dynamics/4135/4135man.pdf
 
Thankfully, Google searches revealed pertinent discussions in other online RV forum threads, which yielded tips and hints, which filled in the blanks for me.  I'll share what I learned here.  Replacing your power converter yourself is a helluva way to get knowledgeable on your campers electrical system!

NOTE: the converter requires a taller and narrower opening (as compared to the CS3000 converter).

1.  AC connection. The circuit breakers were same type between converters, but I bought two new 15A breakers anyways.  Shore power 120V AC goes to the AC "in" hot/black, bottom screw on the main 30A breaker, which then feeds the Buss... and the Buss feeds the adjacent 15A breakers. You need one breaker dedicated to connect the black lead for the converter board. The other 15A breaker will be for the power outlets, and fridge.

For AC wires,
green = ground
white = neutral
black and any other color = hot (connected to the circuit breaker terminals)

2.  The converter is wired to a separate breaker for the AC input to the converter. By converter, I mean the section that produces 12V DC and charges your batteries. The box that holds the converter also has the AC distribution with circuit breakers and the DC distribution panel with fuses. These distribution panels are not part of the converter although the term converter is often used for the entire box.

There are 3 circuit breaker slots in the AC distribution panel. The 1st is taken by the input Main 30 amp breaker, which is full width.  The 2nd slot was used for the 15A breaker powering electrical outlets (exterior & interior), and the refrigerator.  The 3rd slot was used for the 15A breaker powering the converter itself.

The slots can be filled with half width circuit breakers, if you need another breaker (or two).  One breaker should be dedicated for powering the converter electronics. The converter breaker can be as small as 10 amps (or even less), but 15 amp breakers are more typical and more available.

3.  DC connection. The battery positive lead is connected to the red lead coming out of the back behind the DC fuse board. If you're looking at the back of the unit it is the red lead that is the furthest to the right (furthest outside). You'll see that it aligns with the left most DC fuse (looking from the front). That is the DC Main 40A fuse (reverse polarity protection). The adjacent fuse and corresponding red lead is for an optional second 12V battery input. The next 5 black leads are for individual DC circuits (positive output). There are 8 lead wires coming out of the back of the unit; the white wire on the far left is ground, connect that to battery negative, together with the negative side of each DC circuit. 

The four DC circuits our camper has are

- furnace,
- refrigerator,
- lights,
- liquid propane (LP) gas detector

Not sure which circuit the fan is on.

4.  Our camper has a solid copper wire which is chassis ground.  This must be connected to AC ground.

I'll insert a few pics:

The finished front side, everything connected up:

 

Rear view from above...  I used twist on house wiring type connectors, and secured them with electrical tape:



... and finally, with the cover on:



I function checked it, all good, and confirmed the converter was charging the battery with a 13.6V output.

4ncar

Good work! I just did the same.  My converter quit working, but was still under warranty; WFCO was great in the replacement process.  The newer tabs have 4 110  or uits and I believe 5 12v. In my process, I used my label maker & tagged everything for future ease.

GreatWhiteNorth

4ncar said:

Good work! I just did the same.  My converter crapped out, but was still under warranty; WFCO was great in the replacement process.  The newer tabs have 4 110  or uits and I believe 5 12v. In my process, I used my label maker & tagged everything for future ease.

So you re-installed another WFCO then, right?  Maybe, when your warranty expires, switch to a Progressive Dynamics unit?  The fellow at BestConverters told me they were better quality.  It would be interesting to know failure rates between 'em!  With this PD unit, it appears that the converter board can be replaced should it fail.

4ncar

@GreatWhiteNorth indeed, we shall see!! I hope it’s not too soon. I had my tab plugged into shore power for battery maintenance for two winters now. I believe I read that this method of battery maintenance is hard on the converter. I will not be doing this next winter,and currently have the battery switch off and a trickle charger on the battery instead.

jkjenn

This seems worthwhile. Thanks for posting the good photos and write-up!

pistolpetestar

This thread was a life saver. I just finished replacing an elixir 20 in my popup with a pd4135 and while I think I may have been able to do it without this thread, I think this saved me many brain cells and some bashing my head against the wall. I made an account here just to say thank you to @GreatWhiteNorth and his post! The pictures really cleared a lot of things up for me. Greatly appreciated!

GreatWhiteNorth

Glad I could help.  The supplied instructions could be a little better for sure.

Daryl

Doggier

I have a brand new 4135 in hand that will soon be in my 2004 T@B Dutchman.  I'm good with the A/C part of the show.  That's straight forward.  What I'm struggling with is the connection of the D/C branches.  Again, I'm good with the Red & White, power and ground respectively.  I'm struggling to identify where I'm connecting the D/C circuit branches.  I understand that the 5 black wires are the branches, and that I need to connect 4 of them in this application.  I can't see the connections in your photo.  Do the blacks (on 4135) correspond to whites (in the trailer)?  Thanks for any help!

GreatWhiteNorth

Doggier said:

I have a brand new 4135 in hand that will soon be in my 2004 T@B Dutchman.  I'm good with the A/C part of the show.  That's straight forward.  What I'm struggling with is the connection of the D/C branches.  Again, I'm good with the Red & White, power and ground respectively.  I'm struggling to identify where I'm connecting the D/C circuit branches.  I understand that the 5 black wires are the branches, and that I need to connect 4 of them in this application.  I can't see the connections in your photo.  Do the blacks (on 4135) correspond to whites (in the trailer)?  Thanks for any help!

Hi Doggier. Yes, the black wires are the DC output leads. Before removing the old converter, I identified and marked the DC system wires on the trailer side. In the picture, if you follow those black leads out of the new replacement 4135 converter, to the twist on connectors, you'll note they connect to white, red, and a green wire. I never did troubleshoot the fan, hasn't been fixed yet.  We got in a lot of camping this summer in our T2, and the converter worked perfectly.

Keagriver

Hi, newbie here. I’m reading these threads to gain an understanding of TAB systems, but I don’t know how you would know that the converter needed replacing. Not recharging the battery? Always blowing fuses? It seems like you would have to check all the more obvious causes before blaming the converter. Do they go bad, and if so, how often?

thanks for your patience.

jkjenn

Keagriver said:

Hi, newbie here. I’m reading these threads to gain an understanding of TAB systems, but I don’t know how you would know that the converter needed replacing. Not recharging the battery? Always blowing fuses? It seems like you would have to check all the more obvious causes before blaming the converter. Do they go bad, and if so, how often?

thanks for your patience.

Often the first sign is that the converter fails to charge the battery. 

RCB

What actually fails in these converter units and why ?

Jrsmitty1979

Restoring a 1981 Trillium 1300.  The wiring was burned up in places.  The convertor instructions are awful.   THIS post really helped me get my project done.

Sharon_is_SAM

@Jrsmitty1979 - yes, we have lots of members who share their expertise!  Glad you found it so helpful.

GreatWhiteNorth

Sorry for not responding sooner, haven't been on the site a while!  RCB said:

What actually fails in these converter units and why ?

My understanding is that the 120V AC to 12V power converter is usually what fails, at least it's what was dead on mine.  My PD4135 is still working fine.  Nice thing about the Progressive Dynamics unit is that if that converter board does fail, you can buy a replacement, vice having to buy the entire unit.

Hip2u77

I signed up specifically to correct something in this post.

"The adjacent fuse and corresponding red lead is for an optional second 12V battery input." - That is incorrect.

Using these instructions, I wired up dual batteries in my Northstar TC800.  I have one deep cycle connected to RED 1, and one start battery connected to RED 2.  After a weeklong vacation, I opened the battery compartment and the start battery had corrosion on the positive terminal, and had puked some water out.  Earlier today, I contacted the manufacture to see if it was overcharging that battery and was told that is NOT for a second battery, but for a higher amp load. 

So, I went back to read the instructions and couldn't find anything about a second battery, and on their FAQs, they say this.  "Just the red wire in position 001 goes to the battery. The second red wire is for a 30 amp max DC circuit , the blacks are for 20 amp max DC circuits."

Hope this helps someone else.