The main board of our American CS6000XL was starting to go.
Here’s what was happening:
When running the generator and with only the refrigerator on electric, the CS6000XL’s Over Protection Indicator LED was Red. If a ceiling light was turned on the Over Protection Indicator LED would turn Green.
Also it was making a noise when plugged in to shore power (it was not fan noise).
When American was contacted, their response was “
All indications are that your main board is starting to fail and needs replacement”.
The cost of a replacement main board from American was $175 + shipping.
Based on recommendations from multiple people (mostly JohnB), it was decided to go with the Progressive Dynamics
PD9260C 60Amp power converter/charger. I was able to get the PD9260C with a
Remove Pendant through Amazon for under $170 including S&H.
See JohnB's
Power Converter Upgrade post for how he made the same replacement in his unit.
Since the PD9260 is a stand alone power converter/charger, it wouldn’t fit in the foot print of the CS6000XL’s main board, so a mounting location for the PD9260 that would provide sufficient air flow and easy connection to the power distribution center in our 280SR would need to be determined.
Here’s the location in our 280SR that was decided on. The PD9260 would be mounted inside the wall between the bedroom and bathroom and using a house return vent to provide for air flow. This location also provides close proximity and access to the power distribution center to aid in running wires.
There was already an opening in the wall so it just needed to expand. There was a vent pipe for one of the tanks that ran through the wall that limited the opening that could be cut.
Some wood fillers were needed to be added to the interior wall to make the mounting location flush with the wall studs.
And then 2 screws were pre-mounted that would be used for mounting the power code end of the PD9260. The correct location for the screws was determined through creating a mounting template by tracing the PD9260 foot print onto a sheet of paper.
#4 AWG wire was used to wire the PD9260 Pos & Neg DC connectors. Since #4 wire was only available in black, Duck Tape was used to identify the negative wire.
#12 AWG wire was used for the unit ground wire, and AC power would be provided to the PD9260 using its power cord as is via wiring 14-2 wire with a female plug to an AC breaker in the power distribution center.
Note the 2 screw slots on the foot print of the power cord end of the PD9260 shown in the picture above. The pre-mounted screws shown in the previous mounting location picture, were positioned at a width and depth so the PD9260 power cord side would slide into them with very little play, since there was no clearance or way to access that side of the unit when mounted to tighten the screws. The PD9260 was then secured in its mounting location with a screw on the DC connection end of the unit. The PD9260 was positioned 2" off the floor with the unit's fan side down to allow for sufficient air flow.
The next 2 Picture show the mounting of the PD9260 from the power cord end.
The inside wall opens to the area where the shore power code is stored, that’s where this picture was taken from.
The wall also opens to behind the power distribution center, that’s where this picture was taken from.
The wall opening behind the power distribution center made if very easy to run the wires from the PD9260 to the power distribution center.
A 14-2 wire with a female plug was wired to an AC breaker of the power distribution center. The 14-2 wire was wired to the same breaker that the CS6000XL’s main board was wired to.
The PD9260 power cord was plugged into this 14-2 wire with a female plug to provide its AC power.
Using a copper split bolt connector, the PD9260 ground wire was connected to the chassis ground wire that ran through the shore power cord storage compartment.
The #4 wires from the PD9260 were run through the area below the CS6000XL main board and connected to the Power Distribution Center using #2-#8 Copper Lugs and the wires were connected to the same location that the CS6000XL main board wires were connected to.
The CS6000XL main board was re-inserted into the power distribution center with its wires disconnected; capped off and coiled up underneath the main board.
A 10” x 10” return vent was used to cover the opening while providing air flow for the cooling fan of the PD9260.
It was decided to mount the Remove Pendant on top of the vent. Since the unit is mounted in the bedroom, the location chosen for the Remove Pendant was below the bed to minimize any disturbance during the night from the flashing of the pendant’s LED.
The Remote Pendant was connected to the top of the PD9260 and excess wire coiled & placed on top of hte PD9260.
A small slot in the top of the vent was cut to allow the Pendant wire to pass through so the Remove Pendant could be mounted on the wall above the vent.
The Remote Pendant was mounted on the wall just above the vent using the 2-face mounting tape that was on the pendant, the return vent screwed back into the wall, and we were done.
We’ve been out camping once since installing the new PD9260 power converter/charger and remote pendant. Everything works great. The location of the pendant does not cause any issues at night and the PD9260 power converter/charger works great.
Thanks to JohnB for his assistance and consultation in the selection and mounting design of the PD9260 and mbart5fan for helping with the wiring.
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