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Old 06-16-2010, 12:16 PM   #1
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How to turn off converter charger

I have a que with a wf-8955an w/plastic converter and have added a prowatt sw 2000 inverter when i plug in the shore power cord i need to be able to turn off charger in converter any one know how?
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Old 06-16-2010, 06:51 PM   #2
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I'm not an electrician, but since no one else has responded yet, will take a stab at it.

According to the Que brochure--download it from the files tab at the top of this page--your trailer has an "interior battery cut-off switch". I have no idea where it is--perhaps a Que owner will add to this thread--or, just trace the battery cable until you find a rotary type on/off switch. It could also be a simple knife switch, but I doubt Sunline would have used that as the bigger trailers have a high end Blue Sea marine type switch mounted externally on the header.

To specifically answer your question: I don't believe it is possible to turn off the charger function at the converter. Isolating the battery with a cut-off switch accomplishes the same thing.

Also, I don't understand what the addition of the inverter has to do with isolating the battery under shore power?? Your charger/converter will go into a float mode after 48 hr. of shore power. As long as you monitor the water level, a battery should not be hurt by this long term float although there are better ways of storing a battery with chargers that also desulfate than just using a float.

Henry
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Old 06-16-2010, 07:16 PM   #3
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When I pulled a fuse on mine, it seemed like the charging system stopped working because after like a half hour of having quite a few lights on, they all got much dimmer. I can't remember which fuse it was though, for the radio or for the microwave.

Jon
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Old 06-16-2010, 07:41 PM   #4
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When plugging the shore power cord into an inverter (known as the "poor man's transfer switch"), you want to disable the charging circuit so that you aren't trying to charge the battery off of the battery. You don't want to just disconnect the battery from the converter because then you will have to run all the 12V loads off of the converter's supply - going from 12v to 120v with the inverter and then going from 120v to 12v with the converter. Very inefficent.

So the best way to fly is to remove the 120V power going into the charging/power supply section of the converter. This is what the OP wants to do.

On the WFCO 89XX series, there is a flying lead inside the panel that powers the converter board. This lead is generally piggybacked onto a circuit breaker feeding something else in the coach. The general purpose circuit is a common choice it seems.

Anyway, you need to interrupt that lead. Two ways to do this.. one is to install a switch inline and find a place to mount it. The other (and the one I used) is to add an additional 15A breaker to the panel and put just the converter flying lead onto it. This is an easy $3.00 solution provided you have room in the panel.

The WFCO 89XX series manual (available on their site) shows the converter flying lead.

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Old 06-16-2010, 07:46 PM   #5
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Hi henry & jon thanks for the info the problem is i have to plug the shore cord in to the inverter and then the charger starts to recharge the battery i am pulling from
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Old 06-16-2010, 07:59 PM   #6
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Hi frank the 15 amp breaker sounds like the way to go.i will look up wiring diagram.need to get this done soon we are leaving for tx. Next tue i will let you know how it works when i get back
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Old 06-17-2010, 05:19 PM   #7
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Why not just turn off or disconnect the battery. Charger won't run if nothing to charge.
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Old 06-17-2010, 06:11 PM   #8
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Inverter Question

Quote:
When plugging the shore power cord into an inverter (known as the "poor man's transfer switch"), you want to disable the charging circuit so that you aren't trying to charge the battery off of the battery. You don't want to just disconnect the battery from the converter because then you will have to run all the 12V loads off of the converter's supply - going from 12v to 120v with the inverter and then going from 120v to 12v with the converter. Very inefficent.
Hi Frank and Ruskey: Ok, I think I get what you're talking about--scary thought. I have a small portable inverter and never thought of having one big enough to plug the whole trailer in. But I'm still If shore power is plugged into an inverter, the converter is running off the battery converting 120 back to 12, no??

Henry
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Old 06-17-2010, 06:31 PM   #9
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Hi henry i use the shore power [cord] to plug in to inverter my inverter is not hard wired
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Old 03-13-2013, 08:48 PM   #10
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Hi Frank,
I was interesed in your response to Ruskey. I am wanting to do pretty much the same thing, disable the charging cicuit of the WFCO 8955 converter. The difference being that I want to add a dedicated charger that will actually charge the battery.
In your response you mentioned a FLYING LEAD. I don't know what that is. I couldn't find it in the WFCO manual. How do I identify it?

Barry
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Old 03-14-2013, 09:01 AM   #11
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A modern converter/charger has more than ample charging power if it says 45 amps that is what it is capable of for battery charging also. Most even have load sharing capability’s often weighted towards battery charging so if you are using 10 amps for lights that means you still have 35 amps for charging the battery. They also are 3 stage (most of them) and won’t boil the water out of the battery if left on full term. I leave mine plugged in all winter one of the first things I did when I got the camper was replace the original converter/charger with a modern 3 stage and never looked back.
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Old 03-14-2013, 10:37 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by bbrobert View Post
Hi Frank,
I was interesed in your response to Ruskey. I am wanting to do pretty much the same thing, disable the charging cicuit of the WFCO 8955 converter. The difference being that I want to add a dedicated charger that will actually charge the battery.
In your response you mentioned a FLYING LEAD. I don't know what that is. I couldn't find it in the WFCO manual. How do I identify it?

Barry
The 'flying lead' is described in the installation manual as a 'pin lead.' Can be seen on page 4 of the installation manual, which is the second half of this PDF document: http://www.wfcoelectronics.com/Image...erDocs/9-3.pdf

If you are looking to use an outboard charger it may be wise to also isolate the batteries from the coach while running that charger. This will depend on the charger you are looking at and how nicely it plays with additional loads and potentially sensitive electronics.

- Frank
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Old 03-14-2013, 10:49 AM   #13
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A modern converter/charger has more than ample charging power if it says 45 amps that is what it is capable of for battery charging also. Most even have load sharing capability’s often weighted towards battery charging so if you are using 10 amps for lights that means you still have 35 amps for charging the battery. They also are 3 stage (most of them) and won’t boil the water out of the battery if left on full term. I leave mine plugged in all winter one of the first things I did when I got the camper was replace the original converter/charger with a modern 3 stage and never looked back.
Although they are capable of delivering that kind of current, they need to be in bulk mode to do so. Additionally, even in bulk mode you will not always max-out the converter. For example, with 440 Ah of batteries sitting on my tongue and 4 AWG cable connecting them back to my WFCO panel, I have to run the batteries down to 60% SOC to get it to kick into bulk mode for any period of time. We very rarely (once in the past 5 years) recharge off generator so it doesn't bother me much. For folks that recharge off generator often, they want to run bulk mode as long as possible to reduce generator run times. In these situations something like the Progressive Dynamics Charge Wizard converters have the edge when they are equipped with the optional pendant because the pendant allows the operator to force select bulk mode.

- Frank
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Old 03-14-2013, 05:23 PM   #14
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Mine desolates will charge all the batteries I throw at it I even plug in my ham radio battery to a 50 connector. They sense voltage and charge accordingly or at least they should. At times I charge 3 batteries at the same time to full smoke. Mind you mine stays plugged in so most often when I leave they are fully charged but I have run strictly on batteries for 7 days and within a few hours they were fully charged after plugging in. It also is a completely new unit (totally rewired) I removed the old one it is not a retro fit.
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