Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had power outages at three different campgrounds. The first outage lasted about 36 hours, while the other outages were much shorter. When the power went out (36 hours) we were without a generator for 18 hours. Once we got a generator, we ran it until the power came back on. Once the power came back on, our batteries were reading low, so we used a charger.
After that first outage our hydraulic system was not able to operate the landing gear or slides. So now we’ve decided to replace our current marine batteries with Lifeline deep cycle AGM batteries.
After reading previous threads here and on the Heartland forum, it seems as though others have upgraded from a Progressive Dynamics Converter (our current converter) to a Xantrex True Charge product.
My question is - is replacing a converter something that I can do myself? Is there anything different about installing a Xantrex as opposed to the Progressive? I’m fairly handy, but I don’t want to mess it up.
Thanks,
Frank
LarryW21 said
03:39 PM Jul 21, 2019
I suggest an energy survey to determine how many amp hours you need for a 24 to 36 (?) hour power failure, and solar panels and controller could “save the day.” Generators conk out. Solar rarely misfires.
LarryW21 said
04:58 PM Jul 21, 2019
Sorry. Yes! A handy person can replace their converter.
Bill and Linda said
10:37 AM Jul 24, 2019
Barb and Frank wrote:
My question is - is replacing a converter something that I can do myself? Is there anything different about installing a Xantrex as opposed to the Progressive? I’m fairly handy, but I don’t want to mess it up.
Thanks,
Frank
Yes, a simple process. However, one does need, assuming a quality charger that has the appropriate settings, to set it for the type of batteries you have, etc.. That is, lead acid, AGM, etc. Depending on the level (quality / capability) of the product, not the brand, the manual should give you the appropriate settings depending on the type of batteries, etc. That said, almost anyone can read the manual and half the time if you go to an RV shop, including a rig OEM at the factory, they don't set them correctly. They just plug 'em in and go with the charger factory defaults which are many times wrong. ("Ask me how I know this.") Don't know how many times I've had to re-set them for people when asked. (Can't do it by email. Read the book. :) )
My 2 cents.
Bill
Barb and Frank said
12:30 PM Jul 24, 2019
Bill and Linda wrote:
Barb and Frank wrote:
My question is - is replacing a converter something that I can do myself? Is there anything different about installing a Xantrex as opposed to the Progressive? I’m fairly handy, but I don’t want to mess it up.
Thanks,
Frank
Yes, a simple process. However, one does need, assuming a quality charger that has the appropriate settings, to set it for the type of batteries you have, etc.. That is, lead acid, AGM, etc. Depending on the level (quality / capability) of the product, not the brand, the manual should give you the appropriate settings depending on the type of batteries, etc. That said, almost anyone can read the manual and half the time if you go to an RV shop, including a rig OEM at the factory, they don't set them correctly. They just plug 'em in and go with the charger factory defaults which are many times wrong. ("Ask me how I know this.") Don't know how many times I've had to re-set them for people when asked. (Can't do it by email. Read the book. :) )
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had power outages at three different campgrounds. The first outage lasted about 36 hours, while the other outages were much shorter. When the power went out (36 hours) we were without a generator for 18 hours. Once we got a generator, we ran it until the power came back on. Once the power came back on, our batteries were reading low, so we used a charger.
After that first outage our hydraulic system was not able to operate the landing gear or slides. So now we’ve decided to replace our current marine batteries with Lifeline deep cycle AGM batteries.
After reading previous threads here and on the Heartland forum, it seems as though others have upgraded from a Progressive Dynamics Converter (our current converter) to a Xantrex True Charge product.
My question is - is replacing a converter something that I can do myself? Is there anything different about installing a Xantrex as opposed to the Progressive? I’m fairly handy, but I don’t want to mess it up.
Thanks,
Frank
Yes, a simple process. However, one does need, assuming a quality charger that has the appropriate settings, to set it for the type of batteries you have, etc.. That is, lead acid, AGM, etc. Depending on the level (quality / capability) of the product, not the brand, the manual should give you the appropriate settings depending on the type of batteries, etc. That said, almost anyone can read the manual and half the time if you go to an RV shop, including a rig OEM at the factory, they don't set them correctly. They just plug 'em in and go with the charger factory defaults which are many times wrong. ("Ask me how I know this.") Don't know how many times I've had to re-set them for people when asked. (Can't do it by email. Read the book. :) )
My 2 cents.
Bill
Thanks Bill,
Frank