If this is more than you feel capable of tackling you can have a RV shop or someone like Dan Neeley itinerate Roadtrek handyman do it for you. The Progressive Dynamics upgrade has LED lights by each fuse which light up when a fuse is blown very nice and a green LED that shows which mode the 3-stage charger is in.
Using the tiny button near the green LED you can force the charger into any of the 3 modes, which can be useful at times. With the upgrade our battery does charge much faster and we can leave our Roadtrek plugged in while setting at home without worrying about overcharging the battery as long as we turn off the solar.
The Progressive Dynamics charger has a Boost mode of See the charge profile chart to the right. We wish the Boost mode was a bit higher than It is possible to do major and expensive upgrades to RV charging systems, but upgrading an old Magnetek Converter is a substantial improvement for a modest cost.
Skip to Content. How Tos. Inside Original Magnetek Converter The solution is an upgrade to your old converter to add a three-stage charger. It stopped working again today. Is there anything we could check ourselves??? This is a good one.
I have a Attitude Eclipe fk toyhauler. My problem started about a year ago when the factory radio would not shut off but no sound would come out. We replaced it with a new Pioneer unit and wired it up exactly like the original.
My wife is a Micro mini soldering tech so we used the original plugs and wired all the wires in exactly like the old one they were the same. I started seeing an issue with the radio about a year ago couple years after we bought the trailer.
The original radio would not turn off but would also do nothing else. We purchased a Pioneer unit and wired it in both according to the old wiring diagram and the Pioneer one they were the same. Seems to me something is putting vac on the yellow wire but not blowing the fuse has me stumped.
And, why only on shore power and not on straight dc? We have a 33ft. We use it about 5 months during the summer and winterize it for the winter, disconnecting the battery and storing it at home in a warm, dry basement. This season, I have noticed that the DC lights are dimmer than they ever have been. Any idea what the problem might be? Do we need a new battery? Thanks for your help. Hi Dianne. Thus the dimmer lights. I would recommend getting a Battery Minder from Northern Tool which will connect to the batteries and send high impact waves into the battery and not only charge, but condition them and they will last longer and hold a charge longer.
You should also use this at the camper while connected for the summer as your typical converter will not have the multistage charge and your batteries will sulfate. I would suggest getting the Battery Minder and try it for a few months to see if your battery comes back to a better operating capacity, if not, you will need a new battery.
Another item I would install is LED lights as they will draw 10 times less battery power and your battery will again last longer! Not sure why your lights get brighter when you use the blow dryer since it uses volts from a completely separate source, unless you are not plugged in to shoreline and when you do to use the blow dryer the lights get brighter which means the converter has kicked on and charging the batteries…brighter lights.
I accidentally ran the microwave in my fleetwood pace arrow, while my air conditioner was on. It was on generator power. Now neither the microwave nor the air conditioner will turn on. Also, none of the plugs will work. Not even to charge a phone. Weve checked all the fuses and circuit breaker, everything seems fine except for one fuse. It was a 15 and said it was fir the aux starter.
We put a new fuse in it and the fuse tester is not lighting up green. Im not sure what to do. I dont know how to fibd the converter or anything like that.
We are just running the generator and battert. Hi Shae. A couple of things could have happened, first the generator probably has 2 lines coming off the generator, one going to the distribution center, the other to a back air conditioner if so equipped?
There should be 2 circuit breakers on the generator itself for these two lines, check those first. Next, you will have a main circuit breaker on the distribution center that shuts off all volt power inside the coach and then individual circuit breakers for volt appliances and outlets. I would also recommend using a multi-meter to verify power coming off them. Then, check in the kitchen or bathroom for the GFCI outlet.
I would suspect the GFCI outlet has tripped and they are all dead? Hit the test button and the reset button to see if you get power. If not, then you have something wrong with the distribution center. We have been trying to get it in shape to travel but… the latest trick is for nothing to work electrically.
When hooked to residential power all that is available is the lighting. All 3 batteries are new and installed correctly. The power converter appears dead. At one point the refrigerator turned on but only briefly. The water pump worked yesterday but not today. I think I need a new power converter but the unit by Progressive is no longer produced. Any tips, anything else I should try before I try to change out the unit?
Hello John, You have several things that could be going on here both volt and volt electrical. When you are connected to a residential source which you indicated, you are probably downsizing to a 10 amp or 15 amp residential plug in which will provide limited volt power and you will run the risk of tripping the residential breaker. There are several videos on this procedure, however the easiest is to use a non-contact voltage tester after the circuit breaker.
The three batteries you referred to are probably 2 6-volt batteries connected in series that are deep cycle and are the house batteries and the third is an automotive battery designed for starting the engine. You may also have a battery disconnect that is off which is usually located in the entrance step area? I would suggest spending some time going through the tutorials on the site regarding operation of the batteries and appliances, then visit the troubleshooting volt batteries.
Do you have DC power to any other interior appliance? When you are plugged into shoreline power, the volt power goes to the distribution center and then to a converter which provides volt DC power to the components through automotive type fuses. Have you checked the fuses? I would first verify volt DC power at the battery, then to the distribution center and each fuse. You may have a battery disconnect switch that is over ridden when plugged into shoreline? To provide more specific troubleshooting information on your inverter fan cycling, we need the make, model, and year of your inverter.
Hello I have a vagabon 32 foot travel camper. Everything was running fine we are hooked up to a generator we also have a battery on board to use when the generator is off we took off the battery the other day to bring it into the house to charge. Assuming there would be no problem with that 5 hours later when we were turned the heater was not working but the outlets were.
After troubleshooting we found that plugging the battery back in worked. But then the battery died and the heater stopped again. How do I specifically test the converter itself? Did I burn up the converter having it run so many 12 volts options without a battery? I doubt you burned up the converter, rather the battery is required to create a circuit for the volt system? When you are plugged into a volt shoreline connection the converter will sense when the battery goes below When you remove the battery and nothing works, it indicates the converter is only connected to the battery and now you have an open circuit?
Some models are wired so the converter can still provide volts to the system without the battery, however it does not appear this is the case with yours? You should be able to use a multimeter on the battery and plug the system in and see it raise from current charge to a higher voltage coming from the converter.
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To provide more specific troubleshooting information on your inverter issue, we need the make and model of the inverter. I would start by using a multimeter and check the condition of the batteries. They need to be Then you should be able to measure voltage coming out which evidently is 0? With the brand and model number we should be able to research if it has a reset sequence as well.
I have a Thor Freedom Elite, when connected to shoreline power there is no problems and the inverter says about When off shore power the inverter just shows 3 red lines and the red light is on for fault. The battery used to charge when the car is running but now its just blank as well. To provide more specific troubleshooting information on your inverter issue we need the make, and model of the inverter.
It sounds as though you have an issue on the inverter side or even the batteries? When you are connected to shoreline, the converter or charger is running and showing you the Does your inverter have a reset switch that might have gotten tripped?
If you have checked these out, I would get your batteries checked first and then the inverter as this should all be under warranty? When we brought the trailer home, it was connected to 30 AMP service at the house that I had installed for a welder prior to the trailer purchase. I know that it provides the rated amperage. The problem has also occurred when connected to the post at campgrounds.
We have had the trailer plugged in for extensive periods, weeks at the house, but only hours at the campgrounds, when the problem has arisen. Switching various lights or the refrigerator off would silence the alarm, but when turned back on, the alarm would sound again. I unplugged and reconnected the cord from the post numerous times without success. After leaving the power unplugged for several hours, I was able to plug it back in and everything worked normally for two more days until we departed the campground or weeks at the house.
Our surge protector, Surge Guard , normally shows three green LEDs during these episodes, although once, it did indicate reverse polarity when first reconnected to the house service. I have not found anything unusual at the control panel, but I do suspect that the converter has been replaced, and by someone who may not have known what they were doing.
I say this because the converter was accessed by hacking through the wood on the side of its compartment instead of through the distribution center, and the Molex connector has electrical tape wrapped around it. The shop that physically checked the trailer said that everything worked correctly for them and that it was because the battery was disconnected.
I suspect that everything worked correctly for them, as it has for us at times, and they just reconnected the battery, which is a brand new marine model. The last one I spoke with suggested that it might be an external circuit added by a previous owner. This circuit is to several external lights and is connected directly to the positive battery terminal, interrupted by a 12V automotive switch, and grounded to the frame.
The circuit does not presently work, but I have not done any troubleshooting on it. The solid copper grounds, from the converter, in the rear storage compartment, do have corrosion on them due to water entering that compartment as well.
All leaks have been fixed, a new roof installed, etc. First I would suspect your CO detector operates off volt DC power from the house batteries since it will sound the alarm but go off when items are shut down and the batteries are allowed to recharge?
My guess is the battery is probably a discount store battery that is not sufficient for the power demands of an RV? Probably a group 24 with limited amp hours and is probably already gotten sulfation on the plates due to improper charging? Deep cycle batteries need to be charged with a multistage charge every month or sulfation will form on the plates and not provide the energy storage they were designed for.
If the battery is sulfated, it will draw down to volts very quickly which would make the CO detector chirp. Shutting off other lights and such will allow the battery to regenerate somewhat which is why the CO detector shuts off.
Winnebago is using Napa Deep Cycle batteries as the lead plates are thicker, welds are more secure, and they last! Then replace the converter! My husband says the batteries are working, because the pop out will go in and out when we are not plugged in. Any ideas why this would be? My ac was working one min and then its like we are not getting any elec. I have a Heartland Fuel , my 30 amp fuse is tripping when running generator. Appliances on are AC, ceiling fan, radio, lights and skillet.
That should be a standard load. How do I prevent this? We were having issues with our AC not working properly so switched over from 30 amp to 50 amp extension cord. How do I visually determine if we have blown a fuse? Non contact voltage sensor unreliable.
Get someone hurt or cause them to damage equipment or start a fire. I have a Horse trailer with a factory conversion. For the past 17 years it has operated normally in all aspects, Recently while towing I received a warning from the truck that there is a wiring fault and the trailer is disconnected.
Although the marker lights, brake lights, etc are all functioning. When I disconnected the trailer from the truck the marker lights were still on.
I suspect drawing from the onboard 12 volt battery. The lights finally went out when the battery ran down. When I connect the V ckt, I get all the running lights, etc. Any recommendations? I suspect a converter replacement required there B-W manufacturing series A model Is the voltage drop a sign of a bad ground? The outlets in the bedroom always work but the rest of the outlets in the rv work when they feel like it.
Can you tell me why the coverter box is getting hot and making noise. When I plug the camper into electric, the lights and fridge settings are flickering and pulsating. We have a Jakyko Eagle 12 SO, when hooked to power supply the outlets work but when we try to plug in the battery the only thing that comes in is the carbon monoxide detector. The deep cell battery is fully charged and I replace the 4 car type fuses and the color units are all up and appear fine.
What should we try next? Is this something in my Solitude or the park power supply? In a keystone laredo, just arrived in New Orleans from Orlando fl, where everything worked fine. Everything was working fine this past weekend. We had to use electric heaters along with our furnace. Came home, plugged the RV in and I set up our heaters cause of the cold temps we had.
Check in the morning and both heaters were dead. I have a friend who needs help with his converter and I think I found the right place. He insists that it is the fan or lack there of that is causing his converter to overheat. It does not trip the thermal breaker but the fan never comes on either he says. I was wondering if you could me with the testing required to check the fan and the switch or heat sensor that controls when it is on and off?
My answer to him might be helpful to others who have had the same problems and question:. I'm certainly no expert on Magnatek converters I'm just someone who was desperate because mine was broken and I couldn't find any information on the Internet about it. Necessity is the mother of invention, at least it was for me.. If I were testing my converter to see if the temperature switch was working, I'd set it up on the bench and blow a heat gun or my wife's hair dryer on it.
If the converter was plugged in to volts AC and the fan didn't come on with that heat on it , I'd know that either the fan was defective or the temperature sensor was bad. Actually when I store my trailer at home, I keep it hooked to the AC mains all the time. When I go inside on these really hot days, my fan is usually running.
Not because the converter is generating lots of 12 volt DC power, but because the excessive temperature closes the temperature sensor switch in my trailer. If the fan doesn't come on when you blow hot air on it, disconnect it from the AC mains and try the heat source again. Once it has been heated up, measure across the temp sensor switch with a continuity meter - or a VOM Volt Ohm meter set to low ohms. You should see either a short across the switch meaning that it has closed or at least a low resistance only a few ohms at most.
If that test fails, the sensor is bad and must be replaced try an automotive supply store. If the switch closes with heat, then it's good and the problem is probably a fan which needs to be replaced. The fan is a v AC fan and not a 12v DC fan like they sell at computer stores. BTW - If you must replace the temperature sensor, they'll want to know what temperature it should close be sure you get NO or normally open. You might look on the switch itself and see if you can find a stamped number for the temperature for it.
If not, like I said, my switch is closing in a closed trailer on a hot day which is probably around degrees so I'd start somewhere around there. I hope this has been some help for you and your friend. He will need to get this fixed. Then I quickly added another message:. I saw something just as I sent you the previous answer. If you must replace the thermal sensor switch, don't use the term you used in your message here.
The switch in the converter is NOT a "thermal breaker" but is a thermal sensor switch. The difference is, a thermal breaker is NC or normally closed and when it reaches a defined temperature, it OPENS and breaks the circuit. The switch in the Magnetek converter is a NO or normally open switch and it closes when the designed temperature is reached -- when the converter is running and gets plenty hot and the fan is to start up to cool things back down. I received, yet another email from a reader who was having a problem with his Magnetek converter.
It didn't seem to be providing the 12 volt DC power to the inside lights, motors, etc. This is the answer I sent him and, perhaps it might help someone else with the same or a similar problem.
Hi Rodney It's no bother and I'm glad to help you if I can but I'm no rocket scientist on these units. I just happened to have a need to fix my own unit and couldn't find any info on the Internet so I had to do what I did. If you're not real accustomed to looking at schematics, you might sit down with a friend who is more up on that, but study the ones showing the power supply parts and don't worry too much about the charging section.
Maybe I should say study the bigger parts and don't worry about the smaller pieces in the unit. When the converter is plugged into the AC from your home or wherever there's a relay which picks pulls in and supplies the 12 volts to rest of the trailer.
If the battery is installed, that battery will be across that 12 volt line in parallel. If it's not there, the power goes from power components transformer, diodes, etc.
It will get to those connections up somewhere near where your big battery is stored. Again, even if the battery's not there, the voltage still goes on to the remainder of the trailer. If I understand your problem correctly, you're not seeing 12 volts DC to the internal things in the trailer which run on 12 volts lights, heater motor, etc. I'd check the relay first to make sure it's pulling in. You can do that without opening anything up just by standing by the converter inside the trailer and having someone plug your trailer into the AC.
As soon as it sees the AC there are no switches you need to throw you should hear the relay snap in. It's not small and should be pretty noticeable. As I recall, it sounds like it could crack pecan shells. If you're not hearing the relay, that's going to be your problem.
If you're hearing the relay, there are several places to look but it requires you to disconnect the converter from all the wiring and place it on the workbench for further checking.
You'll need to see if the power supply is actually generating 12 volts. There a circuit breaker on the input primary side of the transformer but if your fan is running, that's not the problem.
If you cannot measure 12 to 14 volts at the input connection to the relay then the problem is either the transformer, a loose or broken wire, or one of the four diodes marked D1-D4 in the schematic. An AC voltmeter can verify that you are seeing volts AC out of the transformer secondary. If all that checks out: relay pulling in, 12 volts DC to the input to the relay contact but no 12 volts DC out of the relay, the contacts are probably bad dirty or burned up.
Cleaning dirty contacts may get you back in business but burned contacts will general require replacement of the relay. If you're getting 12 volts DC OUT of the relay side but nothing to the trailer, measure the voltage with a DC voltmeter at the battery terminals with the battery removed or disconnected. If you're getting 12 volts DC there but no lights, etc.
If, however, you got 12 volts DC out of the relay but nothing at the battery terminals, your problem is the wiring from the converter up to the battery. That's usually an easier one to locate since it will be a fairly large piece of cable. I'm afraid that's about the best help I can give you in troubleshooting your problem, assuming that I've understood it correctly. If I misunderstood your problem, shoot it to me again and I'll try again. Good luck on your "project.
Here is yet another email from someone who ran across my web page and used the information available to repair his Magnetek converter. He went one step further and is sharing the additional information he found which should help others. I recently had an issue with my Magnetek and found your article on the web. First, Thank you, article was very helpful. I also had a problem with charging and you article cut me to the chase right away.
My resistor, however, still had numbers, after a couple web searches and e-mails, I arrived at the answer, numbers were, HEI PC Translation is as follows,. Huntington Electronic Inc. Charging the battery like a charm. Thanks once again Jim for posting you article on the web, hope this info can help someone else as well. Cheers and happy camping. I received this note today with some helpful information attached:. Thank you for info and for circuit diagram even more. My resistor R1 had value on it.
It is 0. CB1 was my problem Circuit breaker and value is 12 Volt 10 Amps. Bought in Napa Autoparts store. My unit was in Okanagan Camper and now is working okay. Original problem was battery not being charged. Everything else worked just fine. OK Al, Good to hear another success story. Here's another from Chuck from February, He was able to find some additional part numbers and repair his converter:. Thought I'd send you an update and let you know how my repair went.
I did basis troubleshooting with the unit still in the 5th wheel. Suspected it open. Jumpered it briefly with a wire and confirmed that everything not working was now working. At my age, LOL, laying on the floor too long hurts. I removed the bottom unit per your instructions. A piece of cake, thank you. I removed the top metal plate and unsoldered one end of the resistor.
Confirmed--open resistor. I couldn't find the part you recommended, but searched the auto part stores for a comparable ignition resistor that was readily available. I found a 1. Used commonly in many Chrysler cars.
Concerned about the ohmage, I found a. I soldered the 2 together in parallel and with my poor meter read about.
I figured the combined wattage to be about 20 watts. Installed them in the unit and all looked good. Checked the fan circuit and the thermister and all looked good. Re-installed in the 5th wheel and has been running for 3 days now with no problems. Current seems right and the resistors are barely warm and the batteries are now charged fully. Once again, Thank you so much for your and everyones help. Thank you again. That's super, Chuck. Magnetek loses another handful of money due to users doing their own repairs.
Thanks for writing. This is from John from January, on the same topic as above. Jim Your article was very helpful.
Your directions sent me to the same resistor that failed on your unit. After a little research I found a direct replacement resistor from Master Techs, Inc. Their part number is a cost of The phone number is Thanks very much for taking the time to post your experience.
John Hi John -- Thanks for writing and I'm glad the article helped you. I get messages weekly from folks who try to find repair info for these converters on the 'net and there just doesn't seem to be much out there. I prepared the original article several years ago when I couldn't find anything. I figured if I had the problem then others might also. I makes me happy that it's been useful for others.
Wonderful news update: June 5, Thanks to a reader named Chad Helmer, he's informed me that the manufacturer now provides the information on the Magnetek converters which we've long needed. Perhaps they realized, from all the hits on this website, that there was a major need to help and serve their customers. For whatever reason, we're all the beneficiaries.
The manufacturer, Parallax, has provided this information at:. In addition, Chad discovered a website which advertises the actual resistor which is often the problem and needs replacement when the converter refuses to charge the battery. It's at:. You've helped a lot of people. Just a note: If you have been working on your Magnetek power converter, hopefully after finding something helpful on these pages, and you discover some additional information which might help other readers and converter owners, please drop me a note with the information.
If you don't mind, I'd like to add your info to this page to help others who come by later. It's like the old story about the note found beside a lonely water pump. It offered a bottle full of water for the passerby.
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