PD4655 Converter

[No. 13]

Ordered one from Randy at Best on Tuesday...on my door step today. Great price and quick delivery.

[Rocinante]

Enjoy the install. Well, you're more likely to enjoy the results than the process, but it's worth the trouble.

PM me if you need a fresh supply of swear words to get you through the job.

Here are a couple of threads for your reading pleasure. There may of course be others that prove even more useful.

• http://www.airforums.com/forums/f449...ml#post1478980
• http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...er-114099.html

Happy wiring!

[No. 13]

Thanks Silvery Moon. I may not attempt the change out myself, as I am awaiting a quote on solar panel installation and may have everything done at once. Your first link would be my tutorial taped to the wall next to your list of cuss words, read with my headlamp on. Thanks for the info. Gene

[68 Overlander]

No. 1, its not a hard job and I can help you if you get stuck on something. Just give me a call if you need to during installation.
Randy

[Rocinante]

Yeah, the job was annoying, but not really that difficult overall. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to do it, but I must admit I'm not exactly handy. Given I could do it, most folks should be able to pull it off.

[No. 13]

Originally Posted by 68 Overlander

No. 1, its not a hard job and I can help you if you get stuck on something. Just give me a call if you need to during installation.
Randy

Thanks Randy...you may have already heard from me. I sent you a photo of a plastic bracket of some sort that I found no mention of in the instructions.

Gene

[68 Overlander]

Gene,
That piece is used on the WFCO 8900 series and not needed with the Parallax 7300 you are upgrading. Throw it away.
Randy

[PharmGeek]

good luck, Randy, I plan on hitting you up for the same unit to replace my parallax perhaps at christmas time....

[No. 13]

Originally Posted by Silvery Moon

Yeah, the job was annoying, but not really that difficult overall. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to do it, but I must admit I'm not exactly handy. Given I could do it, most folks should be able to pull it off.

I agree Silvery Moon...It turned out to be pretty straightforward. I had an electrician friend stop by to oversee. Took 2 hours working very slow and rechecking everything twice/three times. Thanks for the tips...especially the head lamp. Glad I replaced the DC board as well... Charge Wizard is pretty cool.

First time my batteries have seen a 14.4 volt charge!!

[68 Overlander]

Great job and you didn't even call me! I was here all weekend if you did of course but love to see folks save and give it a try. Dealerships would have charged at least 2 hours labor even though they know how to do it it 20 minutes.

[Rocinante]

Right you are, Randy. My dealer offered to charge 3 hours labor. It didn't even take *me* that long.

Originally Posted by 68 Overlander

Great job and you didn't even call me! I was here all weekend if you did of course but love to see folks save and give it a try. Dealerships would have charged at least 2 hours labor even though they know how to do it it 20 minutes.

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[No. 13]

Originally Posted by 68 Overlander

Great job and you didn't even call me! I was here all weekend if you did of course but love to see folks save and give it a try. Dealerships would have charged at least 2 hours labor even though they know how to do it it 20 minutes.

Randy and Silvery Moon...I had you both on stand by (thanks), but it sure helped having a commercial electrical contractor looking over my shoulder. One note...and for anyone attempting this...save the two links at the top of this thread for reference...a great help before you start.

A few notes in addition:

I guess you can do the change-out to the PD4655 and use the same DC board but the Charge Wizard won't be operative. Take the time to install the new board. This way you get to see what the charger is doing. You can override if you want, but the cool thing is the flashing green light to show what stage the charger is operating.

Have a knock-out plug at hand...see the bottom right of the attached photo. I re-routed the wiring to the top hole and plugged the bottom. This made for a very easy routing over the top of the DC panel. I connected the two positive and negative leads first...then attached the DC board (two screws)...then attached all the different colored leads once it was mounted. (If you read Silver Moon's post, this would be very difficult to line up the holes if all wires were attached first).

Funny...one of the frustrating things was reattaching the flip-down cover after the job was finished. I could not get the screws to start...I forgot that new screws (different size) were included.

[68 Overlander]

Nice job! Actually if you didn't install the fuse board, the Charge Wizard would still operate correctly since its located on the main converter board but like you said, you would not have the status LED or the ability to interact with it. It would always remain in the automatic mode.

[PharmGeek]

Just ordered mine with Randy via phone...may do install by end of week...will report back...im not sure I follow the points about the fuse board install, charge wizard, etc...

[No. 13]

Pharm...my picture shows the new DC board which looks like the old one. The old one would work fine and would take less time to connect... In other words all of those colored wires which connect to the 15 amp fuses would already be connected to the old board.

The advantage of the new board is that it shows a green light with different flash sequences to tell you what the charger is actually doing at that time. There is also a button where you can override it...change the boost to 14.4 volts if you should desire...though they don't advise doing so...but you can also use the button to make sure the unit is working correctly.

If Randy reads this post he may be be able to elaborate a little bit better than me. Good luck with the install. Gene

[PharmGeek]

I watched a YouTube vid and cleared it up in my head a bit as well - thanks - def want the green blinky light

Why have the boost feature and not recommend it?


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[No. 13]

Good question. Randy?

[PharmGeek]

Some users on YouTube (all experts no doubt) - seem to think that when running generator for generator hours - boost mode will deliver more amps - thus the feature?

I read it on the internet - it must be true


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[Tincampers]

Unless you *know* the actual state of charge of your battery you might damage it by manually using boost mode.

[PharmGeek]

I just remembered....I opted with my AS for the 1000w inverter...hope that will not be a problem for this converter install...