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batt · 03-01-2012, 06:31 PM

I have converted from the old univolt to a new 45 amp converter. I am now wiring to the converter. Is the Blue wire form the car battery wired to the positive side of the DC battery terminal ?
I then have 3 wires which run to the control center red , black and gray. red and black have line fuses.Are these supply wires to the control center? Are they simply now wired into the new DC converter side as circuits with the two line fuses cut and tied into the new fused converter block?

Flynavy · 03-01-2012, 06:46 PM

I changed to a new converter a couple months ago. I will take a look tomorrow to see exactly what I did. This CRS stuff is getting worse all the time.

Flynavy · 03-02-2012, 09:21 AM

I replaced the univolt with a 45amp converter and a fuse panel.

Coach bat. pos. goes into a 50 amp. fuse then into DC pos. imput on fuse panel.

Coach bat. neg. goes into ground terminal bus on fuse panel.

Car bat. charge line (blue wire) goes to DC pos. imput on fuse panel.

I ran a red wire from DC pos. imput on fuse panel to converter pos. lug.

Also ran a black wire from ground panel to converter neg. lug.

I installed a duplex 110vac. receptical to plug converter into.

I think the wires that run to the controll center are for the centers power-on-light and the ammeter. I did not use these so I no longer have those functions on my control center. There is a way to get the ammeter working again but if I remember right it was fairly expensive to do so I let it go. As far as I know there is no way to get the power-on-light working.

Hope this helps.

**azflycaster** · 03-02-2012, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flynavy

I replaced the univolt with a 45amp converter and a fuse panel.

Coach bat. pos. goes into a 50 amp. fuse then into DC pos. imput on fuse panel.

Coach bat. neg. goes into ground terminal bus on fuse panel.

Car bat. charge line (blue wire) goes to DC pos. imput on fuse panel.

I ran a red wire from DC pos. imput on fuse panel to converter pos. lug.

Also ran a black wire from ground panel to converter neg. lug.

I installed a duplex 110vac. receptical to plug converter into.

I think the wires that run to the controll center are for the centers power-on-light and the ammeter. I did not use these so I no longer have those functions on my control center. There is a way to get the ammeter working again but if I remember right it was fairly expensive to do so I let it go. As far as I know there is no way to get the power-on-light working.

Hope this helps.

I am not sure that the blue wire (car battery +) should be connected as an input line. On the original fuse panel it was connected as the output for circuit #5 and protected with a 40 amp fuse.

The new converters do not have an independent 12+ line for the power on light. Some members have used a small 12 volt plug in (120 volt) transformer to power the light. I have not done this since I have a phase detector and volt meter plugged in.

Flynavy · 03-03-2012, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azflycaster

I am not sure that the blue wire (car battery +) should be connected as an input line. On the original fuse panel it was connected as the output for circuit #5 and protected with a 40 amp fuse.

If you are correct than I have mine wired incorrectly. Here is the what I used.

batt · 03-03-2012, 05:18 PM

ok, I am no wiring wiz , here are some questions. Where do I tie the car white ground wire into? Do I hook into the lug on the 12v side or to the ground on the 120 side where I have the frame #6 ground tied, or does it matter?
Still confused on the Blue car pos + wire as to where it is meant to go.Manual has it running from the car and tied to 12v side as circuit #5 which seems to run to the control center only and power nothing.

From what I have read the control panel ammeter was a bit of a joke and really told you little of the battery condition. At present I would like to have it work simply to see the holding tank levels. Can any one address these issues.

batt · 03-04-2012, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flynavy

If you are correct than I have mine wired incorrectly. Here is the what I used.

I believe you are correct that #5 Blue from car was wired into the fuse panel .Since I am rewiring and have nothing to go by I looked at your schematic and wondered how you grounded the neg terminal to the body. I drilled and grounded a # 6 solid copper wire to the frame and ran it up into the ground bridge on the 120 side . Should I also run ground to the battery neg cable?. Where do the vehicle white ground tie in, on the ground bridge on the 120 side or on the low voltage side or does it even matter?

TG Twinkie · 03-04-2012, 11:36 AM

Don't run the ground/common wire into the 120 volt panel. Just attach it to the skin in a convenient place. On my '74 Argosy the blue wire is the charge line. Connect it to the positive side of the system, it should have at least a 30 amp fuse in series with the connection.

Chuck · 03-04-2012, 12:46 PM

yeah, the blue wire needs to be on the + side, otherwise it wouldn't charge the battery.

The puzzling thing I recently found is that I have 2 heavy gauge white wires in the wiring bundle. One was connected to the univolt negative load, the other was screwed to the skin. I'm thinking that they must connect somewhere in the harness (?).

Aage · 03-04-2012, 01:09 PM

All the 12V stuff I have come across in my TT uses + only wiring, ground is always the skin.

Flynavy · 03-04-2012, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batt

From what I have read the control panel ammeter was a bit of a joke and really told you little of the battery condition. At present I would like to have it work simply to see the holding tank levels. Can any one address these issues.

I believe the control panel is on one of the 12 vdc. branch circuits. Your new converter/fuse panel will power up the holding tank level indicaters and the waterpump. The ammeter and power on light will not function. I also read the ammeter was basicly useless.

Twinkie and Chuck state that having the blue car batt. charge line as I have done is correct.

The 12vdc neg. was grounded to the skin near the old univolt location. I did not make any changes. I did relocate the 110vac circuit panel closer to the closet door just for better access. I only moved it as far as the slack in the wire would allow. It is a lot easier to get to now.

I bought the new converter/fuse panel from Best Converter. I will e-mail Randy and ask him to look at this thread just to be sure.

Chuck · 03-04-2012, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aage

All the 12V stuff I have come across in my TT uses + only wiring, ground is always the skin.

Look at Richard's pic above; there's a big-ol' white wire attached to the right of the ammeter shunt; that's marked "negative load" in the diagram.

(mine has another one of those white wires, of the same gauge, that comes out of the hole in the skin, along with the rest of those wires...but is just attached to the skin.)

TG Twinkie · 03-04-2012, 03:33 PM

If you have yours wired like that in the drawing above and have the 55 amp circuit breaker in series with the battery positive then you are OK. The circuit breaker provides protection just as the fuse would.

batt · 03-05-2012, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aage

All the 12V stuff I have come across in my TT uses + only wiring, ground is always the skin.

Ok, On my trailer ,I had a #6 coppr ground wire which was fastened to the main I frame and was the main ground, I know this because I had to do major frame repair.Perhaps this was a later addition?

The two white wires are the ground wire from the car wiring and also runs to the radio console as a ground there. I noticed that one had a screw fastener on it, so I am guessing that this would ground to the body. The other would ground on the ground strip on the converter on the position where the battery ground ties in? Please verify.

Now just to clarify the blue wire is a circuit and wired into one of the fused circuits on the 12v side, correct?Since mine has two 30amp circuits on lines 1 an 2 it would have to be one of these.

The red and black lines are 12v circuit lines for the holding tanks and power the indicators on the control tank console? These are to become individual fused circuits on the 12v side. They also have line fuses I am guessing that now they are on a fused panel circuit they will not need the line fuse?

The gray wire is the ammeter power source which for some reason will not now function if I were to hook it to the 12v circuit, since it is now redundant with the new converter?

Sorry for being anal about this , I just want a minimum frustration level at power up time.

Thanks for everyone's time I am talented at a lot of things , not wiring.

Jim & Mitzi · 03-05-2012, 10:17 AM

May I add my present dilema ?? 74 27' Overlander. rear bath. OE / Airstream inverter RR corner sort of under bath tub surround and accessible from a small opening at the end and under the right side twin bed....110V works, 12V works. Something in the noisy inverter keeps cycling / resetting. Thus far find no power interruptions, everything seems to work ???? Just noisy hum , radio interference and the resetting sound. ( just bought this trailer). How did Airstream expect to service the inverter in this location. Remove tub or locate some very small person..? Thanx in advance Jim C.

Aage · 03-05-2012, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batt

The gray wire is the ammeter power source which for some reason will not now function if I were to hook it to the 12v circuit, since it is now redundant with the new converter?

There is a small bit on the old Univolt that we refer to as the "shunt". It's purpose was to provide a voltage and proper load that would make the tank monitors and battery indicators on the Control Panel operate properly.

It can be detached from the Univolt, but I have no photo to show you at this time. Don't throw out the Univolt until you locate this device if you want to connect those gauges in the Control Panel. Probably, good use of the search function combined with some patience will locate the instructions and photos of it.

I do have a drawing that was created by Zeppelinium (sp?) for connecting it in.

Hope this helps

batt · 03-06-2012, 07:36 AM

Unfortunately that Univolt got tossed out a long time ago.So now I guess I need to update the control panel so I know the level of the tanks, unless someone know how to make up a new shunt. Any one have a schematic on making a Shunt?

**azflycaster** · 03-06-2012, 07:41 AM

The shunt is for the ammeter on the panel. The tank level meters do not use the shunt.

batt · 03-06-2012, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim & Mitzi

May I add my present dilema ?? 74 27' Overlander. rear bath. OE / Airstream inverter RR corner sort of under bath tub surround and accessible from a small opening at the end and under the right side twin bed....110V works, 12V works. Something in the noisy inverter keeps cycling / resetting. Thus far find no power interruptions, everything seems to work ???? Just noisy hum , radio interference and the resetting sound. ( just bought this trailer). How did Airstream expect to service the inverter in this location. Remove tub or locate some very small person..? Thanx in advance Jim C.

Sorry about your predicament, I suggest you post a new thread listing the year and style of your AS so someone who has a similar unit can respond.

batt · 03-06-2012, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azflycaster

The shunt is for the ammeter on the panel. The tank level meters do not use the shunt.

OK, that's good , Could you tell me , do I wire in the Black and red line fused wires which are the tank circuits into the 12v fused panel or are they now rendered worthless without the Univolt?