2017 Classic Converter/Charger

[paiceman]

Called Randy, plug is fine. Putting it in this weekend.

[Captain Hank]

I also called Randy with Best converter. He recommended the Boondocker 1260HW (Hard Wire).
Is this the converter others have used?
Do You hard wire it to the 120vac breaker above or do you need a Boondocker with a plug and plug it in?
Do you have to relocate a fuse panel like in the pictures on his web site?
Since the door screws to the bottom frame of the old converter. How do you remount the door cover?

[paiceman]

Captain: We just received the Boondocker BD 1260 HW from Randy. I bought a 15A plug from Home Depot and I am simply going to attach the plug to the wire at the back of the 1260. Not sure why the fuse panel would need to be relocated as dimensions of the 1260 seem to be the same as those of the Converter AS installed.

Not sure what you are referring to in your last question. Our cover door simply snaps in place. The old converter has a screw on frame, if I don't use that one I'll screw the 1260 to the floor.

I hope to get this going tomorrow, got to busy with other stuff today.

[paiceman]

Originally Posted by mojoe7009

Yes. There is a 110 outlet just behind where you mount the converter. Makes it easy. No hardwiring necessary. Just be sure to reinstall the ground wire tightly as well as the DC wires to the proper lugs on the 9260.

What about the black and white wire that are or run thru the frame of the AS installed converter? Tried doing it today and gave up.

[paiceman]

[paiceman]

Right on top of the converter housing one can see the white and black wire. White goes to a grounding bank, black runs to two different bundles both wire nuts together. It's all a tangled mess and I disconnected the white but can't disconnect black would have to cut and don't want to

[mojoe7009]

Originally Posted by paiceman

Right on top of the converter housing one can see the white and black wire. White goes to a grounding bank, black runs to two different bundles both wire nuts together. It's all a tangled mess and I disconnected the white but can't disconnect black would have to cut and don't want to

Honestly, I don't remember. I'll check and get back to you. My unit is in Ohio right now. Randy might know. But I'll do a little research.

[kendrick.l.j]

Also closely following this thread to learn how to do it and even more important...what not to do. Thanks guys.

[paiceman]

Originally Posted by mojoe7009

Honestly, I don't remember. I'll check and get back to you. My unit is in Ohio right now. Randy might know. But I'll do a little research.

Thanks. As mentioned I put everything back together with the stock converter and have stopped for now.

[Captain Hank]

I got the Boondocker 1260HW that Randy recommended. It was not a direct change out. I had to gut the old converter box, remove rivets, circuit board, metal spacers and other fasteners so it could be used to mount the boondocker in the box. I then mounted the boondocker in the old box and hard wired it in to 120 VAC breaker and 12 DC terminal strip on the side. Using the old box allows you to use the current door that mounts on the bottom of the converter box and also allows you to screw the box to the frame of the enclosure. You will need to get an additional wire to connect the negative side of the converter to the negative terminal strip. I used a 6 AWG, which will handle the current. If someone needs more details PM me with your phone number and I will call you. I can talk faster than I can type.

[paiceman]

So, today we, my son and I put in the Boondocker 1260 HW that Randy recommended. As The Captain stated, not a direct change out, but not all that hard. The stock unit is hard wired in, there was no 110v plug in the back of the converter compartment. It's wired into it's own circuit breaker - Positive - and Negative was in a neutral bank so we put the new one back there as well. The stock unit was grounded to the metal box, we grounded the BD to the ground bank in the area.

Then we built a shelf and fabricated a piece of flat metal. The shelf now holds the BD and the metal is used to reattach the brown "protective" door which covers the area and the circuit breakers.

We attached all and fired her up. 12v, came right on, 110v came right on, BD kicked in and within and was at 14.7. Within an hour back to 13.2 and trickle charging.

For us the most difficult part was getting the 110v power and neutral wires off the bracket in the back of the compartment so we could pull them out to attach to the BD. Once we got the two out of the bracket in the back of the compartment it all went pretty smoothly. All in all pretty straightforward and I am keeping the stock Converter to carry with us as a back up in case something goes amiss, which I do not anticipate. With everything we fabricated et al the entire job took an hour and a half.

Randy was a big help, after much concern and trepidation on our part, it was really all for naught. I would suggest that the batteries be disconnected, both positives. We disconnected one and then tested and the other was pushing power thru, so both came off and all was fine.


Good Luck,

Bud

[mojoe7009]

Bud, glad you got it worked out. Crazy that there was no 110 outlet back there. Mine was right behind the old converter. Very strange. You'll be happy with the new unit, though. They seem pretty bulletproof.

[paiceman]

Thanks, shocked us when we found no plug and HW in. So, we HW the boondocker in. AS is always an adventure

[Motoman]

I believe some of the posters that did not find the 120v plug and had to deal with the hinged door were either upgrading older Classics or other model Airstreams, not the 2017 and newer Classics.

[paiceman]

Originally Posted by Motoman

I believe some of the posters that did not find the 120v plug and had to deal with the hinged door were either upgrading older Classics or other model Airstreams, not the 2017 and newer Classics.

Actually I was as stated upgrading a 2017 Classic.

[JeffsTardis]

Did you need to do that to install the new converter in your classic? I have a 2015 classic which seems to need a new converter