6 volt trojans in a 2008 BFT

[whemme]

Steve,

I have provided three photos below to help you find out what system you have in your coach. The standard system used in all Born Free coaches for many years and even used in most models now is the Magnetek or Parallax 7345 Charger/Converter System. Early on the company was called Magnetek and later owned by Parallax - same system however. Even though the system is rated at 45 amps, it is only capable of recharging your discharged coach batteries at the rate of 3 to 5 amps, the rest of it's output current capability is available to run the DC powered items in your coach such as your lights, Fantastic fan, furnace fan, etc. So the problem is that if you do a lot of dry camping where you will depend on your coach batteries for power, the only way that you have to recharge those batteries is by cranking up your generator or find a shore line AC power hookup. And since the 7345 can only recharge them at a slow rate, a fully discharged set of batteries will take running your generator or being hooked up to shore line power for approximately 21 hours to do the job. Any of the 4 charger/converters upgrades discussed below can do the job in only 3 to 4 hours.

The upper part of the system that you can see by flipping down the door or removing the door and cover completely as shown in the 2nd photo below contains the AC circuit breaker and DC fuse power distribution system for the coach. Removal of the four T10 Torx screws will allow you to remove the door & cover to view the insides of the system. The lower section contains the charger/converter electronics and if your system is still original, then it should look like what you see in the 2nd photo. Now if the original charger/converter in the lower section has been removed and replaced by any of the 3 Progressive Dynamics units listed below, the lower section will look like that shown in the 3rd photo below. If its different than either the 1st or 2nd photo then it probably has been replaced with the WFCO conversion kit.

The Progressive Dynamics PD9160A 60-amp unit, PD9260C 60-amp unit, and the recently available PD4655 55-amp conversion kit and the WFCO 55-amp conversion kit are 4 possibilities for upgrading your charger/converter to a modern 3-stage system. The PD4655 & WFCO kits will be by far the easiest to install.

The other major advantage of a 3-stage system besides the much great recharge rate is that they will prevent the problem of over-charging your coach batteries with the resultant boiling out and loss of battery water. This occurs when the coach is still hooked up to shore line power for extended periods of time after the batteries have reached full charge.

A good website to both research these upgraded systems and to purchase them is: http://bestconverter.com

I have published a detailed procedure on how to install either the PD9160A or PD9260C units in the Coach Modifications section of this website or the direct clickable link to it is: http://www.bornfreervclub.org/bulletin_ ... .php?t=334
The photos below are only 3 of the 19 contained in that procedure.

[bill crommett]

Steve: A little thing Bill didn't mention is that the dimensions of the different units needs to be considered because they are not proportional to the amperage of the unit. Bill installed a 60 Amp unit which fit rather easily into the space. I installed a 45 Amp unit which was narrower but taller and was therefor a very tight squeeze. The difference in price was not worth the trouble I had, even though my biggest problem with the installation was getting back up off the floor.

Bill has done an excellent tutorial on the installation..

[dsfriday]

Found the source of my coach battery problem. Seems there is a connect switch (solenoid, or isolator, Mel or Bill can probably explain better) between the chassis alternator and the coach batteries. On ignition, within 60 seconds, the switch is powered up and connects the chassis alternator charging circuit with the coach batteries, you should here a noticeable click behind the driver’s seat after 60 seconds, each time you start up your coach indicating the circuit is energized and the charging circuit is recharging the coach batteries. If you don't, as was the case with my unit, during assembly, one wire was cut to short and it had pulled loose and the coach batteries were not receiving a charge and as a result, over time, they became completely discharged, I would recharge and they would be fine for a while. Now, with the connection repaired, hopefully things will work as intended.

[lafons]

Thanks for all the info. I installed a 4645 unit today and all went well untill time to install the cover. The new medal case had a smaller size screw supplied and the head was smaller than the holes in the cover. So I drilled out the threaded holes and retapped to a 8-32 to use the old screws. Only problem other than the time to do this was that one of the welded nuts on the back of the holes came loose and now I'll have to come up with another solution for that screw. As is often the case Its not the job but what comes with it that takes so much time... This was a poor design and choice on the part of the manufacture, all they need to do was supply a larger headed screw or use the same size thread as the org.

[bcope01]

Steve, congrats, you may be the first BF owner to convert to the new slide-in PD 4600 series. Although you hit a few snags, the conversion was probably less hassle than adapting the PD 9100 series (and other brand converters/smart chargers) that weren't designed to fit the old Magnatek/Parallax housing like several others have done in the past. Let us know how the new charger works for you.

Bill

[dsfriday]

Yes Steve, I'll second that, please keep us updated on the PD4645. At some point, I want to convert to a PD something, leaning to a PD4655, but Bill's instructions look so complete tempeted to try just for the challenge but would probably screw up something.

[jerseypete]

I will pick up a 2008 27RB in May.
It will house 4, T-125 Trojans, with a Magnum Inverter, ME- RC Remote Control and ME- BMK Battery Monitor Kit, with 4, AM100 Solar panels.
The facory is now modifying the battery compartment to provide adequate space for the batteries and for maintenance. I have been assured by Jim Downing and Kenny Day in R + D this will work. I have paid my non- refundable deposit based on this promise. This should be the start of a new concept in Class C coaches, as Born Free will team with AM Solar to provide a first class Solar system for dry camping in a Class C. I will report on the coach the last week of May. If this works as expected, anyone who is interested is welcome to contact me, and also to see the coach. I will attempt to take photos of the roof panels and the battery area to post. "Attempt". Comments are welcome if you want to send any.

[bcope01]

jerseypete, looking forward to seeing those photos.

Bill

[Mike Jean Bandfield]

I also installed the Intellipower 9260C based on Bill Hemme's article. This is where I purchased mine: http://www.bestconverter.com/60-Amp-RV- ... p_171.html
$193.50
60Amp model with Charge Wizard
The price is about $70.00 cheaper than Campingworld.
Steve

Right now the Progessive Dynamics service department has refurbished 9280R's (80A units) for $213. (The warranty is reduced to 90 days on the refurbished units instead of 2 years.) I installed a 9260C last year for ~$165 and have been very pleased with the performance. Keep an eye on this site if you are interested in other products. Their availability changes at random.
http://www.progressivedyn.com/hotdeals.html

[jimnphyl]

I have questions on the new battery tray.

Do you know the model of the EZ-Glide battery tray? Did you have any problem getting the T-105’s to fit? The BT1-1314 seems the most likely model, but the specs for it and the batteries indicate that it is slightly narrower than two T-105 batteries side-by-side.

On our coach, the fiberglass section that contains the battery access door extends under the battery compartment, covering the area under the front pair of bolts which secure the battery tray. The gap between this section and the underside of the battery compartment is tight. Was this a problem with your installation?

[jerseypete]

I thought I posted two photos of the batteries an the tray that Kenny Day designed to house the 4 T-115 Trojans. I'm going to give it another try now

[bcope01]

Jim, the new Fleming Sales Co. EZ-Glide battery slide tray is 14 inches wide by 13 inches deep (My guess it is the Mod. BT1-1314), whereas the old Kwikee battery tray was 13 inches wide by 14 inches deep. The Fleming Sales Co. EZ-Glide battery slide tray fits the battery locker fine (you'll need to drill new holes for the mounting bolts). And the Trojan T-105 Plus batteries will have to be placed side-by-side, where as in the old Kwikee battery tray, one was placed behind the other. All-in-all a better tray because it slides out further exposing the complete top of the batteries thus allowing better access to the fill holes.

Bill

[jerseypete]

Oops! In my post with the two pics showing the battery tray and batteries, I wrote T-115- Should read T-125 batteries.
I was rushing

[bcope01]

jerseypete, that's an awesome bank of batteries.



Bill

[jimnphyl]

I’ve revived this thread to follow up on my previous questions about the new battery tray:

For those of you who have installed the new battery tray, did you have to cut away any of the fiberglass section that extends under the battery compartment? On our coach, there is very small gap between the exterior fiberglass section which wraps under the coach, and the bottom of the battery compartment. That looks like it will create a problem removing the front pair of bolts and installing new ones. Did your coach have this issue? If so, how did that work out?

Thanks.