Theory on failed Power Converters & possible fix
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Topic: Theory on failed Power Converters & possible fix
Posted By: ChetC
Subject: Theory on failed Power Converters & possible fix
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2016 at 10:20pm
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The history: Brand new 2017 180 and the power converter goes bad. I took it to Camping World in Cedar Falls, IA (very nice people, highly recommended) for warranty repair. They verify it is bad and replace it. Short time passes, along with roughly 4,000 towing miles, and converter goes bad again. Could still get a warranty replacement but I'm not much for repeating bad history. The theory: I had been plugging in to known power drops at facilities I have visited many times in the past, so in addition to having a history of good power, I also metered the last one where the converter gave up the ghost. Power was within spec. My theory is this; the tray which supports the converter in the power center has quite a bit of movement and I believe it simply vibrates the converters to death. As I cover a LOT of mileage, a large portion on midwest secondary roads, I'm seeing it more frequently than most. On average, a converter about every 3,500-4,000 miles at this point. The fix: Eliminate the wiggle factor. I simply cut to size a piece of blueboard insulation I found on property and wedged it underneath the tray, along with a piece of two-sided tape to hold it in place, which eliminated the wiggle. You could use anything else that would fit snugly underneath the tray. To access (in a 180) simply remove the seat cushion and using a phillips screw driver, remove the wooden cover and it's all right there. One step further: I also swapped out the bad converter for a new Progressive Dynamics 9260. It's a bit of overkill but I have had good luck with them in the past and I no longer trust the factory converters. The swap is very easy and straight forward. If you decide to go this route, install a female plug utilizing the power wires currently running to the factory converter and at that point the 9260 becomes plug and play. I simply used good, two-sided tape to hold the new converter in place in the newly de-wiggled tray. So far, so good. ------------- Former 2017 rPod 180 owner Now in a 2019 Little Guy MAX Full timer who logs more than 35,000 miles per year. |
Replies:
Posted By: rpodnewbies
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 12:58am
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We are having electrical issues too with our 2016 Rpod 180. The outlets work but the fridge, A/C, slide, lights and radio won't work. Is this something like what your issues were?? I'm not sure where the tray is that you are talking about. ------------- Randy & Sandra Empty nesters R180/2017 |
Posted By: rpodnewbies
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 12:59am
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We are having electrical issues too with our 2016 Rpod 180. The outlets work but the fridge, A/C, slide, lights and radio won't work. Is this something like what your issues were?? I'm not sure where the tray is that you are talking about.
------------- Randy & Sandra Empty nesters R180/2017 |
Posted By: rpodnewbies
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 1:00am
Oh, we have a 2017 Rpod!! ------------- Randy & Sandra Empty nesters R180/2017 |
Posted By: podvader
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 7:36am
| Thanks for the tip, Chet...I need to try and locate my converter and check this out. Also glad to hear of your cw experience. That is the closest repair facility to me and my purchase experience on a previous camper was not good...glad to hear I could still consider them for service. |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 8:19am
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The WFCO 8955 converter/charger has been in use for a decade or more, used in millions of RV's. Other makes are also seeing an uptick in dead ones, and the problem has been traced to a bad batch of transistors. ------------- |
Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 11:47am
The converter only converts 120VAC to 12VDC. It has nothing to do with the other 120VAC equipment. Have you checked the breaker panel to make sure one or more breakers haven't tripped? |
Posted By: ChetC
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 6:14pm
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Whoops, I meant to quote not reply... See below. ------------- Former 2017 rPod 180 owner Now in a 2019 Little Guy MAX Full timer who logs more than 35,000 miles per year. |
Posted By: ChetC
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 6:28pm
A bad converter, or more precisely a dead battery, would most definitely cause those issues. All of those items require battery power to operate. The fridge uses battery power to run its "processor", even if electric or propane is selected. The AC requires battery power for the thermostat, if it doesn't have sufficient power the AC sounds like it is struggling to start or will not start. The lights, slide and radio are completely run off of the battery. If your converter is bad the battery will not charge and all of those will fail once the battery is drained. The converter "tray", as I called it, is located behind the main panel. If you open the panel to access the breakers, you will see two Phillips head screws, one on each side. Remove those and the cover panel will tip out at the top. Once it's tipped out, lift straight up to remove the cover. The comverter is located on the very bottom, on a tray held in place with two more Phillips head screws. Make sure all power is off (battery too) before messing with the converter or you may get shocked. You can see if your converter is charging or not by simply pressing the Battery button on your monitor panel. While the tank level lights are hit and miss, depending on a variety of factors, the battery lights should always be accurate. If all four lights, or more precisely the top most light, is lit then the converter is charging. If it's not, then the converter has pooped out. I always, always, always hit the battery button every time I plug in to a new location, just to verify that the converter is charging. If it is functioning properly, it will always light the top most light when you are plugged into shore power regardless of whether or not the battery is good. That light is lit by the charging function of the converter, not the level of the battery. If the top most light is not lit, then you have an issue with the converter. ------------- Former 2017 rPod 180 owner Now in a 2019 Little Guy MAX Full timer who logs more than 35,000 miles per year. |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 8:22pm
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12 volt power isn't needed for the A/C, so that would lead me to think a circuit breaker or two is tripped, as suggested above. We've seen very few converter issues on this board, even with pods that have 20,000+ miles on them (like ours did). It is possible you just ended up on the low end of the bell curve with two bad converters in a row. ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: ChetC
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2016 at 11:15pm
Actually, on the newer AC units like those in the 180, 12v is required for the digital AC thermostat and the AC will not function without it. I learned that the hard way when the first converter went. It's possible I was unlucky in the converter department but the coincidence of the mileage being very close the same both times is highly suspicious to me, which led to my investigation and theory. I'm not claiming this is a guaranteed issue or fix, I'm just sharing my experience. ------------- Former 2017 rPod 180 owner Now in a 2019 Little Guy MAX Full timer who logs more than 35,000 miles per year. |
Posted By: rpodnewbies
Date Posted: 30 Sep 2016 at 12:05am
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Thanks Chet!I talked to a service guy today and he said it was probably a bad converter! We are taking it to be fixed! We aren't mechanically gifted to do it ourselves but you gave great directions! Thanks again!
Rpodnewbies ------------- Randy & Sandra Empty nesters R180/2017 |
Posted By: rpodnewbies
Date Posted: 30 Sep 2016 at 12:08am
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Yes that was the first thing we checked was the breakers! ------------- Randy & Sandra Empty nesters R180/2017 |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 30 Sep 2016 at 7:38pm
I assumed that was supplied by the A/C itself, like home systems. Learned something today.  ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual
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Posted By: StonyRiverDave
Date Posted: 10 Sep 2018 at 10:17pm
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I just had a converter failure in the middle of a 6 week trip. On disassembly inspection, I found that the resistor R1 had "fallen off" the circuit board. So I think that the discussions on vibration issues are valid. We also had the read walls bread free from the platform on this trip and needed repairs. The excellent repair by ArrKan RV in Edmonton found just a few screws were holding the back together and were too short or broken off. Trans Canada 16 is quite a bouncy 4 lane. ------------- 2017 R-Pod 178 2014 Nissan Pathfinder SL 4WD |