Another WFCO converter failure!

**KyDan** · 02-16-2019, 08:39 AM

Our rig is going on 4 years old. Since we don't boondock very often I have not been real concerned about battery charge times or rates.
I check the batteries twice a year and they typically need a little water but nothing to worry about.

Just got back from a month in (partly) sunny Florida. We moved 8 times so the rig was disconnected from shore power and plugged back in 8 times. Apparently the WFCO 8955 charger goes into boost every time it's powered up whether the batteries need it or not.
At our last stop the slide wouldn't go out.
I pulled off the cover and looked at my Schwintek control board which was flashing 4 red which means "HI battery voltage".
What?? I went back inside and turned on my digital voltage display and it was reading 19 volts

I unplugged us from shore power and the display dropped to 16 volts. I turned on every light in the rig and got it down to 14 something... I was just about ready to put the schwintek board in override mode when the fault cleared.
We ran the slide out ok.

I'm back home. How can a month go by so fast!! Just ordered a new Progressive Dynamics 4655L Wildkat replacement charger. Should have replaced that WFCO charger back when the rig was new but it was sort of out of sight out of mind since it seemed to be working... I guess the voltage regulator circuit went bonkers.

Here's hoping my batteries aren't fried as well as any other control boards like fridge, water heater, furnace etc..... everything seems to be working so far. I haven't had a chance to check battery water levels but they are holding at 13.2 sitting here at home with lights on while we unpack and I re-winterize.

TitanMike · 02-18-2019, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyDan

Our rig is going on 4 years old. Since we don't boondock very often I have not been real concerned about battery charge times or rates.
I check the batteries twice a year and they typically need a little water but nothing to worry about.

Just got back from a month in (partly) sunny Florida. We moved 8 times so the rig was disconnected from shore power and plugged back in 8 times. Apparently the WFCO 8955 charger goes into boost every time it's powered up whether the batteries need it or not.
At our last stop the slide wouldn't go out.
I pulled off the cover and looked at my Schwintek control board which was flashing 4 red which means "HI battery voltage".
What?? I went back inside and turned on my digital voltage display and it was reading 19 volts

I unplugged us from shore power and the display dropped to 16 volts. I turned on every light in the rig and got it down to 14 something... I was just about ready to put the schwintek board in override mode when the fault cleared.
We ran the slide out ok.

I'm back home. How can a month go by so fast!! Just ordered a new Progressive Dynamics 4655L Wildkat replacement charger. Should have replaced that WFCO charger back when the rig was new but it was sort of out of sight out of mind since it seemed to be working... I guess the voltage regulator circuit went bonkers.

Here's hoping my batteries aren't fried as well as any other control boards like fridge, water heater, furnace etc..... everything seems to be working so far. I haven't had a chance to check battery water levels but they are holding at 13.2 sitting here at home with lights on while we unpack and I re-winterize.

So does my Progressive Dynamics Converter. It then changes to lower charge modes as the voltage rises. It only remains in Boost mode for a limited amount of time which will depend on how much power was drawn from the batteries while shore power was off.

I would check the batteries sooner than later for "water" levels. They are the last things you want to be "out of sight, out of mind". I read how people check regularly in the beginning and then less often "as they get a feel for water use". Reality is that that "water use" can change without notice if the battery is starting to fail.

**KyDan** · 02-28-2019, 10:05 AM

My complaint about the WFCO charger/converter is that it apparently goes into boost mode any time you unplug and re-plug shore power. At least that's my understanding. Since we moved CGs several times and once just moved to a different site- I believe it boosted my batteries much more than necessary.
Also it has no way to force boost mode so on a generator it takes HOURS to get a decent charge.
Finally- NO WAY should any charger ever take me to 19 volts! YIKES- it could have fried any one of several 12v control boards.

Anyway- I installed the WildKat replacement and it truly was plug and play. Very simple swap out. My only issue was all the connections in my rig were REALLY tight from the factory. No loose wires for me. I could not get them loose with a flat blade screw driver. I noticed all the screws were combo- flat blade and square drive.
I dug out my square drive bit and said a prayer and using both hands was able to unscrew them all. Man were they tight!

Next time we boondock which is rare, we will be able to boost batteries with my little Honda without having to run it as long.

Jay2504 · 02-28-2019, 10:58 AM

I am very curious about this because I still have the WFCO converter in my unit. Was the battery water low? What does the voltage read now? Have you tested the batteries under load? I have seen bad batteries make things go bonkers. Replace the batteries- everything becomes fine. That is probably not the case here. Please let us know how this turned out. Thanks. Jay

**KyDan** · 02-28-2019, 11:48 AM

Yes my batteries were low on water.
That's one complaint. I believe since the WFCO goes into boost mode every time you power it up- my batteries got severely over charged and boiled out the water.
The reason I said "enough is enough" is because of that 19 volt reading. My schwintec slide control board costs big buck$. I do NOT want to fry that thing!
I just don't trust the WFCO any more. We hope this rig is our forever trailer so I have already installed a Progressive Dynamics surge guard. This new WildKat charger is the other half of the equation- for me anyway.

**KyDan** · 02-28-2019, 12:04 PM

FWIW
There are tons of youtube video about changing this out.
I found this little vimeo video to cover all I needed and didn't require me to watch a long drawn out youtube.
https://vimeo.com/15713417
The tip about popping the DC fuse panel loose so you can pull out the old DC supply wires and get the new wires back in place was great. I'm pretty sure if I had done this swap without seeing that I would have fought the super stiff DC wires out of there the hard way!

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