2011 Fuzion 302 Power Converter Upgrade...

[glissa]

First things first - Hello everyone! I am somewhat new to the forum as this is only my second post however I have done a lot of reading and benefited a ton from some of the kind folks information they have posted on here.

I wanted to post a quick intro to what I have done and then link you to a video I made today - Videos are way better then reading ;) - that I think could help a lot of toyhauler folks out there.

I started by upgrading our Fuzions power converter to a 4 stage 100 Amp Powermax Boondocker (The stock WFCO 100 Amp unit is a real P.O.S.). My family and I do a lot of off the grid camping and we needed something that would help us fully charge and maintain our battery power.

I also added a 12 volt marine starting battery to run along side our two 6 volt batteries where its sole purpose is to start the generator. Our RV came with two 12 volt batteries for both the house power and to start the generator. SO - if you kill the batteries over night, then your jumping them in the morning just to start your genny :confused:

Now, some people have done what I have mentioned above. Some folks like myself would get home from a trip and pull that 12 volt starting battery out and charge it on the bench, and some people have installed a small trickle charger to try and keep that starting battery topped up. Where this whole system differs is I have added a battery solenoid that when my two 6 volts reach 13.2V then it kicks on and also applies a charge to my 12V starting battery.

Anyway - please check out the video if you are interested as it paints a better picture then all this typing (tx)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFtpu4Dr-Y

[x96mnn]

Great post. A+ to you sir for taking the time to make the video!

[grtoutdoors]

Anyway - please check out the video if you are interested as it paints a better picture then all this typing (tx)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFtpu4Dr-Y

Awesome post - thanks.

Would you mind sketching out how you wired in the selenoid between the 6V and the 12V and the switch. This looks like an ideal way to manage the power between the 6's and 12. :).

Thanks again for a great post

[glissa]

Awesome post - thanks.

Would you mind sketching out how you wired in the selenoid between the 6V and the 12V and the switch. This looks like an ideal way to manage the power between the 6's and 12. :).

Thanks again for a great post

Thank you for your kind replies folks! Drawing is not one of my strong suits -hence the video ;) but I will try to explain. If you think of the two 6's as nothing more than one big 12V it makes it a lot simpler. All I did is came of one of the "hot"/positive posts (once the batteries were wired together in series) up to the "in" side of the solenoid. From the "out" side of the solenoid I went down to the "hot"/postive post of the 12V starting battery. And that's pretty much it! You do have to ground the solenoid from one of its other posts and if you want the jump start capability i mentioned you have to wire that up seperate as well. I hope that answers your question. If not by all means please feel free to respond and I will try again. In the mean time I will try to find a program to draw something up for you.

Check this link out as it may help explain what's going on with these solenoids and it shows a pretty good pic as well!!!

http://www.fourwheelcampers.com/batteryseparator1315.pdf

Thanks again for your kind replies!

[KenBob]

Thanks for the post and video! A replacement Boondocker is fairly inexpensive. I thought they would be more pricey.

I have been wanting to add a starting battery to our fuzion and also have 2 6v batts. I noticed that the 3 batts fit well in the compartment. I will need to measure the tray. Seems it would be a tight fit. Also, is there a make/model of the solenoid? An excellent upgrade!

[Htfiremedic]

Thanks and this may be on my list sooner than later!

[Butch Fuzion]

Thanks a bunch for sharing this video available to us. I'm not sure I have the skills to do this but I am going to give it a try. Where did you get the solenoid? Thanks again

[KenBob]

Thanks a bunch for sharing this video available to us. I'm not sure I have the skills to do this but I am going to give it a try. Where did you get the solenoid? Thanks again

Search battery separator. I am trying to determine which model is used. 1314 or 1315.

[glissa]

The solenoid I used is the sure power solenoid I gave a link to above in my last post. I purchased it from a place in town here called "Battery Direct." They were very nice to deal with. I also bought my 6V's from them as they had the best prices and the most availible amperage options.

[KenBob]

The solenoid I used is the sure power solenoid I gave a link to above in my last post. I purchased it from a place in town here called "Battery Direct." They were very nice to deal with. I also bought my 6V's from them as they had the best prices and the most availible amperage options.

The link is pdf instructions for either the 1314 or the 1315. wondering which you used. Thanks!

[glissa]

The link is pdf instructions for either the 1314 or the 1315. wondering which you used. Thanks!

Sorry.... I used the 1314

[KenBob]

The hardest part of this upgrade, other than lifting the batteries, will be making/running the wires. I test fit the two 6 volt batts and one 12 volt batt in the compartment and they fit like a glove! Found a Sure Power 1314 separator on YAB-E. If I would have tried to put 3 batteries in the tray when we got the Fuzion, we probably would have had a separate starting battery a long time ago.

I wonder if Keystone uses the same size battery tray in all 5th toyhauler models. If so, this mod may be very popular.

[glissa]

The hardest part of this upgrade, other than lifting the batteries, will be making/running the wires. I test fit the two 6 volt batts and one 12 volt batt in the compartment and they fit like a glove! Found a Sure Power 1314 separator on YAB-E. If I would have tried to put 3 batteries in the tray when we got the Fuzion, we probably would have had a separate starting battery a long time ago.

I wonder if Keystone uses the same size battery tray in all 5th toyhauler models. If so, this mod may be very popular.

KenBob - I'm so glad you decided to tackle this, you will love it if you were plagued with dead batts and jump starting your RV with your pick up like i was. This is how these rigs should be set up from the factory. To be honest they could probably due for four 6V as these trailer can really crush your batteries fast if your not carful! I'm glad this helped you out! Have fun installing (my favourite part) ;)

[KenBob]

Wanted to ask a question about the switch you installed to allow the house (6v) batteries to start the generator in case the 12v battery fails. From what I read in the instructions, this ability is already built into the separator.

"ASSIST IN ENGINE STARTING
When the starter is activated the BATTERY SEPARATOR compares the voltage of both battery banks. IF the
chassis' battery is lower than the auxiliary battery bank, the BATTERY SEPARATOR will engage allowing the
auxiliary battery bank to aid in vehicle starting. The start signal must be at least three volts for the operation
to occur."

It may be because the separator "thinks" the main battery(s) are for starting and the aux is for other. If this is the case, how is the switch wired? Thanks for helping an overthinker understand!

[glissa]

Wanted to ask a question about the switch you installed to allow the house (6v) batteries to start the generator in case the 12v battery fails. From what I read in the instructions, this ability is already built into the separator.

"ASSIST IN ENGINE STARTING
When the starter is activated the BATTERY SEPARATOR compares the voltage of both battery banks. IF the
chassis' battery is lower than the auxiliary battery bank, the BATTERY SEPARATOR will engage allowing the
auxiliary battery bank to aid in vehicle starting. The start signal must be at least three volts for the operation
to occur."

It may be because the separator "thinks" the main battery(s) are for starting and the aux is for other. If this is the case, how is the switch wired? Thanks for helping an overthinker understand!

No problem at all. You do have to wire the jump start feature. All it is is a simple switch with high gauge wire to the switch lead on the solenoid and the other end to the positive lead on your starting battery (switch in between the power and the solenoid). If you read the quote you provided again knowing that you need to wire a switch it makes more sense i.e. "when the starter is activated..."

All the switch does is tells the solenoid to "close" and make a backwards connection from your 6V's to your 12V assisting the 12V in starting your genny.

Hope that helps!

[wellsy]

I've got an older Fuzion 302 and the battery compartment is a different configuration. I have modded it to fit 2 6v for now, vs the 2 12v.

One question for you - how are you securing your 6v batteries? I didnt see any straps on them in your video?

I thikn I'm going to put in some angle iron to hold mine in place and a couple straps across the top.

thanks
Scott

[glissa]

Hi there. I haven't done anything to secure them. They just sit in the there like the originals did. Because they are at the front of the unit I'm not sure that you would have to worry much about bouncing - I think it's more of a "see saw" effect there then a bounce. But please keep me in the loop as I'm always looking for another upgrade!

I'm going to post another thread/video of my inverter instal right away if your at all interested...

[kenhillwa]

Thanks for posting the video. I did a bunch of modifications to a travel trailer to give me dry camping 120 volt. It was somewhat shadetree but it did teach me a lot. I didn't use a solenoid, but worked around it with a manual switch on the generator battery.

Just a couple of clarifications. I was told if you parallel two 6 volt batteries you do not get to add the amp hours together. You still have 230 amp hours, but you now have it at 12 volts. Also, your wires look pretty light. You may want to do some research and find out if they need to be upsized for your larger charger. If you have a quick charger, it could send as much as 50-100 amps of charging power to the battery. That would mean you want a minimum of a #2 conductor from your new unit to your batteries.

Thanks for the info on the converter. I know dealers don't spend a lot of money on things that the consumer doesn't look at before they buy a unit. I say they build them to look good on a showroom floor, not to actually use.

Anyway, keep the video up. i may need to refer to it if I upgrade some things in mine.

[kenhillwa]

Please, post your inverter video. That would be my next large purchase for mine, as long as i can hide 4-6 volt batteries like I did in my trailer.

[glissa]

** Quick Update -

Upon getting ready for next weekends outing I have come to find my Boondocker Powermax seems to have died....?

I checked it every which way I could possibly check it only to find that it has no DC charging output? I put my old WFCO converter back in and it worked fine which leads me to believe that I have a dead converter.

Anyone else had one of these things let go on them and if so, what happened? I have a call into Best Converter so I guess I will see what they say.

Thanks in advance to anyone that has any input.

[Patrice]

Very interesting setup you have... I am new to this blog and just acquired a 2012 Raptor 410lev. I have yet to inspect the electrical system but looks like I'll have some work to do...
As your post is a bit dated, I was wondering if this modification met your expectations.
In addition, can this be done without changing the converter?
Thanks.

[JRTJH]

Patrice,

If you open member Glissa's profile you'll see immediately under his name:
"Last Activity: 12-13-2015 05:02 PM" Since he hasn't signed into the forum for more than a year, you likely won't get a response from him. You might try starting your own thread and ask the questions you'd like answered. That may get you the desired information faster than anticipating a response from Glissa.

[glissa]

HI there and I'm sorry for the late response. It is true, I have not logged in in some time as I have a very young family of 3 to which the youngest just turned 1 yrs old, and I just finished restoring a Mustang so needless to say, I haven't had a lot of spare time...

To answer your question, yes this converter upgrade was worth it. However, I have had some issues with the actual converter itself. I believe that they had some manufacturing issues in the beginning because I had two converters that just decided to become "paper weights" for no apparent reason....? The folks at Boondocker have been very good to deal with overall. They have sent me replacements when ever I had one of their converters pack it in on me. My only recommendation as a look back now would be, keep your original converter somewhere in the RV so you can access it in a pinch. As I mentioned, I haven't had an issue in over a year with the new and improved converter however it's always my luck that things go wrong when ever I'm as far away from civilization as possible so I still keep my old WFCO unit with me at all times just in case ;-)

[Keshka]

Glissa;
how are your two 6v batteries holding up and what brand/model are they. (nice setup btw!)

I am currently running a CAT 8D battery 12v at 210 AH and 132lbs. Have been using it since 2014 and it's still running strong but I will never buy another CAT battery as of about 4 yrs ago they dropped their 6yr warranty and the quality went south. I have purchase about four other batteries from CAT with in the last four and none have made it past 2 yrs used in cars/trucks.

Keshka