Last month I finally got around to replacing that old Parallax converter in my PC that couldn't be left plugged in for a long time without frying the house batteries. It was a ridiculously cheap and simple project.
First I had to figure out where the silly thing was. Turns out, it was behind that strange door next to the fridge that has hinges installed on both sides of the door so that you can't open it up without a screwdriver. I guess that's to keep some fool from using the space for storage. I think I can remember not to store can goods next to exposed 45 amp wires, so the first thing I did was install a spring latch so I could open it like a normal door. I left the extraneous hinges in place, just not connected to the door, so it still looks the same (and I didn't have to fill the screw holes).
The converter is just plugged into a normal electrical 110v outlet. There is also a bare ground wire and two heavy-duty wires for the 12 volt, 45 amp output, which are color coded for + and -. Those all just unscrew. Of course, be sure to disconnect the batteries and pull the A/C plug first!
I chose the 45 amp Progressive Dynamics PD9245CV Inteli-Power 9200 for $186 from Amazon as the replacement. I think I read that this is the same brand the factory is installing these days. It's microprocessor controlled to automatically maintain the house batteries. It drops into trickle mode when the batteries are fully charged, so you can just leave the RV plugged in all the time when it's in storage.
The new converter is a little smaller than the original, but otherwise it's connected in exactly the same way, except that the 12V connections use allen screws. It's also much quieter.
