Best price for PD4045?

[GuitarPhotog]

Thanks, Charles.
Mounting everything in a cabinet door was a clever thing to do. It makes access for installations and modifications much easier.

Thanks Sharon. The other part of that compartment is used for the spare tire and tools. I'll post some more current pictures of the forward compartment once the new door is cut and mounted.

I've wired a lot of stuff in my life, most of it in uncomfortable places, and I wanted to make hooking it all together easy and somewhat comfortable.

Take care, and see you at the DAM Gathering
<Chas>

[Esteban]

Frank Bear sells the PD4045 although it is not listed on his web site. teardroptrailerparts.com/

Just ordered one from him. Price $149.95. With shipping and a credit card fee it totaled $174.98.

Frank offered to help over the phone if I hit any snags hooking it up. He said only two have failed on him out of about two thousand sold and one failure was due to an installation screw up.

[Esteban]

The Progressive Dynamics PD 4045 I bought from Frank Bear arrived today. It was very well protected for shipment. The unit was entirely covered in bubble wrap that was surrounded by plastic peanuts inside the cardboard shipping box.

However there seem to be different versions of the PD4045. I sometimes see a PD4045kv version. Another is the PD4045CS, with a built-in Charge Wizard.

Mine is missing the black and white (battery?) leads in the top rear. Why is that?

It has 10 black wires and 2 red wires coming out of the rear. I presume the 2 red ones are for (up to) 30 amp DC circuits and the 10 black ones are for (up to) 20 amp DC circuits.

Google images of the PD4045 wiring pd4045

Photos in the 7th post at http://www.airforums.com/please-help-intellipower-4045 clearly show the the 2 upper black and white wires my new PD 4045 is lacking.

[GuitarPhotog]

I believe I wired my own battery wires into the input lugs in the DC section. I wired my master battery cutoff switch in there too after removing the shorting link.

Yes, the two red wires are for the two higher capacity circuits. The wires each have numbers printed on them to identify the circuit number, don't cut them too short ;-)

<Chas>

[Esteban]

I believe I wired my own battery wires into the input lugs in the DC section. I wired my master battery cutoff switch in there too after removing the shorting link.

Yes, the two red wires are for the two higher capacity circuits. The wires each have numbers printed on them to identify the circuit number, don't cut them too short ;-)

<Chas>

Thanks for the reply and your information. Progressive Dynamics seems to have different versions of the PD4045 and to have made changes to them over time. With their scant installation information I've looked here and elsewhere for photos and installation information. It sometimes helps and sometimes further confuses to see different (prior?) versions in photos.

Like you I will use a battery kill switch. So I am beginning to understand about removing the jumper.

This instruction from the Installation Instructions somewhat confuses me:

DC DISCONNECT:
For installations incorporating an external DC disconnect switch, connect battery POS (+) and the BATTERY POS. + lug to the same pole on the external disconnect switch. Remove the JUMPER. Connect the ALTERNATE BATTERY POS. + to other pole on the external disconnect switch. (see wiring diagram for component locations)

I think what this is saying is that the positive wire from the battery gets connected to the external disconnect switch. Then another (positive) wire is connected to the other pole of the disconnect switch and its other end is connected to the ALTERNATIVE BATTERY POS. The factory installed jumper is removed.

I have not removed the cover of the PD4045 to see the wiring inside. I'm unsure how to take the cover off? Don't want to break it by mistake.

BTW the wires on my PD4045 are not numbered 1 through 12 to identify the DC circuits. Wish they were. So, I may need to test them when the time comes.

I am several months away from installation of the PD4045. Just trying to learn to be ready when the time comes (so I do not create smoke).

[GuitarPhotog]

I'll see if I can take a photo of mine tomorrow or over the weekend. It's easier to show than describe.

<Chas>

[Esteban]

Your photos will be helpful.

I need to take some photos too.

How easy (or hard) is it to remove the front plastic cover of the PD4045 so I can expose the area that will get wired? I'm unsure how to remove the cover safely without causing any damage.

[les45]

Here are pics of the front and back side of my PD4045. The large red and black wires in the center of the front view are my primary leads from the battery. The red goes to a master cutoff switch (I used a standard AC house type switch facing the galley) and the black goes to a ground terminal block and then to the battery. You can see these on the inside (rear) view. Note that I did not use their method of connecting the positive and alternate positive to the cutoff switch. I simply broke the primary positive lead with the switch before it went into the PD. I keep the master switch turned off at all times except when I am camping and when I occasionally charge the battery during the off season. My 12 DC leads on the back were labeled at the factory. All of my electrical is in a cabinet with the PD controls facing the galley and the cabinet access from inside the cabin. The front cover is removed by popping it off with a screwdriver. There are four slots in the cover that pop into four pegs in the main frame. You should see a notch for the screwdriver somewhere around the edges. It also pops back on but it can be difficult sometimes as it tends to hang up on the circuit breakers. Note that my AC and DC circuits are all wired in but my primary AC inlet wire had not been installed yet in this pic. You can see the hole for the inlet fixture in the wall on the right side of the bottom pic.

[IslandStorm62]

Here are pics of the front and back side of my PD4045. The large red and black wires in the center of the front view are my primary leads from the battery. The red goes to a master cutoff switch (I used a standard AC house type switch facing the galley) and the black goes to a ground terminal block and then to the battery. You can see these on the inside (rear) view. Note that I did not use their method of connecting the positive and alternate positive to the cutoff switch. I simply broke the primary positive lead with the switch before it went into the PD. I keep the master switch turned off at all times except when I am camping and when I occasionally charge the battery during the off season. My 12 DC leads on the back were labeled at the factory. All of my electrical is in a cabinet with the PD controls facing the galley and the cabinet access from inside the cabin. The front cover is removed by popping it off with a screwdriver. There are four slots in the cover that pop into four pegs in the main frame. You should see a notch for the screwdriver somewhere around the edges. It also pops back on but it can be difficult sometimes as it tends to hang up on the circuit breakers. Note that my AC and DC circuits are all wired in but my primary AC inlet wire had not been installed yet in this pic. You can see the hole for the inlet fixture in the wall on the right side of the bottom pic.

Thanks for these pictures. Can I pick your brain. I just picked up a PD4060 and trying to understand the wiring? What gauge wire are you using for your primary leads from the battery? Looks like you are following the same color scheme as the battery (Black is NEG & Red is POS). On my PD4060, where you have the Black Lead coming in, that post is labeled as "WHT/GND". And the post next to it where you have the RED Lead, mine is labeled POS/BLK.

I also noticed that you have that Black line running into you "MAIN" 120VAC Breaker. Is that Black line coming from the converter? Same area that the White and Green are coming from? These aren't in the instructions. My Black line is connected to the terminal post on the right side of the PD4060 Case. I do not see any White, Green or Black line coming in for you main circuit breaker. How does the Shore Power connect to the WD4060?

[IslandStorm62]

This is a picture of how I received my PD4060; I bought it from one if the forum members. If you look at the right side there are three wires. The diagram shows these to be for the converter. The instructions and diagrams do not show how to connect for shore power. I am assuming that the shore power will come into the main breaker but if the black "hot" line connects to the Breaker and the neutral and ground connect to their respective buses, how does power run from the breaker to the converter? There does not seem to be a there does not seem to be a connection from the breaker hot line to the buses.

[les45]

I used #8 stranded wire for my DC primary from the battery (my battery is located on the tongue). I did use the standard red/black convention on the battery side of the converter. On the DC appliance side of the converter I used various colors based on some old wiring that I had in stock. I just had to keep good notes to keep track of them. If I recall, the Fantastic Fan uses yet another color scheme of red and white.
I had the same problem you have with the AC wiring. The book was not clear on the purpose of the internal black wire connected to the bus on the far right. I confirmed this by calling the factory. I think it is a hot bus but I did not use it. In the pictures, my AC inlet wiring is not installed yet. The inlet wiring goes to the master breaker on the far left. I installed the internal black wire that is the hot lead to the converter on my #2 breaker (I pulled the black from the bus on the right and plugged it into the #2 breaker). I left that as a dedicated breaker for the AC power to the converter that makes your DC. I then used breakers #3 and #4 for my various receptacles in the cabin and galley.
You can see more details of my AC and DC systems in my journal at viewtopic.php?f=50&t=49333&hilit=les45

[springdew]

I am assuming that the shore power will come into the main breaker but if the black "hot" line connects to the Breaker and the neutral and ground connect to their respective buses, how does power run from the breaker to the converter? There does not seem to be a there does not seem to be a connection from the breaker hot line to the buses.

What was not obvious to me is that there's a metal bar that runs along behind the tops of the circuit breakers. That bar is what the breakers clip into when they are installed and is actually a different sort of bus bar. So shore power comes in the bottom of the main breaker and out the back into that bus bar. From there it goes into the backs of the other breakers, and out through wires at the bottoms of the other breakers to their respective circuits.

[GuitarPhotog]

I am assuming that the shore power will come into the main breaker but if the black "hot" line connects to the Breaker and the neutral and ground connect to their respective buses, how does power run from the breaker to the converter? There does not seem to be a there does not seem to be a connection from the breaker hot line to the buses.

What was not obvious to me is that there's a metal bar that runs along behind the tops of the circuit breakers. That bar is what the breakers clip into when they are installed and is actually a different sort of bus bar. So shore power comes in the bottom of the main breaker and out the back into that bus bar. From there it goes into the backs of the other breakers, and out through wires at the bottoms of the other breakers to their respective circuits.

Exactly!

Doing that is unlike common practice in house wiring where the Main breaker is completely separate from the branch breakers.

<Chas>