GuitarPhotog wrote:It's pretty straight-forward. It has two separate sections, a 12VDC converter/charger/fuse block, and a 120 VAC circuit breaker panel. The only interconnection comes with the wire for the converter power which has to be hooked to a 120 VAC circuit breaker.
The 12VDC side has a number of wires, each leading to a fused output (you supply the fuses), and a Battery lead to connect to the positive terminal of your battery. Each fused circuit connects to a load in your trailer. For example I wired mine with one circuit for lights, one for the fans, and one for the accessory outlets (USB charger and cigar lighter sockets).
I hope the 8735 is more reliable than the 8725 that I had. It failed twice before I replaced it with a Progressive Dynamics PD4045.
<Chas>
I've been told that the 8725 was the one that was the most unreliable. My first 8735 bombed on me; but, it was bad when I put it in and I didn't know enough about how it was supposed to work to know better. That first one finally just died. My second one has been doing a fine job for 3 years. Their instructions are minimal because it is assumed that anyone installing one of these has a little background in this sort of thing. I find that a lot of RV parts are like that. Some come with no instructions at all. It definitely is NOT like going to Home Depot, with DIY classes and all....
With that explanation out of the way, it isn't that hard. It just takes some thought, a some reading, and maybe a call to the help line. It's been a few years; but, the fellow that I got at the help line was truly helpful. However, I notice that they've taken the manual off-line and they now list their hot line this way:
Our technical and product support team is always ready to fulfill needs and answer inquiries from our customers. Our team is prepared to provide application reviews and assist with appropriate product selections. Our technicians are always available to troubleshoot with dealers over the phone. For more information on our products and services, contact us toll free at 1-877-294-8997.
Humph!
This RV electrical tutorial may be helpful:
http://www.rv-dreams.com/rv-electrical.htmlMy suggestion for the 12 volt part of things is that you get yourself a couple bus bars, like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SEA-RAY-1705029 ... 0582314243 and attach your wires via those. It makes life a lot easier. Another tip, when the manual talks about "slideouts", don't worry about it. You can use the one that they say is for slideouts for anything you want but you do want to save one connection especially for the battery. If it is still like it was when I wired mine, that will be for the
RED wire coming from the converter. You attach the converter's positive wires to one side of one of the bus bars and your matching positive wire from your wiring directly opposite it on the bus bar. Your negative wires are attached to the other bus bar in a similar fashion. Be sure to attach your bus bars inside a box or other protected cabinet where fingers will not
accidentally come in contact with the wiring. They don't give you all the fuses you need; but, you can pick some up at your local auto parts store. They also don't supply the breaker bars that you need for the 120AC side of things. I had trouble finding the ones that they named but finally found them at ACE hardware. This isn't everything that you need to know; but, I hope this helps some.
