WFCO conveter

[kansasman13]

Im looking at a WFCO 35 Amp converter/charger but i don't understand how it all hooks it. All I can tell from the picture is that is has a red and a black wire connections on the front which im guession is the output? (tell me if im wrong) Then there looks like theirs a cord in the back and does that plug into a standard like 110 outlet or does it wire directly? And where do the wires go to charge the battery? If anyone has pictures of this it would be awesome
Kman

[Sonetpro]

I have the same one.

[Juneaudave]

Crap...the wiring in that diagram sure looks neater than my execution of such....

[Tripmaker]

Kansasman,

I have the WFCO as well but I can't do better than the information Sonetpro provided. After reading your other post I think you will be happy with the WFCO. I used battery power quite a bit last summer while camping and have left it pluged in all winter to tend my battery. Works great for me. To answer a question in your other post I would not put everything (12V) on one 30 amp fuse. You will have 3 12V circuits with the WFCO, split up the load. I put my lights on 2 different circuits so that if one fuse goes out I still have lights.

Jim

[kansasman13]

I have the converter and all my lights but now i have to hook it all up. I can wire the 110 so i have a gfic to plug in the converter. From the converter do I run the red and black to the battery, and then from the battery another set of red and black cables going to the ground block and fuseblock? Also what gauge of wire do i need from the converter to the battery and battery to the fuse panel and ground block.

[Tripmaker]

Run one set of black and red to the battery and put a 30 amp inline fuse CLOSE to the battery on the red (power) wire. As for wire size it depends on how far from the converter you place the battery. I put mine on the tongue with the converter in the galley and used 8 gauge wire. For your 12V circuit 14 should be enough to run the fan, lights, etc. Remember the fuses are to protect the wires from getting too hot and possibly starting a fire, not to protect the appliances. That is why you want the 30 amp fuse close to the battery. With the WFCO you can run one ground wire to the ground block for all your 12V outlets or appliances. You then have 3 12V circuits built into the converter. You don't need a seperate fuse block unless you need more than 3. I wired my 110 coming in directly to the plug in on the outside of the camper. The circuit breaker in the converter protects the converter. Then I put a second breaker in the extra slot for my 110 GF outlets for plug ins. Remember the GF outlets are not circuit breakers, Gound Fault and circuit breakers do 2 different things. Hope that helps.

Jim

[blurtheline]

Good Evening;

Sonetpro, thanks for that diagram, it helped a lot!

I have the 25amp version of the WFCO unit that I have working fine (charges battery, powers 12v and 110v). I would also like to connect an inverter to my battery so that I can run 110v when not connected to shore power (I have a XPower Inverter 1500). I imagine there is something special I need to use when connecting the invertor to the same system (to stop any reverse power?), but I'm not sure what. I dont want to fry my WFCO! Sorry, kind of new to electronics!!

Thanks!! Art

[Tripmaker]

Art,

For what it is worth. I considered doing the same thing but from what I have read it really puts a drain on your battery and you will get a few hours at best of 110. Following the advice of others, I asked myself what I wanted the 110V for. The answer was to make coffee in the morning. I solved that issue easily by heating water on my stove and pouring it through a Milita #6 coffee cone into a thermos. Your needs may be different, but ask youself the same question. What will I do with the 110?

If you really need the inverter someone else will have to help with the wireing since I never took it that far.

Jim

[jss06]

Ideally an inverter should be connected with heavy guage wire directly to the battery array using a high current shut off switch or fuse.

[Sonetpro]

I wired my inverter with 8 ga directly to the battery with a inline fuse at the battery terminal + connection. The only thing it runs is the TV/DVD and it only pulls 45 watt's.
If I want to run the coffee maker or the petcool I start the generater up. The coffee maker is a power hog at 1250 watts.
The plus is running the generator for an hour every morning for coffee keeps the battry's topped since the WFCO is automatic.

[jss06]

Sonetpro,

Any particular reason you are running your converter and the AC off the same breaker? I would think having those split up would be a better idea.

[Sonetpro]

Sonetpro,

Any particular reason you are running your converter and the AC off the same breaker? I would think having those split up would be a better idea.

The Petcool is only 400 watts. and the converter pulls very little.
The other breaker goes to the outlets in my tear including the coffee maker. I didn't want both the AC and the coffee maker to cycle at once on the same circuit.

[john]

How does grounding to the trailer frame accomplish anything? I understand grounding to a rod driven into the dirt, but my trailer frame isn't a ground rod.

[wlooper89]

How does grounding to the trailer frame accomplish anything? I understand grounding to a rod driven into the dirt, but my trailer frame isn't a ground rod.

That is a good question. The brief answer is that is the way RV manufacturers do it and I am sure they must have thought about it some. If there is a short circuit between either AC hot or neutral and the trailer frame a person could be shocked by touching the frame while standing on wet ground. The person becomes the ground rod. Connecting AC ground to the trailer frame as well as to the campground pedestal through the power cord is a safety factor. Installing a GFCI for each AC circuit near the power inlet is also good for safety. In this scenario the GFCI would trip immediately if there is a short to the grounded trailer frame and not wait for a person to complete the path to ground.

Bill

[john]

thanks