Montana 3740FK converter location?

[Bunkster66]

Hello all I've searched the forums and the interwebs and I cannot find a direct answer to this question. I am trying to upgrade my factory converter in this coach. It is a dumb converter and overcharges my batteries. Now I know that it does it and I should have checked my water level in the batteries all along, I've bought a smart converter and I'm planning on upgrading. I cannot find the converter that exists in this trailer for The Life of me. I've been told to check behind the pass through wall and there are a lot of cables there but no converters. This is what the existing fuse and breaker assembly looks like. The piece on the bottom doesn't really look like much of a converter to me. Any help is appreciated.

[Carl n Susan]

You don't say what year Montana you have, but it is clear you have a Progressive Dynamics Power Center with an integrated *SMART* converter! There should be a tag with the model number somewhere there.

The converter is the portion behind the fans at the bottom of the picture. The 4 tan colored 25 amp Buss fuses (lower right corner in pic) are the reverse polarity protection fuses for the converter. There looks like there is a Lithium/FLA charge mode switch so you must have a newer RV.

The PD converter is a "smart" charger and the premier RV converter. You do have to periodically check the water levels in a FLA battery despite using a smart converter. It is unusual for a smart converter to boil the water out of the battery.

[Bunkster66]

Yes sorry it is a 2020 model. Thank you for all the great info. I'm going to have to pay somebody more qualified to me to swap out and upgrade this converter. I'm aware that it shouldn't boil the batteries but it absolutely did running on generator power for a couple weeks up in the mountains. It boiled One battery really bad and then I rewired the configuration to go down to one battery right before the trip ended and on shore power two nights ago it boiled the other battery.

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by Bunkster66

Yes sorry it is a 2020 model. Thank you for all the great info. I'm going to have to pay somebody more qualified to me to swap out and upgrade this converter. I'm aware that it shouldn't boil the batteries but it absolutely did running on generator power for a couple weeks up in the mountains. It boiled One battery really bad and then I rewired the configuration to go down to one battery right before the trip ended and on shore power two nights ago it boiled the other battery.

That Progressive converter is a good system. It could be faulty in which case I'd call Progressive. Make sure it's not set to lithium. That would overcharge your FLA batteries.

[Bunkster66]

I really hope it is just the switch setting that is wrong. It would be nice to return this new converter and get refunded all that money. Looking at the photo that I sent I see something that looks like it says it's some sort of a selector. How do you actually tell what it is set to? I'm not at home to look at it right now but I will be in a while. Thank you again for all your help on this.

[Daryles]

Open the cover of your circuit breaker panel. You will find a white label with the model number for example PD4575K18LS8.
You can download the manual from Progressive Dynamics webpage.
Remove the cover.
You will find the Lithium (Li) FLA (LA) switch.
Next to that you will see the charge wizard mode button. The green flashing light tells you what mode it's in.

The Charge Wizard Operation
While the built-in Charge Wizard automatically determines which operating mode is best suited to recharge or maintain optimum battery condition, the Wizard Mode Button allows for manual override and has indicator light(s) to indicate the mode of operation.
NOTE: The Green LED on the left refers to the Charge Wizard - the Red LED on the right was for the Charge Sentinel (supplied on converters built prior to year 2000)
BOOST MODE – Indicated by green LED remaining on. The output voltage is 14.4VDC to rapidly recharge the battery up to 90% of full charge.
NORMAL MODE – When the battery is between 50% and 90% charged, the green LED will flash once per second. When the battery has reached
90% of full charge the green LED will flash 2 - 3 times per second. In this mode the output voltage is 13.6VDC and the*converter*is safely completing
the charge of the battery.
STORAGE MODE – Indicated by green LED flashing every 6 - 8 seconds. In this mode the output voltage has been lowered to 13.2VDC, the RV
battery is fully charged and the*converter*is maintaining the charge.
MANUAL BUTTON - The manual button has been provided to allow the operator to temporarily override the*converter*(not recommended) or to
verify the*converter*is operating properly. For manual operation, Press and Hold the button. The indicator light will soon remain “ON” indicating Boost
Mode. Continue to hold the button and the light will blink rapidly indicating the*converter*is in the Normal Mode. Continue to hold the button until the
light blinks slowly indicating the*converter*is now in the Storage Mode. After the manual button is released the*converter*will stay in the selected
mode. When the battery charge status changes, the*converter*will return to the automatic mode of operation to prevent damage to the battery.

[RetiredandRollin]

Originally Posted by Daryles

Open the cover of your circuit breaker panel. You will find a white label with the model number for example PD4575K18LS8.
You can download the manual from Progressive Dynamics webpage.
Remove the cover.
You will find the Lithium (Li) FLA (LA) switch.
Next to that you will see the charge wizard mode button. The green flashing light tells you what mode it's in.

The Charge Wizard Operation
While the built-in Charge Wizard automatically determines which operating mode is best suited to recharge or maintain optimum battery condition, the Wizard Mode Button allows for manual override and has indicator light(s) to indicate the mode of operation.
NOTE: The Green LED on the left refers to the Charge Wizard - the Red LED on the right was for the Charge Sentinel (supplied on converters built prior to year 2000)
BOOST MODE – Indicated by green LED remaining on. The output voltage is 14.4VDC to rapidly recharge the battery up to 90% of full charge.
NORMAL MODE – When the battery is between 50% and 90% charged, the green LED will flash once per second. When the battery has reached
90% of full charge the green LED will flash 2 - 3 times per second. In this mode the output voltage is 13.6VDC and the*converter*is safely completing
the charge of the battery.
STORAGE MODE – Indicated by green LED flashing every 6 - 8 seconds. In this mode the output voltage has been lowered to 13.2VDC, the RV
battery is fully charged and the*converter*is maintaining the charge.
MANUAL BUTTON - The manual button has been provided to allow the operator to temporarily override the*converter*(not recommended) or to
verify the*converter*is operating properly. For manual operation, Press and Hold the button. The indicator light will soon remain “ON” indicating Boost
Mode. Continue to hold the button and the light will blink rapidly indicating the*converter*is in the Normal Mode. Continue to hold the button until the
light blinks slowly indicating the*converter*is now in the Storage Mode. After the manual button is released the*converter*will stay in the selected
mode. When the battery charge status changes, the*converter*will return to the automatic mode of operation to prevent damage to the battery.

Wow, I'm impressed. I knew about this stuff (just a little) but it was still a bit confusing. You broke it down so well that now I feel like I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night. All joking aside, great stuff extremely informative, thanks for sharing.