Surgery for Piper

We discovered, during our trip to the Oregon coast, that Piper’s voltage converter had gone bad. And yes, it is a converter as we do not change 12v DC to 110 v AC.

We got home and I did a bunch of research on new converters. The original unit is no longer available and after looking through the guts of it, I decided that replacing the whole unit would be the best thing to do. I decided to go with the new unit from Best RV and Truck Supply. A quick call on Friday with Randy to confirm the online information and he sold me his Boondocker 1260PC which is a direct replacement for the stock unit in Piper. The unit shipped on the following Monday, arriving via FedEx four days later.

I got off early on Sunday and headed out for some last minute needs at Home Depot (butt splices). E had come home from a very early start (3 am) to her day at work and decided to take a nap. I went to work on Piper’s surgery. I gathered all my tools and supplies and began my plan to heal her heart in a day. My cardiologist would be proud of my ability to make my ailing girl well again.

Remember to turn off the shore power as well as disconnecting Batteries and other sources of electricity before digging in to a project with your electrical systems! The old unit came out of it’s hole with the release of 4 screws. I then had to disconnect all wiring from the power center to the coach. Take your time and preserve wire…there really isn’t that much extra hidden inside the cabinet. The re-wiring is pretty straightforward; The wiring diagram for the BD1260PC is right on the unit and very clear to understand. I think the biggest issue is to make sure that your 110 volt AC breakers are the same and will fit in the Boondocker. Mine fit fine but I almost ordered new ones with the unit from Randy… If in doubt order them along with the unit to save that worry.

Anyway, I slid the new unit directly into the hole left by my old unit. After doing this dry fit I started by getting all my 12 volt DC connections put together using Butt Connectors with heat shrink tubing. This included using an aluminum butt connecting block and heavy shrink tubing on the 8/6 gauge battery charging cables from the converter. The diagram and wire color listing on both the back of the unit and then on the circuit board are very straightforward and easy to follow. All your 12 volt leads are run through ports and have about 12 inches of pigtail. I then stripped some extra insulation from the 110 volt AC Romex wiring and slid them through the well placed access holes into the 110 breaker area. Again, this area is well marked and easy to get to. The wiring from the converter is already done at the factory for you.

After getting everything wired up, I hooked my 12 volt batteries back into the system and tested all the circuits. Everything worked and I moved on to hooking up my shore power and turning the breakers on. All my 110 volt systems worked fine including hearing the converter come on and start sending a charge to the batteries. I screwed the unit into the existing cabinet and then buttoned up the unit and put the face plate on. This is a good looking unit and was very simple to put in while my wife napped.

E came out as I was buttoning the unit up and she helped me with marking all the circuits. She looked at lights while I pulled fuses. This has also been on my to do list as not having circuits marked is a pet peeve of mine. Yeah, I know… just replace the fuse if it blows… but I like knowing exactly what my electricity is feeding and where.

I can tell you that when I first thought about this project I experienced some trepidation. Then I looked at it and realized that there is nothing intimidating about the systems. They are just like wiring a receptacle in my shop or wiring some off road lights on a truck. Nothing intimidating, just different from what most of us deal with daily. If you have with your converter or power distribution system, I would definitely recommend giving Randy a call and looking into the Boondocker series from Best RV.

Can’t wait to get back out there, but it may be a bit due to work schedules and big vacation plans that don’t involve and RV.

There is no try, Only do.

BFD