Replacement Converter/Charger for a 1976 Robinhood Lazy Daze Motorhome

Updated 11/15/2022 | Published 11/13/2022

Question:

Hi, I have a 22’ vintage 76 Robinhood Lazy Daze motor home and I live off grid. I have recently added a BattleBorn 100 amp lithium ion battery. During summer months my 200 watt Renogy suitcase solar setup keeps the battery charged, but with the changing of the seasons, less sunlight, they don’t charge the battery to full charge. I knew I might need to replace the converter/charger anyway, but I’m not sure what my options are, I don’t know enough about them to make the best decision. I can’t locate any information on the existing controller/charger and I also have no wiring schematics. It charges the battery via the generator but only up to the 13.6 V range and so I’m trying to find a viable solution. I am including a few photos. One that shows the device plate with specs, another showing the wiring and fuses underneath the plate, and one showing the other side of the unit. The unit I was looking at on your site is the PD9130LV. Now a few questions. It appears that if I bought this unit then I would need to install a fuse panel separate from the new controller? Is it possible to leave the old controller intact to power the 12V system and just add the new unit strictly as a battery charger? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

asked by: Bernie D

Expert Reply:

Thanks for reaching out!

You can technically keep your current converter on your '76 Robinhood Lazy Daze motorhome and use the new one solely for the battery bank, but I recommend just changing everything over at the same time since you'll already be in there. This will give you more work on the front-end of things but it saves you from having to dig back into the system if your older converter decides to bite the dust.

The cool thing about the Progressive Dynamics Inteli-Power RV Converter and Battery Charger # PD49RR you were looking at that there is a parallel feature you can use in the future if the need arises. So instead of buying and installing a whole new system you're just adding onto this system.

If you already have DC power for some applications on your motorhome then you should already have a DC panel so all of your DC wiring is protected by fuses. This panel will either be a standalone unit or it will be combined in a controller center like part # PD4135K which actually has a converter/charger built-in.

Hopefully this clears things up for you! Let me know if you have any other questions!

expert reply by: Jon G