# Replacement Power Converter For 21Rs



## TheMillers

Has anyone replaced their converter in a 21rs?

I'm pretty sure my Power Converter (WFCO 8855) is bad. The fan never turns on. The batteries are slowly draining even when connected to shore power. 
If I'm not plugged in, the batteries are providing power to the trailer.If I disconnect the batteries, the lights do not come on when connected to shore power.
All the fuses and breakers look okay.

The 8855 has been discontinued. I called bestconverter.com and they said the WFCO 8955 is the replacement, but they recommended the Iota DLS-55 or PD-9260.
If I'm going through the effort of replacing the converter, I'd like to install a better one. The PD-9260 seems highly regarded on these forums, but when I checked the dimensions, it looks way to big. They said the Iota is a good brand, but I don't see any mention of them when I search outbackers.com. It will fit according to the dimensions, but if it isn't any better the WFCO, I might as well save move and go with the WFCO.

I would appreciate any feedback from someone who has replaced the converter in the 21rs, or has any experience with Iota.

Thanks in advance!

Bruce


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## Insomniak

TheMillers said:


> Has anyone replaced their converter in a 21rs?
> 
> I'm pretty sure my Power Converter (WFCO 8855) is bad. The fan never turns on. The batteries are slowly draining even when connected to shore power.
> If I'm not plugged in, the batteries are providing power to the trailer.If I disconnect the batteries, the lights do not come on when connected to shore power.
> All the fuses and breakers look okay.
> 
> The 8855 has been discontinued. I called bestconverter.com and they said the WFCO 8955 is the replacement, but they recommended the Iota DLS-55 or PD-9260.
> If I'm going through the effort of replacing the converter, I'd like to install a better one. The PD-9260 seems highly regarded on these forums, but when I checked the dimensions, it looks way to big. They said the Iota is a good brand, but I don't see any mention of them when I search outbackers.com. It will fit according to the dimensions, but if it isn't any better the WFCO, I might as well save move and go with the WFCO.
> 
> I would appreciate any feedback from someone who has replaced the converter in the 21rs, or has any experience with Iota.
> 
> Thanks in advance!
> 
> Bruce


I've replaced three WFCO converters with PD9260's on all three of our Outbacks. The first (in our 23RS) was the most difficult as there wasn't much space to work with. I managed to remove the WFCO guts and squeezed the PD9260 into the space in the electric panel. For our last 2 trailers, there was enough room behind the electric panel, that all I had to do was disconnect a few wires, reconnect them to the PD9260, and fasten the new converter to the floor. I left our last disconnected WFCO in place, and reconnected it when we traded in our 28RSDS a couple weeks ago. Took the PD9260 out of the 28RSDS and it's now living in our 301BQ. If you have the floor space behind the panel, this is literally about a 30 minute job.


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## TheMillers

Thanks for the info! I guess I'm going to have to get behind the panel to see how much room I have.



Insomniak said:


> Has anyone replaced their converter in a 21rs?
> 
> I'm pretty sure my Power Converter (WFCO 8855) is bad. The fan never turns on. The batteries are slowly draining even when connected to shore power.
> If I'm not plugged in, the batteries are providing power to the trailer.If I disconnect the batteries, the lights do not come on when connected to shore power.
> All the fuses and breakers look okay.
> 
> The 8855 has been discontinued. I called bestconverter.com and they said the WFCO 8955 is the replacement, but they recommended the Iota DLS-55 or PD-9260.
> If I'm going through the effort of replacing the converter, I'd like to install a better one. The PD-9260 seems highly regarded on these forums, but when I checked the dimensions, it looks way to big. They said the Iota is a good brand, but I don't see any mention of them when I search outbackers.com. It will fit according to the dimensions, but if it isn't any better the WFCO, I might as well save move and go with the WFCO.
> 
> I would appreciate any feedback from someone who has replaced the converter in the 21rs, or has any experience with Iota.
> 
> Thanks in advance!
> 
> Bruce


I've replaced three WFCO converters with PD9260's on all three of our Outbacks. The first (in our 23RS) was the most difficult as there wasn't much space to work with. I managed to remove the WFCO guts and squeezed the PD9260 into the space in the electric panel. For our last 2 trailers, there was enough room behind the electric panel, that all I had to do was disconnect a few wires, reconnect them to the PD9260, and fasten the new converter to the floor. I left our last disconnected WFCO in place, and reconnected it when we traded in our 28RSDS a couple weeks ago. Took the PD9260 out of the 28RSDS and it's now living in our 301BQ. If you have the floor space behind the panel, this is literally about a 30 minute job.
[/quote]


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## dirtengineer

I put in a PD4655 a few months ago and have been happy with it. The only advantage over the PD9260 is that it is plug and play in the same box as the WFCO.


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## TheMillers

I was looking at the PD4655, but bestconverter.com has the height as 4.75"H, and I measured 4" clearance in the box.Maybe their wrong, or I'm not thinking right. Did you just install it in the same location as the main board (bottom half)?

Thanks for the info! I was beginning to think I was the only 21rs owner that ever needed to replace the converter











dirtengineer said:


> I put in a PD4655 a few months ago and have been happy with it. The only advantage over the PD9260 is that it is plug and play in the same box as the WFCO.


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## TheMillers

Darn double post, and now I can't delete it so I'll ask another question....

Did you take the PD4655 out of the metal enclosure? Maybe that accounts for the larger dimensions.


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## H2oSprayer

I utilized THIS TUTORIAL posted by California Jim when I installed our new PD9260C that I purchased off eBay this spring for $135 shipped to my door. With the hints learned from the tutorial, I completed the job in about an hour (including a beak for a 'daddy pop'). The converter is quiet and I believe I have yet to hear the fan kick in on high.


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## dirtengineer

The installation of the 4655 is pretty straight forward. Here are the instructions. I didn't "have" to install an upgrade, I was just tired of the OEM converter never going in to boost. So I upgraded the charge wire and the converter, added a voltmeter and ammeter, and now I am happy.

The metal enclosure gets tossed as you can see in the instructions. Also, the 12V fuse board gets replaced with a new board that has a button to change mode (boost/normal/float) if you want to override. When dry camping and I know I want to run the generator as little as possible, I routinely force boost and abuse my batteries for the sake of fuel consumption and silence.


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## TheMillers

Well,
I bought the PD4655, and installed it tonight. It was pretty straight forward. Trying to push the 12V DC board into place was the biggest challenge with all the wires!

I also had to flip the main board to make it fit because some of the wires were to short. I think maybe it was because I had the 8855 instead of the 8955 which had the fan on the opposite side. Maybe the wire connections were also reversed between the 8855 and 8955. No big deal.

A funny thing happened after I finished connecting it. I plugged in to shorepower and reconnected the battery. When I checked the battery indicator on the wall, it showed the batteries at 2/3 full (which always shows full when connected to shore). I was thinking uh-oh it wasn't the power converter that was bad, and the DW will not be happy IF she finds out! Then, I realized the breakers were still off! Flipped them and life was good!!!!

The fan is definitely quieter than the WFCO.

Thanks for all the advice!

Bruce


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