WFCO 8930/50 Converter Noise After Storage: Replace Now or Wait?

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Member Title: replace converter separate from wfco 8930/50 panel
The main question is whether a noisy WFCO 8930/50 converter should be replaced before summer travel and whether the converter is a separate unit from the panel. Most members indicate the issue is likely not urgent if it only appears after the rig has been sitting, but several recommend replacing it now rather than risk a failure on the road. One experienced member confirms that a stand-alone converter uses a 120V plug and two 12V wires, so replacement is generally straightforward if access...
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twindman

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2006
Posts
3,330
Location
Arizona
When the rig has sat for a few weeks (at least in cooler temps), the converter sort of makes a noise like the fan bearings are going. I am pretty sure the converter is behind the wall in the pass thru area, but not sure. I have a WFCO 8930/50 fuse panel and it appears this has the separate converter.
Any suggestions? Should I get it fixed before I head out this summer? (I assume so)
Oh, forgot to mention. When moving from place to place and setting up again, I get no noise - only after sitting for x? amount of time.
Thanks.
 
I would probably let it go. If your worried about it going out go ahead and change it, or buy a new one and take it with you in case it goes out.
 
A related question - is the converter attached directly to the fuse panel? Or is it near by and a cord attaching it. My neck is very stiff and I can't turn and look at stuff too good. ON a previous rig, I got some gizzmo that just plugged into the converter and I managed that, but crawling in and stretching would be difficult now. Just curious if I could possibly do it myself.
 
The stand alone converter has a 120V power plug and two 12V wires that need to be connected. Easy job if you can get to it. .
 
If it were mine I would replace it now while you are not out on the road... I also carry a 12 vdc battery charger in case my converter failed.. It hasnt yet ( on its 14th season ) but I have loaned my charger out a few times at various places we stayed to help out another OP

I also highly recommend replacing the OEM WFCO converter with one from Progressive Dynamics.. much better converter

 
Some are part of the breaker box and some are standalone (in close proximity to the box) either way super easy to replace. You’ll want one with a comparable amperage rating and I personally would get one that supports lithium, preferably via a switch but an auto detect is fine.
 
Late to the party here but it looks like your panel has a built in converter.

I have a similar WFCO panel / converter and a few years back I noticed it was cooking my (then) deep cycle battery. Since the converter, right inside the door on my rig, has it back against the pass thru storage area I opted for a Progressive Dynamics stand alone converter and mounted it to the wall in the storage compartment. I added a 120V outlet right next to it to plug it in... again easy because of the proximity to the panel.

I unhooked the 12V battery feed from the WFCO converter and hooked it up to the new converter... also ran wire to the distribution panel to feed the 12V circuits. The negative 12V also had to be connected to the new converter.

When I got that all done I unhooked the line voltage to OEM converter to kill it. The whole system worked great for years, but have since done a lot of stuff with lithium and Victron components so I had to re-build it all again.

Good luck!
 
Late to the party here but it looks like your panel has a built in converter.

I have a similar WFCO panel / converter and a few years back I noticed it was cooking my (then) deep cycle battery. Since the converter, right inside the door on my rig, has it back against the pass thru storage area I opted for a Progressive Dynamics stand alone converter and mounted it to the wall in the storage compartment. I added a 120V outlet right next to it to plug it in... again easy because of the proximity to the panel.

I unhooked the 12V battery feed from the WFCO converter and hooked it up to the new converter... also ran wire to the distribution panel to feed the 12V circuits. The negative 12V also had to be connected to the new converter.

When I got that all done I unhooked the line voltage to OEM converter to kill it. The whole system worked great for years, but have since done a lot of stuff with lithium and Victron components so I had to re-build it all again.

Good luck!
My WFCO model does NOT have a built in converter. It has that strange id number - 8930/50 instead of just 8940 or 8960, etc.
 
I have found on more than one occasion that a simple small squirt of WD40 on the fan bearings that have set for a long time will stop that noise.
 
I replaced a fan that had quit, much cheaper than converter. Amazon has them, same connector, just get info off existing fan so you know what you are needing.
 

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