In my 1984 Foretravel, can anyone tell me exactly where the built in battery charger is? And I think there is also an
Inverter in here, can anyone tell me where that is located? Thank you, some of these things are in cases that don't look familiar to me , so they are hard to identify.
Does this unit have basement storage compartments? Back in that era it was common for the manufactures to use an RV specific power distribution system the included 12 volt and 110-volt breakers and the 110 volts to 12-volt converter/charger built into the distribution center. Look for this and see what is included. If this is what you have upgrades are in order.
Converter/chargers and inverters from that era were fairly large (physically) and required cooling airflow, so they would be hard to hide. Look in every storage bay.
On your 40 year old coach, items like converter/charger and/or inverter might be original, or they may have been replaced by a previous owner.
The cases of electronic devices typically have a label with ID info. It may be difficult to see the label in confined mounting locations.
If you could get some photos of any "mysterious" devices you find, and post them here, we could help with identifying them.
My '81 had the charger under the bed behind the circuit breaker panel. It was just a transformer no inverter.
Same with my 87 except it was in the roof of the utility bay
My charger is above the tank blade valves. I have a switch at the bedroom door that says "inverter" but I have never found one. Maybe in the little box near the ATS , near the bed. Or maybe under the closet floor. Seems like there was a box of some sort there. \
I added 2 inverters along with circuits, to drive the AC,resi fridge and work station .
Dennis, when you said upgrades are in order, what exactly are you talking about?
Crane man, what is the difference between an inverter and a transformer?
Thank you for your answers.
I did find the battery charger, under bed in rear, and Dennis, you were right, it looks like that should definitely lshould be replaced. Does anyone have any recommendations what to use for a replacement?
The original factory specs for your coach show it was equipped with a 70A converter/charger. Usually it is a good idea to stick with close to the original size, unless you need "bigger" for some reason.
1984 Foretravel Specifications (https://wiki.foreforums.com/doku.php?id=through_the_years:specs:1984)
A converter/charger serves two purposes. The primary purpose (especially in your situation) is keeping the batteries charged. The secondary purpose is the "conversion" of shore or generator supplied AC power to 12V DC, thus providing power to the 12 volt circuits in your coach. Modern converter/chargers include a "smart" 3 or 4 stage battery charger function that will properly charge your batteries. They are usually very simple to install, only requiring a nearby 110V outlet to accept the power plug, and two cables connected to your
coach batteries. Once the converter/charger is in operation, you can use it to charge
all your batteries by employing the boost switch.
There are a number of high quality converter/chargers on the market from reputable manufacturers. You can either do the prepurchase research yourself, or follow the recommendation of other ForeForum members, or call an expert such as Randy at BestConverter.com. Randy is a good guy who will answer your questions truthfully, and won't sell you junk. I derive no personal or financial benefit from recommending his company.
BestConverter - Converters, Inverters, Electrical Supplies, Electronics (https://www.bestconverter.com)