Help finding schematic for WFCO WF-8955 Power Converter typically in RV campers

[t1d]

Searched hard, on the internet. No joy. Thought I would try here. Thanks for your help.

[james_s]

I doubt there is anyone here who has a schematic if you weren't able to find it online. Is there a particular problem with one that you're trying to troubleshoot? Many of us who have done a lot of repairing are used to doing so without the luxury of a schematic. A picture of the inside of the thing and a description of the fault is a good start.

[t1d]

I doubt there is anyone here who has a schematic if you weren't able to find it online. Is there a particular problem with one that you're trying to troubleshoot? Many of us who have done a lot of repairing are used to doing so without the luxury of a schematic. A picture of the inside of the thing and a description of the fault is a good start.

Thanks, James, for your gracious offer to help. This is the situation... I was able to repair one, for  my best friend. Now, word has gotten out that I might be able to repair these for folks and I will have another one coming, soon.

I am just a hobbyist. I can handle troubleshooting the mains side through to the DC side rectified rails. After that, a schematic sure would help... both for me to follow and for trying to communicate to others, like your kind self, when extra help is needed.

But, yes, even without a schematic, I know that I can get great help from good people right here at the EEVBlog Forum. I make a concerted effort to pay back the help that I have already received, in the past, by replying to folks that have questions that I can answer. One DIY person helping another DIY person makes a better world - more fun, too.

As a final note, I am guessing that you have never seen one of these particular devices, but they are built to the lowest level of quality... Exposed PCB traces, no-name jellybean parts, traces flooded with solder to try to improve their current carrying capability. It all adds up to a high failure rate that strands people that are camping - away from resources and help - trying to make good memories with their families... And these things aren't cheap, at ~$150USD. I'm surprised that they haven't burned down enough campers to bankrupt the company.

Sorry for the rant... I really just meant it as a warning to anyone looking to buy a converter. Stay away from this brand... Even though they are likely the most popular and come as standard equipment in a lot of campers... If you are negotiating to buy a camper, make them swap this thing out for a better brand, as part of "The Deal." All IMHO, of course.

[james_s]

Do these just convert 120VAC to 12VDC? If it were me, I think I'd look at replacing it with a hot swap server power supply. These are top quality devices that are dirt cheap on the surplus market because obsolete servers get decomissioned all the time so there are loads of them available for usually not much more than the cost of shipping. They typically put out 12V at anywhere from 40-100 amps. Some of them have noisy fans but there are some nice IBM units that I use for powering the chargers for my model airplane batteries that are very quiet.

Given that you are describing a low quality almost certainly imported device I would be shocked if a schematic has ever been released to the public. It may even be one of those situations where multiple different designs are sold as the same model number in the same package.