Centurion Converter
The industry has seen an influx of electronics not only built in China, but designed and marketed by apparently offshore companies. Many of these items are pretty difficult to obtain parts and/or service manuals for (a problem not limited to offshore manufacturers).
I recently had to deal with a Centurion CS3000 45 amp converter/load center which was working, except the cooling fans would not run. A quick check of the fans (typical computer type “muffin” fans) said they were good, they just were not getting any power. Normally this would require the replacement of the converter, but after a few minutes of research, it appears that this is no longer available (a part that’s only a few years old).
Even though I am not an electronics tech, I do have a small bit of experience, so I pulled the circuit board out of the converter and had a look. At first glance, it looked like the fan was controlled by a simply thermal switch- but… not so. The thermal switch which is attached to one of the heat sinks instead is an overheat switch to shut off the entire converter, and the fans are controlled by a special circuit- apparently tied to the current draw on the converter.
Tracing the circuit a small bit led me to a pair of transistors which had that “overheated” look to them- the circuit board was a bit discolored underneath.
Given that I had another identical board (which was destroyed by hooking a pair of 12 volt batteries up incorrectly- 24 volts- and had some catastrophic failures- parts splattered across the board)- I pulled the 2 transistors off of the second board, and installed them on the first one.
Result- a good, working converter.
It is hard to find qualified electronics people in the RV service industry- and I don’t claim to be one- but many of these converters (the thousands of Todd converters come to mind) can probably be repaired by spending pennies on parts. Now whether it makes sense to pay a technician to figure out the circuit (without schematics) and then do the repair is debatable, but it is possible.
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August 12th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
This practice is commonly called, “troubleshooting to the component level”. Being a qualified Electronics Technician and Engineering Technician with over 20 years of paid work and training experience and another 10 years of DIY experience, this is something I’m quite qualified to do. I have given an amount of thought into the idea of providing repair services to those with such problems. However, with the cost of shipping and the delay in time and considering the prices at which newer replacements are available, I can’t see any benifet in doing so from the the standpoint of a “remote repair shop”. With shipping prices at around a dollar a pound, shipping a thirty pound converter across the states and back, just doesn’t make it realistic.
In your instance, you knew enough to make the repair yourself and for a little time and a couple spare parts you fixed a problem that would have cost a hundred or more dollars to have the converter sent somewhere for repair and returned. If the converter was an item that cost five hundred dollars, it would be a viable operation, but when you consider the cost of shipping, for only another hundred dollars, the unit can be replaced with a newer and better unit than was repaired.
It would seem we are truly in the age of “throw away” merchandise and sadly, the Maytag Repairman is, well, no longer needed.
August 12th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
Hi Steve-
That is indeed a problem. At the factory level, the converter probably cost around $20-30. By the time shipping and markup through the distribution channels is added in, the circuit board was still only around $130- though it isn’t available any more.
It is a double edged sword- on the one hand, we do have DVD players, VCRs and other electronic items that are unbelievably cheap, on the other hand, we are filling our landfills with this stuff when it breaks, as the skill to repair them costs more than simply discarding them.
March 21st, 2007 at 3:31 am
G’Day Chris, Reads like we have a similar limited knowledge of circuits like these.
I share yours, and I’m sure many other peoples annoyance that manuals & circuits are not
included at the time of purchase. This is another way manufacturers have turned
obsolescence into higher factory outputs.
I have the same converter(we call them rectifers) but my fans run all the time the
mains(240voltsV.A.C here) are connected. I can’t find a circuit diagram anywhere let
alone a service manual. One repair shop told me that the fans should run all the time,
but I think the cct board looks as though it would be smart enough to switch them on/off
as required.
Chris, could you tell me if your unit does this? Also does anyone have a circuit diagram
for a Centurion 3000 converter?
April 9th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Hi Murray,
You might know that I have disposed of the last CS3000 circuit board I had, but IIRC, the fan speed should vary with the current draw on the converter- the transistors that I replaced would likely be the same ones you need to replace.
– Chris
April 27th, 2007 at 3:46 am
G’Day Chris,
Thanks for that snippet of info confirms what I thought should happen.
You never know someone may have a circuit diagram, which would be nice.
Cheers
-Murray
May 19th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Hi you all!
For Murray, i have one of them in my pop-up, it’s an cs-1200 made by centurion.
Whem it was working correctly, if you turn on a 12v lamp, the fan turn slowly, if you put a second lamp on, it accelerate a little so it varying with the load. Now mine doesn’t turn at all and i checked the fan to see if it’s the culprit. The fan is ok so i have the same problem than Chris so i’m on my way to disassemble it and check to see if i find the busted resistor. If chris can tell us if it was surface mounted resistors or the normal one?? Because at the back of the circuit bord , there is many surface mounted resistors and i think it’s one of them.
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:22 am
G’Day Gaetan and others,
Yes, and thanks, that’s what I expected and when I can
I’ll see if I can work out the circuit to determine which components
are sensing the current drawn to vary the fan speed. (Van doesn’t reside with us at home).
I’m sure that tracing back from the fan I’ll find the transister driving it and work out whats
Karput -but a circuit would sure help. That way I can have the spare components on hand.
Anyway thanks again and maybe we’ll get a circuit posted here yet.
-Murray
June 13th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
I had a small accident with my camper. The result was the cover for the Centurion Power Converter got smashed. All I need is the plastic cover for a CS2000. If anyone out there has one and wants to get rid of it contact me at dshimko@hotmail.com I can’t see spending 100 bucks for a new converter when all I need is the cover. Thanks Denny.
July 3rd, 2007 at 9:12 am
I have a Centurion CS4500 and was investagating into why my battery dischargers prematurely. At lease in my opinion. Maybe someone can help. I can unplug all of my 12 volt output fuses for my applainces and the converter still draws .05 amps. This board has Two 30 amps input fuses one was intened for the 12 battery and one for the 120 volt/12 volt converter. Both fuses are solidered in parallel on the back side of the board. I must pull both fuses to stop the flow of current. It would take 60 amps to blow this circuit and the wire is sized for 30 amp. I found this link trying to get a contact for Centurion. Is Centurion still in business? Can anyone help raymondwhitaker@insightbb.com
July 4th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Hi Raymond,
Those fuses are there to protect the converter against hooking up a battery backwards, and are both paralleled in the output.
But… a .05 amp draw is pretty insignificant. I would bet that most converters have a phantom draw of that much, so I would look alsewhere for the problem.
–Chris
July 13th, 2007 at 2:03 am
I have as cs 1200. how do you switch between 12v DC and 120v AC. i just bought the trailer second hand.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Hi Greg- you shouldn’t have to do anything. The battery should always be in the circuit, and when you are on 120 volt power, any 12 volt power that you are not using is used to recharge the battery.
– Chris
July 14th, 2007 at 12:49 am
I have as cs 2000. How do you switch between 120v AC and 12v DC. I just bought my pop-up trailer-tent second hand. Everything works well when I plug into a 120v AC outlet but when I unplug… nothing works… no lights, no heating (the gaz heating system needs batery power for the ventilator air flow).
Is there some button to switch the battery on ? My trailer-tent is a Rockwood 1620, 2003
July 14th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Hi Andy,
I would look for a blown fuse or circuit breaker in between the battery and converter. Like Greg’s problem, the battery should always be in the circuit.
– Chris
July 16th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I have a Centurion 3000 CS4500, 45amp. converter. Just this weekend some water from the shower was sprayed on the floor and it got under the converter.. Well shortly after, there was fireworks coming out of the panel.. Upon inspection, the bottom circut board is toast.. The top 110 is fine..
I called a bunch of local rv’s parts stores over the weekend, and I think its too late to find “just the board” for replacement..
Looking on the web I see that some people are using the WFCO 8900 series..
Any help or comments appreciated
Thanks
Kevin
July 19th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I have a centurion 3000 model cs4500. Went to use camper for the first time this summer and the battery was dead, replaced it and in one day it went dead again, had it checked and it was no good, installed another and it went dead and is no good. Help! is my whole panel bad or can I replace only a part or what? If I need to replace the whole thing what is a good replacement?
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:17 am
Hi, I have CS 2000 20Amps and I am not getting any 12V dc out of it. I have take it out and messure it. I am not getting 12V DC out to the brakers. I am an electrican so i only need the digram, but it seem to bee hard to get. Dose any one got it for me….a new one cost a lot here in iceland.
August 18th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
We have a Centurion CS 2000 converter in ALiner.
The left fuse holder of the fuse board
has melted a bit so we want to replace the fuse
board and other connected part. We don’t want to
replace the whole converter.
Part # Model 52E0-2 and -Fuse-1.
Anyone know who to contact for parts like this?
Anyone know the website of Centurion, I could not
locate it searching.
Thx
rick
September 27th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
I have a Centurion 3000 model 6000 and it is not charging
my battery. In turn, nothing else will work that uses the
12 volt. All the 120 outlets are working but not lights,
air, etc… Any help would be appreciated. I have checked
all the fuses and everything looks fine.
September 30th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
To all of you who have questions about their CENTURION POWER CONVERTERS CS2000XL, CS3000XL
YOU CAN DOWLOAD THE USER MANUAL(pdf)
AND
Click on the image to view product features
and wiring diagrams for these units.
OR BUY DIRECTLY FROM THE MANUFACTURER A NEW CONVERTER
HOPE THIS CAN HELP ALL OF YOU….
CLICK on this WEB address…
CONVERTER DIAGRAM
http://americandirect.ibuilder.com/a/americandirect/default.asp?SID=5VXO144WQJH531A9YI39&C=12&S=E3&Document=Up+to+30+amp+Converter+Product+Features&DesignNo=1&
CONVERTER USER MANUAL (PDF)
http://americandirect.ibuilder.com/a/americandirect/default.asp?C=12&S=E3&Document=Product+Descriptions&NID=1466143
HERE IS THE HOME WEBSITE
http://americandirect.ibuilder.com/a/americandirect/default.asp?
THANK YOU CHRIS FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS
ANDY
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:39 am
Hi Glen,
There will be a mains fuse on the circuit board itself as well as the fuses in the
distribution panel. That will requir gettindg acces to the board. Don’t be afraid,
just be careful and turn off the main power before you start. If thats Ok you’ll need a 12volt
test lamp or voltmeter to read the voltage at the output. If mains fuse not blown have a good
look for BBQ’d components. If you find one cooked them welcome to the “I can’t replace it ‘cos
there’s no circuit diagram available to identify it” club!
Hi Andy,
Thanks for your contribution to our dilema. Unfortunately there is no circuit diagram in these
Manuals etc. But we live in hope that someone will post one here.
Regards
Murray
October 26th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
hi, i have a question & i don’t know where to ask so hopefully you can help. i am looking for a converter that will run my malibu 12v lites. i have 21 lites and the bulbs are 4 watts each. i used 14 gauge house wire from lite to lite. there is about 2000 feet of that wire. my question is what can i get to run these lites & how do i know how many watts the converter puts out? i don’t need a converter that has a charger with it. the converter that i bought at lowes for these type of lites didn’t last & probably cause of the amount of bulbs & wire i used. so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks for your time
October 29th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Hi Dave,
To be honest- you really do not need an RV type converter. They spend a lot of money on making clean, well regulated power, which you really don’t need.
The big issue with your use is the length of the wire, but 21 lights times 4 watts each is under 100 watts, so I would probably just go with a larger low voltage transformer (step it up a size), and you might check a “real” electrical supply house, which should have a higher quality transformer.
The 2000 feet of wire is a lot, though- especially at todays copper prices ;).
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:23 pm
dave..just do the math.
21×4w=84w total
84w/12v=7amps
#14 wire handles 15amps so you are ok there.
Is it a single 2000ft run? or several runs paralleled?
even if a single run, any added resistance would only reduce the current flow and thereby lessen the load on the power supply..so that is not an issue.
All you need is power supply capable of outputting a continuous 7 amp minimum.
December 29th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
We have a 5 year old cs1200 that doesn’t seem to be charging the battery. The AC is OK but the DC side has only the white wire connected. All the blues and blue striped and red have all been cut. I am searching for a manual or some advice. Thanks
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:46 am
ALAN, This website that Andy supplied may help you. It shows wiring connections for larger power CS models but also refers to Amperage of CS1200. So you may be able to figure out how yours show be connected.
http://americandirect.ibuilder.com/a/americandirect/default.asp?SID=5VXO144WQJH531A9YI39&C=12&S=E3&Document=Up+to+30+amp+Converter+Product+Features&DesignNo=1&
Its easier to goto http://www.americandirect.ibuilder.com and find you way to features etc.
Good Luck.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
I have an Aliner camper with a Centurion 200 converter. The outlets work fine, but the lights and the vent fan won’t work. All of the breakers and fuses on the converter box are fine.
What the heck is wrong? Anyone have any ideas?
Nell