Odd problem swapping out my WFCO 9855

[Jkwilson]

Planned a quick swap this afternoon. I was going to leave the functional 9855 in place as a spare, and install the new converter. If you count shutting off power as step one, I’m hung up at step two in removing the converter output wires.

The screws are standard hex head with no slot. I’d guess it’s 5 or 6 mm (Edit: It’s 5/32”) as my calibrated eyeball says it’s smaller than 1/4”. But there is no way in heck to get a tool on it.

The insulators for the terminals are hard plastic, and the opening is no bigger than the hex head and maybe even smaller. Any tool that would fit on the hex head would have to be larger than the opening, and there is no give whatsoever. I’m baffled as how to non-destructively remove them.

I could cut the top 1/2” or so off of the insulators or drill them out and get access, but I hate to chew it up in case I’d decide to sell it. I’ve checked that the insulators don’t pop out and get out of the way and that there isn’t access from the bottom, but no luck. I even rolled out my old faithful trick of grabbing a beer and sitting on a bucket staring at it for 15 minutes with no luck. I’m at a loss. Any ideas?

[NoPeeking]

Apologies, I'm no technical help... after failure of the beer n' bucket troubleshooting step, my go-to is a big hammer.

Mike

[TedS]

Are you saying the 5/32 hex is too large for the hole in the insulator?

[Jkwilson]

Are you saying the 5/32 hex is too large for the hole in the insulator?

Yes. I tried two. One from my mechanic tools and one from my electronics tools. One has a uniform shaft. The other has a narrow shaft that expands at the actual driver part, and I hoped I could kind of lever that in. Eyeballing it, the outside walls of a driver would have to be paper thin. When I saw it, I assumed the insulators were soft.

I’ve been googling thin wall nut drivers, but I have little confidence any will fit. The Wiha set is promising, but $50 for a set seems silly for such a simple thing.

[Jkwilson]

Apologies, I'm no technical help... after failure of the beer n' bucket troubleshooting step, my go-to is a big hammer.

Mike

If it was non-functional, about 10 minutes into beer’n’bucket is when a chisel and hammer or Dremel would have gone to work. 🔨

[TedS]

Jkwilson all the info I looked at a hex wrench fits the hole. It shouldn't need a nut driver for the hex drive setscrew.

A WFCO video says a 9/32 hex key.

[Jkwilson]

Jkwilson all the info I looked at a hex wrench fits the hole. It shouldn't need a nut driver for the hex drive setscrew.

A WFCO video says a 9/32 hex key.

I wish! The manual says 5/16” hex driver, but there is no possibility it’s correct for mine. A 1/4” nut driver is larger that the top part of the insulator, much less the hole.

I’m thinking I’ll try chucking a nut driver in a drill and grinding it down to see I can make it fit

[TedS]

So the screw is a external hex head and not an internal hex drive. That is odd.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I just took a look at my spare 9855 on the work bench and there doesn't seem to be a way of removing the plastic covers without damage. So if you have hex head rather than allen head screws. You need to cut the top of the plastic off. The converter is riveted together so you can't even open up the case to get at the release tabs for the plastic covers.

Or...just snip the wires..

[Cate&Rob]

Jkwilson

John, could you post a picture of this thing? Mine looks just like the picture Scott'n'Wendy Scott linked to post 9.

Rob

[Yoda]

Planned a quick swap this afternoon. I was going to leave the functional 9855 in place as a spare, and install the new converter. If you count shutting off power as step one, I’m hung up at step two in removing the converter output wires.

The screws are standard hex head with no slot. I’d guess it’s 5 or 6 mm (Edit: It’s 5/32”) as my calibrated eyeball says it’s smaller than 1/4”. But there is no way in heck to get a tool on it.

The insulators for the terminals are hard plastic, and the opening is no bigger than the hex head and maybe even smaller. Any tool that would fit on the hex head would have to be larger than the opening, and there is no give whatsoever. I’m baffled as how to non-destructively remove them.

I could cut the top 1/2” or so off of the insulators or drill them out and get access, but I hate to chew it up in case I’d decide to sell it. I’ve checked that the insulators don’t pop out and get out of the way and that there isn’t access from the bottom, but no luck. I even rolled out my old faithful trick of grabbing a beer and sitting on a bucket staring at it for 15 minutes with no luck. I’m at a loss. Any ideas?

John - you have me stumped. Is your converter like the one Scott pictured (stand alone)? If so why not leave the black and red wires attached and just remove the connection in the distribution panel.and secure them. While my converter was different (contained inside the distribution panel bottom, I left the wires attached to the converter and just removed the wires form the 12v positive and negative panel lugs. I guess then you would make up new wires for your new converter.

As I put in a Multiplus I did not need to do that as the mutiplus provides the 12v charging and power through the battery connections.

Just brainstorming here
Keith

[humunuku]

Planned a quick swap this afternoon. I was going to leave the functional 9855 in place as a spare, and install the new converter. If you count shutting off power as step one, I’m hung up at step two in removing the converter output wires.

.Any ideas?

Don't neglect to upgrade your short-stop fuse along with converter install. Our GD 2670MK came with a 30amp auto-reset fuse located under the frame near the external battery box. A lithium compatible converter will likely pull peak 40amps. Our original short-stop eventually failed with all the restarts.

[Jkwilson]

Just FYI, I figured it out. I’ve got to head out shortly, so it will be tomorrow before I can post pictures. Some will find it amusing.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Just FYI, I figured it out. I’ve got to head out shortly, so it will be tomorrow before I can post pictures. Some will find it amusing.

Sure....leave us all hanging.....Ahhh....engineers.....

[Jkwilson]

What’s the fastener on the left?