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Can I use a 12 volt trickle charger for both batteries connected in series? This will sense the battery condition and send high impact waves into the battery and helps keep them charged and conditioned. Just using the small trickle charger will not condition the batteries and they will become sulfated.
And yes, you can connect either to the batteries as the 6-volt is connected in series which is the positive post of one to the negative post of the over creating a volt system. I am trying to find the location of my converter, I have searched the internet to no avail so far.
Can you please provide us with the year make and model of your RV and we can look into this for you? Check out the videos in the electrical section of the site, we have several on troubleshooting dead batteries, battery maintenance, and even checking the charging system. However, here is a list of items to check: 1. If you have the typical standard group 24 battery, you will need to upgrade to a more powerful battery or even two. Is your battery going dead when plugged into shoreline power?
If so, this would indicate you either have a converter that is not putting out enough charging power, or the battery has become sulfated and is not holding a charge.
You can use a multi-meter to verify the charge of the converter by connecting the multi-meter to the battery and plugging the unit in. You should see the current battery voltage and then see the meter go up to If you do not see any increase on voltage, it could be a converter issue.
If there is an increase, it could be your battery is no good…see 3 3. You need to check the storage capacity of your battery and how long they will hold a charge. The only way to really do this is charge the batteries and connect them to a 25 amp load machine and see if they last the appropriate hours. Most battery service centers will charge the batteries and connect them to a digital load center and tell you they are good or bad which is not a true measure of the capacity.
I would recommend replacing the battery with a larger amp hour size and getting a Battery Minder from Northern Tool. This product sends high impact waves into the battery and breaks up sulfation without the gassing and boiling of the first stage multi-charge.
They claim it will extend the life of your battery by over cycles! Identify and reduce your amp draw. Knowing what is drawing power from your battery is important.
Change the halogen, incandescent, and fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs. They draw 10 times less power! Use rechargeable devices such as fans and lights that can be recharged when you are connected to shoreline power or with the genset running. Check for a parasitic drain.
Even though you have shut every thing off for storage, there could still be something drawing power from the battery. It could be an LP leak detector, CO detector or radio. Pull the negative cable off the house battery, connect a multi-meter to the negative cable and the positive terminal on the volt setting and you will be able to see if there is voltage. You can also use a simple volt light meter. We are convinced you will enjoy the benefits of becoming a member and having access to the best instructional how to videos and professional tips.
We would like to offer you a special promotion for your first year membership. I just purchased this RV and I have noticed that there is a loud hum or buzz that occurs when it is plugged into a shore station either or 30 amp. I assume this is the power converter but is it normal for this to occur? It is actually quite loud. If not, what are my options for repairing it? Hi Bill. To provide more specific troubleshooting information on the noise of your distribution center we need the make, model, and year of your rig.
One option is to purchase a Battery Minder from Northern Tool that will condition and charge your house batteries with little noise and no gassing and they claim to extend the life of the battery bank by cycles as it reduces sulphation. You should simply turn off the circuit breaker for the converter and plug in the Battery Minder instead. Another option is to replace the converter with a newer digital model which is much more expensive.
I have factory inverter that dim 12 V lights regularly. The battery is new just replaced Hooked-up to shore power continually, what could be probable cause of 12V fluctuations? Thanks for your help. It is connected to a charger that can be part of the converter or a separate device with provides a volt charge to the house batteries.
The house batteries provide volt power through automotive style fuses to interior lights, roof vents, water pump and LP appliances. An inverter is a device that takes volt power and and provides volt power for a TV in the smallest application up to the big boys that can run a refrigerator on volt power.
Once the charger senses the battery is charged, it usually goes into a low charge mode, which would allow the battery to drain down and if you have a high volt draw, it will get down below volts fairly fast which means the lights will dim. I would start by replacing the lights with LED bulbs to limit the draw. LEDs take almost 10 times less power! Then get a Battery Minder from Northern Tool as it will send high impact waves to the battery and condition it, not the high voltage of a typical charger.
Hello I have had some trouble with my rv and converters. In the past 4 months I have had 3 converters go out in style, smoke and a loud pop. I am about to replace it for a fourth time and am trying to find information on what is going on. If there are any test I can run to see what is causing them to go out, or if I am just that unlucky.
Thanks for any help in advance. Do not put in another converter! Somewhere you have a surge in the system or a short that needs to be identified before you blow out another converter or worse! You will need to take it to a certified technician that is familiar with your type of converter. Find the make, model, and serial number and contact the company direct for a technician in your area.
Not sure what converter you are referring to as the article you referenced shows 4 different models, all of which are ok to leave connected to shoreline power. Convertor works for all electric components when plug into shore power but will not charge deep cycle batteries which r brand new.
I have been charging them with a separate charger plug into the rv. Batteries will charge if the motor is running. Where is my Problem?
I have taken it to 2 auto shop with no help. They say nothing is wrong should be charging but it not. Lights on pannel says battery drain after 3 or 4 day of being plug into shore power. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Where is it located and how do I access it? Typically the converter or battery charger in travel trailers are located inside the distribution center as an all in one unit. We will email you a photo of a typical Progressive Dynamics version that is fairly common in most trailers and has the volt circuit breakers and volt fuses for all the appliances, lights, vents and other accessories.
The converter is located to the right which is the vents that allow it to cool. The only way to access the converter is to remove the entire distribution center as they only want certified RV electricians working on them. Some models have a distribution center located in the living area and a separate converter placed somewhere else in the rig as they tend to run hot and have noise from the cooling fan.
If your panel does not have vents, then you may have this type of model and the converter would look like the second photo we will email to you. He was going to go back to the factory and do some research but I have not heard anything yet?
The AC to DC converter typically is packaged with the distribution center which has volt circuit breakers and volt DC fuses for the house battery system? Usually the distribution center is placed in an accessible location in a cabinet down by the floor.
Some put it in the bedroom under the mattress in the pedestal. If you have a system where the converter is separate, this is much harder to find as manufacturers will place the converter box in a cabinet under the refrigerator or other cabinetry and screw a cover plate over the opening so it looks like nothing is there. You should be able to plug the shoreline power in and listen for the hum of the fans? I have a Fleetwood Pioneer T I keep shoreline attached during winter.
Last week, when I returned home from work, the running lights were all on. I disconnected the battery. The next night, they came back on. I unplugged the shore line and they went off.
We have an iota ILC series load center and the fan runs continually on How do I locate the fan sensor to see if that is needing replaced or do you have any other ideas as to what might be going on? Am I crazy? Thanks for any help! On my 34 foot fifth wheel when plugged into campsite power my lights, furnace range in power. Lights will go bright then dim then bright again. The furnace fan slows down and then speeds up. I have replaced the batteries so am stumped.
Can you advise please, thanks. I have a Fleetwood Wilderness 5th wheel camper, the converter is bad. Can someone please tell me where it is? When I had no power into the 5th wheel [just purchased it] when hooked up to city power, I found the two 40 amp fuses burned out. When I try to put new ones in, I get a spark at the fuse box of the converter. When I disconnect the negative terminal of my batteries and then put the fuses into the converter, I get a spark at the negative terminal of the battery when I attempt to connect the 12 volt to the converter and then find the converter fuses blown again.
My wife wants to go boondocking this week. It sounds like you either have reverse polarity in the 12v system or a really bad short. Does the converter work with the battery being disconnected and the unit plugged into v? Check to make sure the battery is hooked up to the correct terminals, make sure the negative is going to a chassis ground. If that is ok, I would disconnect the battery and check the voltage on the battery itself. It may have reverse polarity coming out of the battery if it was discharged and then re charged when hooked up to the wrong connections.
From there I would check the connections from the converter to the fuse panel, making sure they are correct. Check the connection to the breaker as well. Large sparks indicate large amp draw and if it is high enough to blow the fuse right away, there could be a bad short in the system as well.
Is there any tests I can perform to confirm this? Momentary main switch stayed on. Followed the direction in manual disconnected the ground of house battery have no 12 volt power. The switch may need replaced. They can get stuck and even if it releases, it may happen again. There are many different types and styles of main switches, I will provide a link to some sites that carry a variety of switches.
You can always install a different type as well. I was told when I bought my pop-up recently that it need a battery and converter. I have determined via my battery charger that the battery is dead — needs replacement. So, my question is, if I plug into shore power with the dead battery still connected should the converter do anything? Should lights come on? Must I have a good battery to get the converter to do anything?
Thank you. My unit has a converter Magnetec and inverter Freedom It appears that both can charge batteries. The inverter is external next to batteries. The converter is under back bed. Unit also has 2 transfer boxes. A 50 Ecco external in cord bin. And a 30 Ecco under bed next to converter. Yes the converter and inverter can both charge the batteries. The converter takes in the v AC and turns it into 12v DC to operate the fuse panel and all of the 12v components when plugged into an outlet.
It is connected to the battery to not only charge it, but it allows the batteries to send voltage to the fuse panel when not plugged into an outlet so you can use lights, slide outs, pump motor etc. The inverter you have most likely connects to one appliance, like a residential fridge or possible a set of outlets. When plugged into an outlet, it turns off the conversion and just runs off of v coming from the shore cord.
It can also convert the voltage to 12v to charge the battery. This feature can be turned off on the inverter if not needed. The same goes for why there is 2 transfer switches as well. Normally there is only one transfer switch when a generator is installed, you can only have one source of v coming into the RV at a time. The transfer switch just allows one to come through.
You should consult the owners manual for the unit and see why it is set up this way. They might just give you 2 power cords so you can use any pedestal but normally you can just use an adapter for this. Do you have 3 air conditioners? I am really not sure. If you can provide the make, model and year of your RV I could try to look into why it is set up like this. Yes j bought a 92 Fleetwood wilderness camper. The converter was bad and they took it out so now I need to know what kind of converter I need like as far as what amp converter j need to get thanks….
It can be a little tricky to find out what size converter came with the RV if it was removed. The converters installed at the factory are rated based on what is needed to run everything in the RV without going over the limit.
Once you combine the total wattage, divide by You would want to get a converter just above that to allow for extra room as low voltage will cause high amp draw so you always want to be safe. There is a website that offers a power converter calculator that could help determine what you may need, it would be a good starting point. We would like to offer you a special promotion for your first-year membership.
Converter went out bought another converter hooked it up fan ran for a second or two went out. This is the third converter trailer is I had depended on the gas power generator for my power for 6 months then when I tried plugging it into a wall plug with a ground fault interrupt it tripped the interrupt.
I am having problems with the 12 volt system. It would shut down and not come back on. The system works fine. The shut off switch would turn it back on but would not stay on. Really would appreciate your help. Thanks James. It sounds like a problem with the converter. The best thing to do is check the connections going to it and the voltage going to and out of the converter.
If the v going in fluctuates, it can cause this issue and the problem is with your shore cord, the buss bar or the outlet you are plugged into. If there is steady voltage above VAC going to the converter and the 12v coming out fluctuates or is lower than I am considering purchasing a PD for the replacement. Anyone have any information if there is a better replacement model and what re wiring would be required to go with a PD?
It should be similar to a replacement of a Magnetec converter. You would have to figure out the equivalent actions, but the procedure should be similar. I Googled Allanson converter and found some commentary on that as well. I mainly stay at campgrounds where I can plug in to shore power, but I want to increase my battery capacity to 2 batteries and have the ability to hook up to solar.
Net Open Roads Forum: Any reason to replace an old power converter? Last edited: Jun 15, You must log in or register to reply here. Latest posts. The Shade Tree. Newcomers' Corner. First time rv buyer.
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