While boondocking last trip in our 2013 24S noticed short cabin battery life. Sure enough had boiled all the water out. Replaced batteries, and after reading here decided to upgrade to the PD 9200 series converter to solve boiling problems. Now when connected to shore power everything works great in cabin. When I unplug from shore power no 12V lights in cabin or outside, no water pump, no fridge, no TV the only things that seem to work off battery is slide out, awning, and generator will start. Figured maybe new converter was problem so I put the WFCO converter back in, and it made no difference, same problems. Have checked all fuses in power center, and they are all good. Plug it back in to shore power or start generator and everything works fine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I am about to pull out the very few hairs I have left! Should also mention the Magnadyne is pulled out of the dash and is currently at Magnadyne repair shop for repairs, could this be the problem?
But if he's gettin juice (when off shore power) selectively (awning, slide) and everything is working fine on shore power that tends to eliminate the converter and transfer switch... and selectively on 12v would seem to eliminate the main breaker out on the frame.
It's gotta be in the distribution panel. I would pull the box and sick a voltmeter and magnifying glass on it. Its not terribly uncommon to have a fuse give up the ghost with a hairline break you may not be able to see with the naked eye. Hopefully you've just got a loose or dirty connection. You would want to look real close for any hint of corrosion or scorching.
On our 2012 Solera "S", the awning, slide out, steps are wired ahead of the 12 volt battery disconnect switch. Not sure about the generator. Lights, water pump, TV, etc are wired after the disconnect switch. My unit would act as described if the switch was turned to "off". Defective disconnect switch/wiring?
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JLeising
2012 Solera "S"
Calif SF Bay Area
Interesting. I don't think I would much care for that type of setup. Having to physically disconnect your batteries in order to power down seems to kind of defeat the purpose of having a disconnect switch in the first place. Flipping the main breaker would be about the same difference... you'll still have hot lines here and there.
At any rate... the OP could find if that's the case by metering the main 12v input at the panel. Could very be a bad disconnect then.
Thanks to all for taking the time to offer help. I don't know what I would do without you guys. What finally fixed the problem is inside the Battery Control Center box in the stairwell there is a converter relay with a reset button the side and it was tripped. So after three days of tracing wires looking for fuses I finally looked at the diagram on the inside of the box cover and I was able to find it. It is very well hidden behind other connectors but it is there. Very small black reset button that you can not see, but if you feel for it you will find it. Thanks again.
I'm really glad you said something about the batteries. I thought maintenance free batteries didn't need water but mine were low, especially since I installed a 200w solar system for dry camping.
Thanks to all for taking the time to offer help. I don't know what I would do without you guys. What finally fixed the problem is inside the Battery Control Center box in the stairwell there is a converter relay with a reset button the side and it was tripped. So after three days of tracing wires looking for fuses I finally looked at the diagram on the inside of the box cover and I was able to find it. It is very well hidden behind other connectors but it is there. Very small black reset button that you can not see, but if you feel for it you will find it. Thanks again.
Any chance posting a picture with a pointer. Just for the future reference of all.
Interesting. I don't think I would much care for that type of setup. Having to physically disconnect your batteries in order to power down seems to kind of defeat the purpose of having a disconnect switch in the first place. Flipping the main breaker would be about the same difference... you'll still have hot lines here and there.
At any rate... the OP could find if that's the case by metering the main 12v input at the panel. Could very be a bad disconnect then.
Yes but the items that are still powered when the battery disconnect switch is set to disconnect the battery are items that are powered through switches. In other words "open circuits" unless you use the switch for that item. I have several items fused directly off the battery (steps, awning, etc.) and therefore are not disconnected by the battery disconnect switch but which are not draws on the battery unless a switch is actuated.
and therefore are not disconnected by the battery disconnect switch but which are not draws on the battery unless a switch is actuated.
In part.. they don't draw 'MUCH'. Simply continuously energizing those lines, resistance in connections, line loss in itself and resistance in fusing (heat) hour upon hour... you're still slowly chipping away with an increased parasitic draw even when in disconnect.
I know it's "kosher" to, in general, quote "typical" parasitics in the 1-2 amp range... but I HAVE seen much higher and noticed a few folks taking it for granted without doing a real world audit.
Getting to the heart of phantom draws is quite difficult. Just my own experience.. in complete and utter shut down I still can't seem to break under .2. THAT took some serious tweaking and, more than naught, was redoing clamps and shrink wraps from professional shops just to eek out almost worthless percentages.
Granted.. some of that is coming off normal offgassing. But with my AGM's averaging around 1.78% every 37 days in 'nominal' temperatures I would hazard to guess that most folks with quality wet cells still can't begin to touch that.
If I had "standby" connection in my lines, that number would at least quadruple I would think. And that's, "disconnected".
I'm not trying to bash anyone.. it's just the nature of the beast and not very practical to look through rose colored glasses and assume even a 1 amp parasitic draw is realistic.
In part.. they don't draw 'MUCH'. Simply continuously energizing those lines, resistance in connections, line loss in itself and resistance in fusing (heat) hour upon hour... you're still slowly chipping away with an increased parasitic draw even when in disconnect.
So are you saying that there is energy loss even in an open circuit?
I'm curious about this as I have never heard of that occurring unless a component was leaking power to ground or otherwise compromising the open circuit. I've also never considered a circuit energized unless the circuit was complete.
If true, what are the causes and conditions for this to occur? It seems like only a cutoff switch at the battery terminals could prevent this type of leakage.
If you could point me to any information about this I'd appreciate it.
Thanks
__________________ 2015 Roo 23IKSS
2007 5.7L Tundra DC
Electric devices on a switch that opens the circuit when not activated draw no (zero) current when not activated. The awning, step, and slide out on our Solera "S" are this type of circuit - when not activated by their switch, these circuits draw zero current.
The issue occurs with electronic devices which do not have a circuit breaking switch, but an on/off switch which sends an "activate" signal to a powered circuit. Such devices draw a small amount of "parasitic" current even turned off or not in use. Smart devices that maintain memory of their status are often this type. TV sets, computers, radios that maintain stations and time settings, refrigerator controllers, wall "warts" for cell phone or similar chargers (even when the phone is not connected), etc. I believe some of the more sophisticated slide out mechanisms may have controllers that "remember" settings and require some electricity while off.
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JLeising
2012 Solera "S"
Calif SF Bay Area
I also believe Yarome "misspoke" regards current flow with an open circuit; trust me it happens with the best of intentions. For current to flow, a path to ground (battery negative) is required.
As to what I think is going on, I think the propane leak detector is still powered even with the disconnect "on." It may be a RIVA motorhome safety requirement; I don't know.
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Lou & Freya the wonder dog
2008 GMC Sierra 3000HD Allison Duramax
2019 Flagstaff 8529FL
2011 Flagstaff 831 RLBSS
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