50A to 15A Plug

[cwoods]

Good Morning, Newbie here. I just took ownership of a 2015 351 THSS. One of the first things that I bought was a 50A to 15A Plug so that I can keep the battery charge among other things.
However, the battery does not appear to be charging. Is there something that I am supposed to do after I plug the trailer into house current?
Also, I would expect that the lights would be working, but they are not.
Electrically challenged in Havelock, NC. Thanks.
R/Chris Woods

[Joe_GA]

I don't know your rig, but you are right, the lights should work. So, that indicates that the battery is disconnected. Look for a battery disconnect switch. If you have a docking station, it will probably be there.

[wmtire]

After Joe's good advice, another real simple thing to check is to make sure the house outlet is hot and hasn't tripped (circuit breaker or gfci outlet). If you are plugging into a gfci outlet , they are bad about tripping depending on several factors.

If you don't have a lighted power cord that shows power, you may just want to plug something else electrical into the house outlet and make sure it has power (unless you have a multimeter or similar).

[raspivey]

I'm thinking it's a combination of both. The lights should be working off of 12V power even if the 110V isn't getting to the trailer. My lights will work even if the battery is completely pulled as long as the converter is getting 110V and the converter is supplying 12V. I've heard of a completely dead battery causing things to shut down on the converter, but I've never seen it personally.

You've probably tried it, but make sure all the breakers in the trailer didn't get turned off. When I've got mine stored, I've got a habit of turning off the disconnect and all of the breakers then putting the batteries on a tender. That's almost what it sounds like.

[cwoods]

All fuses and CBs are good and in the correct position.

Checked the voltage at the female end of the extension cord: 122 volts.

Checked the voltage at the 50A plug while plugged into the female end of the extension cord: 122 volts.

Checked the voltage at the wires going into the surge protector from the 50A service: 86-90 volts.

A loss of 30 volts in 12 inches of wire. :\

How can that be?

[Joe_GA]

Originally Posted by cwoods

All fuses and CBs are good and in the correct position.

Checked the voltage at the female end of the extension cord: 122 volts.

Checked the voltage at the 50A plug while plugged into the female end of the extension cord: 122 volts.

Checked the voltage at the wires going into the surge protector from the 50A service: 86-90 volts.

A loss of 30 volts in 12 inches of wire. :\

How can that be?

Let's go over this so we can fully understand it. You have an extension cord plugged into a receptacle at your house or garage. Then, you have a 50A to 15A adapter cable plugged into the extension cord. Then your 50 trailer cable is plugged onto the adapter. Then, your surge protector is plugged into the 50A trailer cable. Can we assume the trailer is plugged into the surge protector? Now, you say you measured voltage at the end of the extension cord and got 122 volts. How long is this cord and what size are the wires in it? When you measured the 122 volts, that was without anything plugged into the cord, right? When you measured the voltage going into the surge protector was everything hooked up? If so, you are probably dropping 30 some odd volts across a long small conductor extension cord. Your camper may be trying to pull 30 to 80 amps through the converter, depending on your converter and battery setup. Give us some more details if I haven't already uncovered your problem.
Good luck!

[mark wyoming]

JOE GA IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK YOUR EXTENSION CORD MAY BE TO LONG AND TO SMALL. try SHUTTING EVERY THING OFF AND THEN TURN ONE CIRCUIT ON AT A TIME AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. Keep in mind that you can damage your converter and other associated equipment by starving them for voltage.

[bluefinger]

I have a 2013 351THSS, in addition to keeping it charged I run the rear air most of the day since I use the garage as a home office. Lowes sells some nice extension cords with 12 gauge conductors. I cut it to length to keep it as short as possible and replaced the 15 amp Edison connector with a 50 amp RV connector (even though it is still only 15 amps). This has worked well in the Texas heat. The only breakers I leave on is for the converter and the rear A/C.

Good luck and enjoy your 351!

[bluefinger]

Also, here is a great website on RV electric. RV Electric