18cf refrigerator

[spock123]

I put the Cedar Creek in the shop for about 2 weeks, now the inverter flashes 11.7. What is wrong?


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[spock123]

On the Creek what position is the battery disconnect supposed to be in to charge everything. When hooked up to power


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[Roncross]

I would say it would be best to leave it on. I also think as it charges up, the reading will come up. Good luck!

RC

[spock123]

I think I fixed it, I tried a few things, at least it's not in alarm and the battery went to 11.9. I am going to Carolina Beach this weekend


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[spock123]

I thought that with the four batteries that they were hooked to gather, I found out they were hooked up in pairs. So I have two hooked up to the inverter which powers the frig and two for the camper. The inverter is 1000 watts, I have a 3000 watt inverter that I think later on I will hook up to another bank of batteries, or could I hook all the batteries up together and make one big 12 volt battery.


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[Duckogram]

Originally Posted by spock123

I thought that with the four batteries that they were hooked to gather, I found out they were hooked up in pairs. So I have two hooked up to the inverter which powers the frig and two for the camper.

That may not be as correct as you think with 4 each 6v batteries.

[spock123]

Well the four batteries are not hooked up together, you could be right. I charged up one pair yesterday and when I hooked the inverter back up it said 12.4 amps but last night it dropped to 12.2 amps and today it's at 12.1 amps. Do you think I should charge up both pairs and then hook them back up. I thought the charger that was on the camper would charge some.



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[Duckogram]

With 4 -6v batts powering a 12v system you have 2 batts connected in series and 2 batts connected in series. This ups the voltage to 12v for each bank of 2. Then both banks are connected in parallel. This increases capacity which is what you need to run your Inverter which powers your fridge when you are not connected to shore power. This parallel connection occurs on a junction block. Follow the + cables to find it along with your fusible link. Your Converter has a built in battery charger that is 12v. When you are plugged in to shore power and your battery disconnect is ON, your Converter will charge all 4 of your batteries. You do not need 50A service to do this. A 15A extension cord will provide more than ample power to run the charger. Your battery voltage should be around 13.5v when your batteries are fully charged. From that state, you should get about 3 days of fridge use on your batteries.

Edit: Dont confuse volts with amps.

[spock123]

I can take some pictures and show you what the set up on camper looks like. When you hook 2 batteries in series and hook up 2 more in series and then both sets are hooked in parallel. When you get done you have one hot and one ground. This set up is two hots and two grounds. This is the way it's hooked up now. The picture at the back shows one hot and one ground


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[Duckogram]

You are almost there...
Now look at the other side of the bulkhead where your two sets of cables emerge. You will find that is where your parallel connection takes place. That junction is where your batteries feed the Inverter & Converter. It is also where your charger links to your batteries to charge them.

Your wiring diagram decal is correct.

[spock123]

Originally Posted by Duckogram

You are almost there...
Now look at the other side of the bulkhead where your two sets of cables emerge. You will find that is where your parallel connection takes place. That junction is where your batteries feed the Inverter & Converter. It is also where your charger links to your batteries to charge them.

Your wiring diagram decal is correct.

Behind the bulkhead one hot feeds the inverter and another hot goes to the converter. I will show you a picture but nowhere is there a junction where the two battery's meet up at.


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[wanderer69]

I am glad to see Cedar Creek is finally posting the battery wiring diagram were you can see it when the batteries are installed. For the longest time including mine they were placed in such a position that once the batteries were in place you couldn't see it.

[spock123]

Originally Posted by Duckogram

You are almost there...
Now look at the other side of the bulkhead where your two sets of cables emerge. You will find that is where your parallel connection takes place. That junction is where your batteries feed the Inverter & Converter. It is also where your charger links to your batteries to charge them.

Your wiring diagram decal is correct.

From what it looks like to me is the bank of batteries is hooked up wrong, if the wiring diagram is right then my bank of batteries is hooked up wrong. The charger on the camper can't charge the inverter battery because nowhere is a cable going to it, not from the inverter to the camper. What I have is two series of battery banks, each 12volts. These 4 6volt batteries, someone did not hook up right. You can wire them in series and then in parallel, that way you have 12volts, then you have one hot and one ground, not like what I have with two hots and two grounds and no junction to tie the series together to have 12volts


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[spock123]

Is this what the junction looks like


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[wanderer69]

Always remember that if the batteries are not "fully" charged, they will discharge at an accelerated rate. What I mean by this is that if you have used the batteries for a period of time and that have drained to say 80% for example and then when you hook them back to a power source, generator or shore, and then you only charge them for a short period to say 90%. Those batteries will discharge quicker. Try leaving them on shore power for a couple of days to insure they have been fully charged. Then see how they perform.

I run into this situation usually in national parks were its mostly dry camping. With the restrictive generator hours it can become problematic after a few days. As an example Cades Cove in Great Smokey Mountains National Park, generators have to be shut off by 8 pm. Well your out hiking and sight seeing or whatever all day and by the time you get to your RV its 6 pm or after. That is not going to be enough generator run time to fully charge the batteries. So the next day they are going to get lower, after a few days you got a problem.

[spock123]

I talked to Tom Johnson and someone must have dropped the ball because these batteries are not hooked up right, the series have to be hooked in parallel for the bank of batteries to work right. The way it is my batteries that work the inverter will never be charged because they are not hooked up to the converter. He told me that it didn't matter about the two hots just hook up positive to positive and negative to negative. But I think I will use the diagram


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[Duckogram]

Originally Posted by spock123

I talked to Tom Johnson and someone must have dropped the ball because these batteries are not hooked up right, the series have to be hooked in parallel for the bank of batteries to work right. The way it is my batteries that work the inverter will never be charged because they are not hooked up to the converter. He told me that it didn't matter about the two hots just hook up positive to positive and negative to negative. But I think I will use the diagram


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You've got it! Unless your Inverter has a battery charger built in that I am unaware of.

[spock123]

Well I got the bank of batteries hooked up and now they are charging, the inverter started out at 13.1 and it's now at 13.2, I am so glad it's working now


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[Duckogram]

Originally Posted by spock123

Well I got the bank of batteries hooked up and now they are charging, the inverter started out at 13.1 and it's now at 13.2, I am so glad it's working now


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Thats good news.