12v issues

[Guangtou]

I’ve got a 2017 Forest River forester, and I noticed my converter wasn’t charging my battery or giving me 12v conversion when hooked to shore power. Installed new converter and I have the same issue. No blown fuses. Any ideas?

The converter is pd4060

Thanks

[tinkerreknit]

Does your 120V system work OK? TV and microwave?

[Guangtou]

Yes, 120 works fine

[BehindBars]

Have you confirmed that all cables are connected at the batteries? Some terminals may normally have more that one wire attached. If batteries were recently worked on, a cable may have been left off. You may be missing a connection between the converter and ground on the 12 volt side.

[Guangtou]

I can get 12v from the batteries- and all cables are secure

The converter is not charging the batteries

[chaps2018]

Can you confirm you. have 120v input at the converter? Wiring diagram in manual below.


http://www.bestconverter.com/assets/...5manualnew.pdf

[CHICKDOE]

two converters failing? probably not the converter. double and triple check the cabling to and from the converter. do as mentioned earlier and confirm that you actually have 120 vac going into the converter and 12 vdc coming out. let us know what you find out.

[SeaDog]

I think I would pull the new converter and ensure the battery cables are connected correctly to the converter.

[Guangtou]

Will ck when home....

Dumb question: with batteries totally disconnected, when I turn on shore power my 120v works fine

Should the converter give me 12v power without batteries installed?

[SeaDog]

yes

[Guangtou]

Then even with new converter, I don’t get that. Batteries are not even installed. With shore power, receptacles and microwave come on, but no 12v

[5picker]

Seems you've done some expensive replacing without doing some basic electrical testing that 'might' have saved you money.

Do you have a multimeter and know how to use it?
If not, you can often get FREE ones at Harbor Freight or simply pay $3 or $4 and get one.

Then, when plugged into 120v shore power, measure the DC voltage coming OUT of the converter where the battery cables attach and tell us what you have.

Your converter has some battery protection fuses but before we get to (or even need to) checking them, we need to know the DC voltage on the lugs of the converter where the battery cables attach.

Page 4 of the manual chaps2018 should be VERY helpful to you.

[Guangtou]

That’s the old converter, going to breaker,

I did take the reading going from new converter

12.5 volts was reading

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Guangtou

Then even with new converter, I don’t get that. Batteries are not even installed. With shore power, receptacles and microwave come on, but no 12v

You said earlier in post #5, that all your cables were secure. Now you’re saying your batteries are not even installed?

When you say there is no 12 volts coming from the converter, where are you making that measurement?

As I said earlier, I suspect your ground connection may be missing on the 12 volt side of the converter. The converter is going to produce 12 volts internally, if all fuse are good, and output that to all your 12 volt circuits. But if the ground is not connected, nothing will work.

[Guangtou]

To clarify, with batteries completely out, and hooked up to shore power, I get 120v fine, receptacles work, microwave works, etc- but no 12v

With batteries installed, I get 12v from the batteries, but the batteries are not getting charged.

I will retake readings when home and double ck ground connections.

Thanks

[rsdata]

you say in post #13 you get 12.5 from converter... so if batteries are not being charged then have you looked for and found the little red reset breaker button near the trailer tongue? follow the wires from the battery and they should lead to an electrical box with a breaker in it... mine is just under the front of the trailer, that breaker will have a small 1/8 inch or so wide black or red button that will reset that breaker, which should then reestablish connection from the converter to the battery.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by rsdata

you say in post #13 you get 12.5 from converter... so if batteries are not being charged then have you looked for and found the little red reset breaker button near the trailer tongue? follow the wires from the battery and they should lead to an electrical box with a breaker in it... mine is just under the front of the trailer, that breaker will have a small 1/8 inch or so wide black or red button that will reset that breaker, which should then reestablish connection from the converter to the battery.

The first post says the poster has a Forest River Forester. That is a class C motorhome. There is no trailer tongue.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Guangtou

To clarify, with batteries completely out, and hooked up to shore power, I get 120v fine, receptacles work, microwave works, etc- but no 12v

With batteries installed, I get 12v from the batteries, but the batteries are not getting charged.

I will retake readings when home and double ck ground connections.

Thanks

To clarify...
You have two completely different sources of power in your R/V

120v AC which supplies the current for things like receptacles, microwave, etc. (shore power)
12v DC for things like lights and 12v controls for the fridge, water heater, furnace, etc. (Battery(ies)

The only place those two power sources overlap/connect is in the CONverter.
(Yes some R/Vs have an INverter that connects into the system but we are NOT addressing that here)

The way the 120v shore power and the 12v DC power overlaps or connects, happens inside the CONverter. The battery supplies 12v TO the converter to feed the various 12v circuits (when NOT connected to shore power) and the CONverter supplies voltage (greater than 12v and usually something above 13+ volts) to charge the battery when you ARE connected to shore power.

If you read battery voltage at the converter when NOT connected to shore power, then all your connections TO the converter are OK. (I realized you said you have the battery connected and then you said you don't??)

When you plug into shore power you should read something above battery voltage (like I said usually 13+V) at the converter battery connections and ultimately at the battery.

If you truly do not have a battery installed, it is possible one of the cables are touching something it shouldn't and has either blown the protection fuses or the converter itself.

You need to check these things and report back to us so we can all quit guessing and provide you some better answers.

[rockfordroo]

Check your reverse polarity fuses.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Check your reverse polarity fuses.

The OP has a Progressive Dynamics PD4060 converter.
The protection fuses are located slightly different than the photo of the WFCO converter. The link to the manual chaps2018 posted is more correct.

The advice of checking them is good none the less.
I was hopeful to get some actual voltage readings but alas...