My 3rd converter had stop charging again

[Ohboy77]

Hello All,
My apologies 1st for the mistake in my writing.

I got a Palomino Solaire 147x...
Came with WFCO 8900 I believe.
I do travel a lot.

In the past 4 years, I change the converter 3 times.
Im now with a Dynamic Progressive to replace the WFCO.
It does work great for almost a year.

Then suddenly, it stop charging the battery Wich is one or two year as well.

Theres no bad fuses. Just no charge to battery. I have to charge it with another charger.

I don't even know what's part of the converter stop working.

I don't even know if someone else had that issue before? A short while moving Wich explain the intermittent problem?

Any help will be great.

Thanks

[SeaDog]

Something sure sounds strange about going thru that man converters. You mention only the batteries do you still have 12V to the lights? Use a multimeter and check the output of the converter

[TheWolfPaq82]

Since 1984 I've never replaced a Converter. I've had batteries stop charging, but turned out to be the battery went bad.

[5picker]

You'll need to give us more information.
What are your batteries?
How old are they?
What is their state of charge?
Do you always use shore power?
Do you use a generator?
Do you have solar?

As mentioned, it seems odd you have had to replace this many converters and especially two different brands.

Did you ever check the protection fuses before replacing the converter?

[BillyBass]

That does seem odd. Have you check or change the battery cables .They can be corroded not letting any charge to the battery.They probably a short somewhere in the camper. When you find out let us know. Thanks

[Iwannacamp]

I got a couple of questions.

Do you keep it plugged up?
Have you checked the batteries?
Do you store stuff in front of the converter?
Do you have any/many 12V items in service?

Most importantly... call progressive and talk to them.

[BM Welder]

I thought my converter went bad this march so I bought a battery charger to keep the batteries charged it turned out that the fuses were loose all I did was pinch the fuse bars a little. My Cedar Creek is 6 years old and this is the first time that this happened.

[Sbosserman]

I had a similar converter problem with my previous 5th wheel. Since I was able to keep that RV stored on my own property, so I kept it plugged into power 24/7. Well after about a year or more, the converter failed & stopped charging. After the manufacturer replaced it (even though it was just barely out of warranty), I still kept it plugged into power until that one failed. Then I bought another brand of converter, upsized it to the next power output model. After that, I installed a small solar battery trickle charger on top of my propane tank cover just to maintain charge when stored (no more keeping it plugged into power 24/7) and years have passed with no further problems. I’m just thinking that most OE converters are not designed for 24/7/365 use.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Sbosserman

I had a similar converter problem with my previous 5th wheel. Since I was able to keep that RV stored on my own property, so I kept it plugged into power 24/7. Well after about a year or more, the converter failed & stopped charging. After the manufacturer replaced it (even though it was just barely out of warranty), I still kept it plugged into power until that one failed. Then I bought another brand of converter, upsized it to the next power output model. After that, I installed a small solar battery trickle charger on top of my propane tank cover just to maintain charge when stored (no more keeping it plugged into power 24/7) and years have passed with no further problems. I’m just thinking that most OE converters are not designed for 24/7/365 use.

I had one that was plugged in for 22 years, unplugged only when on the highway. Current one has been plugged in for over 3 years, again only unolugged when actually traveling.

In my view an RV converter is no different than most household devices that are left plugged in 24/7/365 like refrigerator, TV, Stereo's. etc.

[Ohboy77]

Hello all,
I was camping with no service. I was using solar to recharge battery. That was fine.
I have a 2 years marine battery old. Deep cycle. And it's not a small one.
I can charge it with a regular charger without problem as well.

I do use 12V things like fridge, lights, water pump, sometimes fan for short period.

I disconnected the 12v from the progressive dynamics pd4655. At the output, there 0V.

While disconnecting I notice one of the cable went loose.
Could it short something on the board? If so what should I check for.

Theres a fuse on the PCB, and it's good.
I suspect vibration and maybe a weak welding.

Unfortunately, its not under guarantee anymore. More than 1 year.

How can I post a picture? I would show the setup.

Thanks

[NXR]

I'm confused. What does "camping with no service" mean? No electrical from the campsite?

The converter should not be powered up at all when you have no shore power or generator power. The converter takes house power 120 VAC from shore power or from a generator and turns it into 12 VDC.

If you're powering the converter from an inverter run by the batteries, you're just killing your batteries needlessly.

Ray

[Ohboy77]

NXR, Ray,
I was off-grid that's camping with no services.
No water, no sewer and no electricity (120v).

Always use shore power when it's possible.
When it's in storage (my drive way) the shore power is there but I turn off the Breaker for the converter. Ill turn it on when it need to charge back the battery. Maybe 2 weeks or more. I found out the radio in standby, is using current.

I have no inverter.

[pgandw]

Yes, the output from your converter is 0 unless you have shore power. Camping without shore power, converter does nothing.

Plugged in at home, or camping with shore power, converter powers 12V system AND recharges battery. Therefore if converter actually fails, battery alone powers 12V until it runs out of charge. Then everything 12V is dead.

There are other causes for batteries to fail to recharge besides converter failure.

One way to check the converter: when plugged in, measure the voltage of the 12V system. If it is 13.2V or more, converter is working. If it's 12.7V or less, converter is not charging the battery - could be problems besides the converter.

Fred W

[Ohboy77]

Originally Posted by pgandw

Yes, the output from your converter is 0 unless you have shore power. Camping without shore power, converter does nothing.



One way to check the converter: when plugged in, measure the voltage of the 12V system. If it is 13.2V or more, converter is working. If it's 12.7V or less, converter is not charging the battery - could be problems besides the converter.


Fred W

Yes, Im at home with the shore power. 120v fine and after breaker to the converter, theres 120v also.

The output is 0V

[HONDAMAN174]

Unless there is a circuit (like a battery) I dont think the converter will output like on a bench test.

With your solar disconnected and battery connected to converter like normal, what is the voltage reading?

And as others have said call PD and have the serial number off your unit.

[Ohboy77]

Originally Posted by HONDAMAN174

Unless there is a circuit (like a battery) I dont think the converter will output like on a bench test.

With your solar disconnected and battery connected to converter like normal, what is the voltage reading?

And as others have said call PD and have the serial number off your unit.

0 volt