Ok let's see if anyone else has had this experience???

[steelpony5555]

This may get long as I try to explain this but not sure if I have a converter problem, a level up problem or a battery problem. First of all I have 2 brand new batteries the dealer put in after letting mine drain to nothing. But I noticed when my furnace would kick on my 12v lights would dim a little ...Hmmm ....then in the pouring rain I needed to hook up but when I went to operate the level up it would kick off saying low voltage. Let it sit and try again, would raise jacks another 2 inches and kick off saying low voltage. I was still hooked up to shore power. Check volts on the panel and it showed when I operated the level up it would drop from 12v+ to around 10v+ and kick off...then would slowly come back up to 12v+...so in the pouring rain I finally got the truck hooked up raising each jack 2 inches at a time. The temps were in the 40's and I was operating the level up in manual. The slides and awning operated ok just a little slow. But with the dimming lights I am leaning toward the converter. One other question is I hooked power up to the truck and nothing. I thought the truck would power your 12v stuff but it didn't do anything. Also when I got home I hooked a battery charger to the batteries and it seems to work ok with it???? Another reason I am leaning towards the converter. If so how hard is it to change one out???? Thanks I hope I explained this sufficiently ....I'm not very good at electrical problems....

[Forbes]

Converter appears to have gone south, not hard to replace it is plug and play mostly. Most of time two wires, positive and negative and plugin to 115 volts. You will need a Allen wrench long shank to remove the positive and negative. Make sure you unplug unit and disconnect battery before you change it out. Look at one of the upgrade units. Most RV have the WFCO converters. These units are bad for blowing a 5 amp internal fuse that is mounted on the board, I have repaired several that I picked up out of junk piles.

[jeff64]

Basic electrical troubleshooting 101... start at one end of a circuit or another. start from easiest most accessable point. Your TT is probably 3 yrs old now, and most likely so is the battery. Verify the source of current, the battery. I dont believe the converter can deliver high amperage. It's purpose is to charge the battery. Batteries deliver high amperage and supply it under high electrical load at stall, like jacks, stabilizers and slide motors. Clean your battery terminals, wash the mung off the top of the battery with baking soda and water. Especially check the ground connection to the frame of the TT and clean it off really well w/ wire brush or equivalent. Even a coat of dielectric grease here will help to maintain ground. Test out your battery with either battery tester or hydrometer. Put on a charger and observe cells to see if all are gassing. No smoking or fires here, hydrogen gas present. Does the battery appear good? Leave it charge up and recheck specific gravity or battery capacity. Reconnect and measure battery terminal voltage. Energize converter and again measure battery voltage. I would expect it to be somewhat higher, probably not more than a volt than before, if the converter is putting out. Beyond this you can suspect other components at fault and further isolate or rule out by checking voltage at the connector to the stabilizer etc or do a current draw test. Voltage at the suspect component should be the same as battery voltage within a couple tenths. You bet, a wiring diagram would be a great help, so would me hitting the lottery! Hope I helped you!

[steelpony5555]

No, batteries are just 2 weeks old and trailer is 1 1/2 years old....not sure if when they installed the 2 batteries or when they let it drain to nothing (they let my bedroom lights on for 2 months unhooked) had something to do with the converter pooping to bed....

[Iwannacamp]

If you are handy you can change the converter... I would definitely go with the Progressive unit instead....If you don't have one it is the perfect time to add an EMS system to your RV. JMO not my money

[bikendan]

Unless you requested something different, dealers usually install the cheapest 12v dual purpose marine batteries they can get.

[Jesse]

I noticed in our camper their was positive wires going through the metal battery box hole that had a loose grommet protector around the hole. After vibrating over miles I was sure it would have shorted the positive wire to the frame. It was so crowded with wires it would pull the grommet protector out. Be sure to check and trace your wires for problems like this.

[b1hasj83]

What happen to us was the breaker switch at the end of the row was not on. When we turned it on the inverter worked

[Sterlingsilver]

Plugged in to shore power, low battery voltage under load, then converter is bad. They are easy to fix with a scope, DVM and schematics but also easy to replace. Progressive Dynamics is my choice. Make sure to buy from a licensed dealer else no warranty.

Batteries should be two 6 volt, deep cycle, golf cart type in series. Better yet is a total replacement with lithium ion battery system available for around $3000.

[Tom48]

[QUOTE=steelpony5555;1376500]This may get long as I try to explain this but not sure if I have a converter problem, a level up problem or a battery problem. First of all I have 2 brand new batteries the dealer put in after letting mine drain to nothing. But I noticed when my furnace would kick on my 12v lights would dim a little ...Hmmm ....

My first suspicion would be check battery voltage with a meter at the batteries. The have someone else turn on that heater. Look for voltage drop. If it stays above 12 while under load and the lights are dimming......
You probably have a bad or partially corroded GROUND CONNRCTION.

GO TO where the negative cable bolts or screws to the frame. Take it apart and clean with sand paper or steel wool. Reassemble and repeat voltage test. I am three for three at that being the problem if battery charge and still not pulling the load.

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by Sterlingsilver

Plugged in to shore power, low battery voltage under load, then converter is bad. They are easy to fix with a scope, DVM and schematics but also easy to replace. Progressive Dynamics is my choice. Make sure to buy from a licensed dealer else no warranty.

Batteries should be two 6 volt, deep cycle, golf cart type in series. Better yet is a total replacement with lithium ion battery system available for around $3000.

I dissagree that the converter is necessarily bad, though it might be. Good converter, good battery and you will still suffer voltage DROP IN THE TRAILER if the batteries are not well grounded.

[bld]

If it works when you put charger on it probably a poor connrction at battery or a bad battery .

[greenroads]

I had a similar problem this fall , did a whole lot of trouble shooting and finally found a resettable breaker had tripped . If you follow your battery wires back they will come to a bus bar . On the side of the bus bar are 3 resettable breakers , they are quite small about the size of the end of a pen , if any are sticking out just push it back in to reset the breaker . I have a 34 RLSA CC . Hope this helps ....

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Unless you requested something different, dealers usually install the cheapest 12v dual purpose marine batteries they can get.

You said a mouth full there.

Lets add charge full retail price too.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by jeff64

Basic electrical troubleshooting 101... start at one end of a circuit or another. start from easiest most accessable point. Your TT is probably 3 yrs old now, and most likely so is the battery. Verify the source of current, the battery. I dont believe the converter can deliver high amperage. It's purpose is to charge the battery. Batteries deliver high amperage and supply it under high electrical load at stall, like jacks, stabilizers and slide motors. Clean your battery terminals, wash the mung off the top of the battery with baking soda and water. Especially check the ground connection to the frame of the TT and clean it off really well w/ wire brush or equivalent. Even a coat of dielectric grease here will help to maintain ground. Test out your battery with either battery tester or hydrometer. Put on a charger and observe cells to see if all are gassing. No smoking or fires here, hydrogen gas present. Does the battery appear good? Leave it charge up and recheck specific gravity or battery capacity. Reconnect and measure battery terminal voltage. Energize converter and again measure battery voltage. I would expect it to be somewhat higher, probably not more than a volt than before, if the converter is putting out. Beyond this you can suspect other components at fault and further isolate or rule out by checking voltage at the connector to the stabilizer etc or do a current draw test. Voltage at the suspect component should be the same as battery voltage within a couple tenths. You bet, a wiring diagram would be a great help, so would me hitting the lottery! Hope I helped you!

I don't know what model he has, but spot checking on Google, MOST converters I found run 35 amps to 65 amps. I did see one at 20 amps, and a couple at 75 amps. So they DO supply fairly high currents.

Actually a converters purpose is operate anything that uses 12VDC while plugged into shore power. The battery is just another load, like the lights, furnace, fridge, etc. My popup had a converter, but no battery.

[Evereddie]

Originally Posted by greenroads

I had a similar problem this fall , did a whole lot of trouble shooting and finally found a resettable breaker had tripped . If you follow your battery wires back they will come to a bus bar . On the side of the bus bar are 3 resettable breakers , they are quite small about the size of the end of a pen , if any are sticking out just push it back in to reset the breaker . I have a 34 RLSA CC . Hope this helps ....

^^^^
This and there are reverse polarity fuses that might be blown if someone tried to install the batteries hooked up backwards.

Point being there are several devices that could prevent the convertor from sending power to the batteries and they should all be checked before replacing the convertor.

[D-Man]

I'd start with the simplest problem too. Have your batteries load tested, most any garage will do it, usually for free or a few bucks. Just because the bats are brand new, don't mean they are any good, I've gotten bad new batteries before.

[cyntdon]

1st batteries needs to be tested. if good. go to www. best converter.com
changing out a converter is simply. take photos of location of wires. randy at best converter is very helpful

[dalford]

Make sure your battery disconnect switch is not off. I noticed my battery would not charge from converter when in this mode...

[spock123]

Just a thought but could you take a picture of the batteries, they could be hooked up wrong. Just a thought


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums