Dimming lights

[Gary McDade]

12 volt lights dim and get bright on 30 or 50 amps. On Montana Mountaineer. Does not do it on 110 electric. Battery is 1 year old, has 12.4 volts. Has anyone had this problem? Or any suggestions to the problem? Thanks!

[MtnTrek]

Welcome to the forum.
OK, help us to understand more about your description.
Your 12V lighting while plugged into SP (Shore Power) whether it is 30A or 50A service (Although still actually 115V), causes flickering bright and dim of your lights? Or lighting has wall dimmer switch(s) that operate properly on SP but doesn't when you're plugged into a 115V branch circuit using some type of a SP plug adapter?

[brewurown]

I have a mountaineer and I have a similar problem. I find that if I remove the cables from the battery and wire brush them the problem goes away for awhile. The cables appear to be clean but for some reason the voltage drops.

[Wild Card]

typical of not large enough cables from battery to load center and or bad connections.

[bddadles]

I agree with dirty connections.

Brad

[Texastbird]

Our Chinese converter was doing this earlier this year. The lights would get very bright and then dim out. It finally died on a trip in February and I replaced it with a Progressive converter and now the lights are the brightness they are supposed to be with no dimming no matter what the loading. And the battery is charged much better by the new unit.

[bddadles]

Gary is it one particular light or all of the 12 volt lights? I had one diming the other night and I checked the connections and the flicker when away. If it is all of the lights I would start at the battery connections.

Brad

[Skip426]

Originally Posted by Gary McDade

12 volt lights dim and get bright on 30 or 50 amps. On Montana Mountaineer. Does not do it on 110 electric. Battery is 1 year old, has 12.4 volts. Has anyone had this problem? Or any suggestions to the problem? Thanks!

Welcome to iRV2.
30 amp service IS 110 volts of supply with a 30 amp load limit .
50 amp service IS 110 volts of supply with two lines with, 50 amp load limits.
When you are on shore power , be it 15,20 ,30 or 50 amp . it's always 110 volt.
Your RV's on board , converter/charger ( or inverter) will supply the power to charge the battery and all the lights at a rate of 13.1 to 14.1 volts , so it will provide brighter lights, than when you are using battery power alone.
Check your battery's electrolyte level and clean the connections , do this monthly if the RV is always plugged in.
More info at this site.

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)