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Jerry C · 09-16-2006, 05:05 PM

I changed out my Parallax converter to the Progressive Dyn: 9260. Now I'm having a bit of a problem. The converter is working ok. My battery wiring loop seems to have been reconfigured by the previous owner.

This is on a 1993 Ford F-350 Class C.

I have an aux battery under the hood, along with 2 Trojan 105's in the basement. From the aux battery I have 2 red wires coming off the postive side of the battery, one seems to have a 50 amp breaker in-line, and goes to the converter, which tests at 13.64 volts when on shore power. the other loops around and goes to the + post on the Trojans house batteries, which tests at 11.42 volts.
It would appear that the previous owner was trying to charge all 3 batteries from the converter. Now to the problem!!
Having never used the lights while only on DC power, today I tried and the DC lights will not come on. When plugged into shore power and generator power, all systems work fine.
When I unplug from external power all systems goes off, no DC power to anything. All grounds have been checked and cleaned.

This is my thinking (1) either 1 or all 3 of the batteries has a dead cell or short. (2) Since the red + wires are their to draw power back thru to the 12 volt circuit when off external power, it is just too much wire to draw thru. (3) I need to switch the wire from the aux battery to the trojans, and just do away with the aux battery under the hood (4) I'm just lost and someone needs to take my hand and lead me in the right direction.
Any suggestion or directions would be appreciated.

I will test the batteries with a hydrometer and volt meter tommorrow after leaving them rest all night.

Thanks everyone who reads and responds.

Jerry C · 09-16-2006, 05:05 PM

I changed out my Parallax converter to the Progressive Dyn: 9260. Now I'm having a bit of a problem. The converter is working ok. My battery wiring loop seems to have been reconfigured by the previous owner.

This is on a 1993 Ford F-350 Class C.

I have an aux battery under the hood, along with 2 Trojan 105's in the basement. From the aux battery I have 2 red wires coming off the postive side of the battery, one seems to have a 50 amp breaker in-line, and goes to the converter, which tests at 13.64 volts when on shore power. the other loops around and goes to the + post on the Trojans house batteries, which tests at 11.42 volts.
It would appear that the previous owner was trying to charge all 3 batteries from the converter. Now to the problem!!
Having never used the lights while only on DC power, today I tried and the DC lights will not come on. When plugged into shore power and generator power, all systems work fine.
When I unplug from external power all systems goes off, no DC power to anything. All grounds have been checked and cleaned.

This is my thinking (1) either 1 or all 3 of the batteries has a dead cell or short. (2) Since the red + wires are their to draw power back thru to the 12 volt circuit when off external power, it is just too much wire to draw thru. (3) I need to switch the wire from the aux battery to the trojans, and just do away with the aux battery under the hood (4) I'm just lost and someone needs to take my hand and lead me in the right direction.
Any suggestion or directions would be appreciated.

I will test the batteries with a hydrometer and volt meter tommorrow after leaving them rest all night.

Thanks everyone who reads and responds.

Bob (WA0MQE) · 09-16-2006, 05:19 PM

Jerry, when you say aux battery under the hood, are you referring to a second battery other then the chassis battery? Have you checked to see if a battery switch is not turned on. Just about all RV's have a switch to isolate (turn on/off) the chassis battery and also a switch to isolate (turn on/off) the coach battery/s. Also, most motorhomes, class A or C, have a Aux Battery Switch so if your chassis battery is dead, you can push the aux switch (intermittent) and while holding it down start your engine. Maybe there's something there that's not wired correctly

If this isn't it, then I would do as you suggest and disconnect the cross-feed from the "under hood aux battery" and just work on the two Trojans and make sure they are working properly and feeding the coach.

RV Wizard · 09-17-2006, 05:12 AM

Jerry, you will definitely need to isolate the house or coach battery bank from the chassis battery. At 11.42 volts the battery(s) are dead. A chassis battery cannot be used to deep cycle; check out www.dcbattery.com/faq.html and www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm Good luck and take care.

Jerry C · 09-20-2006, 11:51 AM

I've have DC voltage to the Lights etc. Went ahead and pulled the wires as discussed in previous post. Reran the one + wire to the house batteries.
Hooked everything up and lo and behold still no power on the DC Side.
Sat back over the weekend and tracing the way voltage should have ran, and everything was correct. The only other thing I did was put a new 40 amp fuse on the postive cable. Checked it with the volt meter and it was open. Went back to the auto parts store, and they found 3 more that came from the factory already open. Found a good one replace it and now I have DC lights and all DC outlets are working.

Thanks WaOmqe (Bob) and RV Wizard (Mike) for your help I really appreciate it.