Community Forums

Ray,IN · 07-26-2007, 09:13 PM

My Parallex 55A converter cooling fan quit running. The converter is riveted together, prohibiting opening. I'm stumped, what say you?
The second problem is a 12V lighting circuit has me perplexed. All the fuses test good, all the wires exiting the fuse board test hot, but the two overhead 12V light fixtures are dead. I think there is a broken wire between the fuse block(which tests hot) and the light fixtures ( which test dead). I think I'll begin with testing for voltage in the wire from the converter end until I locate the problem. A huge complication is the enclosed underbelly, and the heavy plastic sheathing enclosing all the wiring. Another issue is; the bedroom entertainment center (120VAC)lost power for a few hours right after the 12V lights lost power, then mysteriously returned??????

Oh well- I'm retired, this will keep me away from the honeydo list for a while.

The downside is, the honeydo list will be longer later.
I'm open to any suggestions.

Have I ever mentioned I really hate wiring problems_____?

Ray,IN · 07-26-2007, 09:13 PM

My Parallex 55A converter cooling fan quit running. The converter is riveted together, prohibiting opening. I'm stumped, what say you?
The second problem is a 12V lighting circuit has me perplexed. All the fuses test good, all the wires exiting the fuse board test hot, but the two overhead 12V light fixtures are dead. I think there is a broken wire between the fuse block(which tests hot) and the light fixtures ( which test dead). I think I'll begin with testing for voltage in the wire from the converter end until I locate the problem. A huge complication is the enclosed underbelly, and the heavy plastic sheathing enclosing all the wiring. Another issue is; the bedroom entertainment center (120VAC)lost power for a few hours right after the 12V lights lost power, then mysteriously returned??????

Oh well- I'm retired, this will keep me away from the honeydo list for a while.

The downside is, the honeydo list will be longer later.
I'm open to any suggestions.

Have I ever mentioned I really hate wiring problems_____?

RV Wizard · 07-26-2007, 11:26 PM

Ray, if you feel comfortable at removing the converter and drilling out the rivits, you can replace the fan motor. I would test it when you get it pulled to be sure it is bad and that the control board on the converter is not the culprit. Fans are available from Radio Shack. One thing that has in the past stumped me was finding voltage with a multimeter but the apparatus would not funtion. Sometimes, (not often thank goodness) you will find a circuit that can feed a digital meter but will breakdown under a load. THis is usually a loose connection. The meter draws practically no amperage and the circuit looks good but as soon as you put the load on it opens and the light in your case does not work. If teh entertainment center is in a slideout look for a junction box on the outside and botome of the slideout for connections for the 12 and 120 volt circuits. They should be in seperate boxes.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Ray,IN · 07-27-2007, 08:18 AM

Thank you Mike! The entertainment center is not in a slide-out, and is presently working fine. We were parked in Branson when the 2 hour outage occurred. It could not have been the CG 50A power, as both our A/C units were operating, and the voltmeter was reading 118VAC on one leg, 120VAC on the other.
I just checked the house batteries this morning, they are reading 13.72 VDC while plugged into 120VAC. From attending the seminar at the rally, this is normal charging from this low-end converter-right? This, to me, indicates everything about the converter is working properly except the muffin fan.

I should check to see if the converter is still in warranty(2005 model) first, if not, I will drill out the rivets -after disconnecting both 120V and 12V power sources of course. Then voltage may be checked(reconnect batteries) with my RMS meter. Those pesky 12V ceiling lights are on a separate (hot at converter) circuit from the 12V florescent lighting. It is now just taking/finding time to trace wiring, after removing the belly coverings. I have a circuit-tracer, but since all the wiring is bundled, it's useless.

1995Brave · 07-27-2007, 08:50 AM

Your converter fan may be good. Most run using a theresister and only turn on when the converter gets hot.

Ray,IN · 07-27-2007, 11:19 AM

Well, as far as I can determine, the converter is good, fan is working, still don't know why it did not run at all at Branson in that 90*+ heat. It ran for a minute today, in 75* temperature, after testing good. One issue is gone. It's raining today, so crawling under the 5er is out. That lighting issue will have to wait until we return from this upcoming trip.

Thanks again guys, for your suggestions.