Dead battery question

[Britej]

I am new to trailers and have a question/problem. I have a fifth wheel with a magnetek 6300. I purchased a brand new battery for the trailer two weeks ago and went camping with no problems. We hooked up this past weekend, and the air conditioner, heater, radio, and vent hood would not work, and, the battery was completely dead. My question is this: Does the inverter not run these items even with a dead battery, and why is it not charging the battery? I have looked for a inline fuse, and cant find one... but as soon as I hooked a battery charger up to the battery, all worked??? I am a bit confused.
Thanks

[Britej]

I am new to trailers and have a question/problem. I have a fifth wheel with a magnetek 6300. I purchased a brand new battery for the trailer two weeks ago and went camping with no problems. We hooked up this past weekend, and the air conditioner, heater, radio, and vent hood would not work, and, the battery was completely dead. My question is this: Does the inverter not run these items even with a dead battery, and why is it not charging the battery? I have looked for a inline fuse, and cant find one... but as soon as I hooked a battery charger up to the battery, all worked??? I am a bit confused.
Thanks

[Arctic Owl]

First off Britej, your air coditioner will not work off of 12 volts. You have an converter in your trailer not an inverter. Your converter will convert 110 to 12 volts. It should have a charger in it but then it needs to be plugged into 110 to charge. you may have a very serious short or power draw somewhere in your trailer. I also hope you are using an RV battery & not just a standard automotive one. There may also be a shut off switch in the trailer to disconnect the battery from the services. Although I doubt it is off since you have killed the battery just sitting. Also make sure none of your appliances, TV, radio, CD player & the likes do not have an 'Instant On' feature as this will slowly draw the battery down. When I leave my trailer in storage, I trip the curcuit breakers to ensure the 'Instant On' features are not working behind the scenes. But then again, the 'Instant On' only works on 110-120 power

Reg

[Britej]

The air conditioner part is what is confusing me. I know it works on 110, however, with a dead battery it will not work, even when plugged up. I figured that the converter would produce enough 12 volt power to run whatever needs to be run for the air conditioner to work (ie.. switch or thermostat??)... I guess a better question to ask is, Shouldnt my a/c work when plugged into 110 power, even without a 12volt battery, since the converter converts 110 to 12vdc??

[Britej]

Yes, I bought an rv deep cycle battery, and the only item that I could find on, was the lp dectecter, inwhich I opened the fuse. I am not sure what is killing the battery, and not sure why it is not charging...

[Arctic Owl]

Britej, I looked up some information on your converter & I found this:
Magnetek 6300 6345 problems rob arthurs 4-24-05
Hi Gang, I need help my converter does not work once I unhook from shore power. No lights, etc. I have 3 brand new batteries. any suggestions would be appreciated!
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Re: magnetek 6300 6345 problems Sam Watson 4-25-05
As a first guess, I'd say your transfer switch isn't working correctly. You should hear the switch produce an audible "clack" each time you connect/disconnect from shore power. The function of this switch is to switch the power supply for your 12 volt systems from the batteries to the converter when you hook up to shore power, and inversely, back to the batteries when you disconnect from shore power. The only 12 volt circuits that aren't switched between the converter and the batteries is the 12 volt power to the fridge & heater. They are always fed from the batteries, reason for this?, the logic boards in the electronic controls for these units don't like the "dirty" 12 volt DC put out by the converter. If neither of these units are working at any time, then you need to start looking at the wiring from the batteries.

Looks like you may have a bad converter or switch. Hope this helps.

Reg

[Two Bit]

Welcome to the board.
It sounds like your converter is not putting out 12 volts...Try this test.
<LI>Plug camper into 110 volt.
<LI>Find the 12 volt output from the converter (your should have a manual for the converter that will help you locate it). *part of the converter is 110volt feed so dont electrocute yourself, get help if uncertain!
<LI>Disconnect your battery and dont hook up a battery charger.
<LI>Using a meter or test light, check for power (12 volt) coming from the converter. If no power, then converter is out or has bad fuse.

If your ac has a thermostat that requires 12 volt it might not work without 12 volt present from converter or battery.
Your converter or battery powers your inside lights, water pump, control board of refrigerator, your heater fan, smoke detectors, holding tank monitor panel, (possibly the thermostat of your Air Conditioner).

If your converter is out then these things ran your battery down. Plugging in a battery charger acted as a converter/battery replacement and that is why these things worked when you plugged in a charger.

If you have to replace your converter get a better model than your current one.

Let us know if you find 12 volt from your converter.

[WaveMaker]

what you need to do is (while the trailor is plugged in and the battery taken off) take a Multimeter and test to make sure your charging unit for the battery has atleast 14volts dc
ill have to check mine but im sure it will have to be atleast 14volts if not up to 18volts

Dean

[Britej]

Thanks, that sounds like a good test.. to disconnect the battery all together.. I know that when the battery was completely dead, the lights worked, and I assume they are 110 converted to 12v, but not the a/c, vent hood, or stereo... I will try that and see, but it looks like I have a fuse blown, at another area of the camper that I cant find, or some serious converter problems... Thanks guys.

[WaveMaker]

Id have to go along with your inverter isant charging your battery.. and if there is no fuse id have to agree with ya about buying a new inverter

[Arctic Owl]

Two Bit, I knew someone more informed then me about the way the Converter operates would chime in & get Britej on the right track. Good information. WaveMaker, its a Converter not an Inverter. Not trying to be a smart *** but just some trival information.


Reg

[RV Wizard]

You say that all 120 volt circuits will work when you have a charger connected to the dead battery and plugged into shore power? If so there is a 120 volt circuit breaker that feeds the converter. Make sure it is not tripped.
A more simple and safe way to test the converter is to check the battery voltage with a a DC volt meter (digital is preferred) while the unit is not plugged into shore power. Then plug into shore power and again check the battery voltage. It should increase in voltage to around 13.3 - 13.8 volts DC. This is all while the battery is wired into the trailer. If it does not increase you have a converter/charging circuit problem. know what you find and we can help you out some more.

[CyberVet65]

And do not do what I did.
All 12vdc circuits stopped working while on the road. I swung into CW and dropped $400 on a new convertor/invertor unit. When talking to the tech at CW he asked if I had checked the fuses. I said I had. Then he hit it!
Did you remove the cover of the unit and check the two fuses inside the box?
That was it. All external fuses checked good but on one side of the output a fuse was blown.
I was 300 miles away from CW but i called them anyway and they accepted the return of the unit since I hadn't opened the box.
Just a note
Chet

[Britej]

I did take the cover off, but couldnt find any fuses inside the box... This is a weird deal, everythng works, other than the a/c, vent hood, and radio... but put a charger on that puppy, and everything turns on... I have a 6300 magnetek.. it says it has a battery charger in it... but I couldnt find any fuses other than the 12v fuse box... the converter hummms.. but doesnt charge.. I plan to tear it apart this weekend.. if I dont need a new one now, I probably will by Monday...