Community Forums

BROWNBAGGER · 04-05-2017, 09:09 AM

I was hoping for some help with charging issues with the house batteries.
Last year at the end of the season, I left my fleetwood jamboree plugged into shore power anticipating our last trip of the year. When I began to load up and head out, all my batteries were dead.(including motor bat.) all my batteries were brand new at the beginning of the '16 season. I began diagnosing the problem last fall, but ran out of time when the snow began to fly. now I'm ready to tackle it again, now that i have replaced my Dometic fridge last week; and by the way for those with a class c, I had to remove the entire door frame to remove and install the new fridge. I had a hard time finding that info on line. others suggested removing the front windshield.

OK, to much chit chat. with my volt meter, I registered 13.7 volts coming from my alternator with the engine running.(good there) with the engine off and plug to shore power, should I be reading the same type of return volts off of the batteries from the inverter? last year the volts were just slowly dropping off ,while plug into shore power. all my appliances work while plug into shore, so I'm stumped. thanks for your input.

Kiawah · 04-05-2017, 09:51 AM

First, to get your terminology correct, I believe you are talking about a converter (ie battery charger) which converts 120vac to 12vdc. An inverter is something different, it takes 12vdc and makes 120vac. There are devices which are both, but I believe you are talking about your converter now.

Check that it is turned on, and you should have over 13 volts when the converter is trying to charge the batteries. Based on what you said last year, you probably won't have 13 volts, so then check that you have 120vac on the input to the converter, check that no circuit breakers are tripped (on either the input or the output). You may have a fuse inline between the converter and your battery, like 50 amps or more.

BROWNBAGGER · 04-05-2017, 12:12 PM

sorry, you are right. (converter) I have checked every fuse and breaker that is (normally) accessible. breakers in front of the bed, fuses in the battery box. my next task then is to dig into the area under the bed that houses the converter. are there fuse's in there? Its a little more work to unscrew the box housing, so i figured they wouldn't put something like that in such area.
I appreciate the help. trying to save me the hourly charge from the dealership.

jelag · 04-06-2017, 09:44 AM

So all the converters I've owned over the years.... have a single or dual fuse located on the converter to protect the output... mine will provide up to 55 amps of output so mine has (2) 30 amp fuses... Mine also has a logic circuit that allows me to either allow it to go into automatic mode or lets me override it.... each (automatic or manual) has its features/benefits...

I'm guessing that the fuses on the unit have failed... on completely discharged batteries it might see such a low voltage and go to full output which might blow the fuses...

When's mine in the automatic mode it monitors the static voltage of the batteries and sets the output voltage to control charging and later moving to a lower charge rate as the batteries get topped off...

lanerd · 04-06-2017, 11:42 AM

I know you provided rv info in your post, but to better provide you with good answers and recommendations, it would be nice if you would put info in your signature as to what rv (year, make, model) you have. Also, it would be nice to know what brand/model converter you have.

Obviously, it does sound like your converter is not working. Be aware that many motor home's converters do not have a connection to the engine battery to keep it charged when in storage Also, be aware that some older model converters do not have the 3-stage type that provides a float charge...only a high voltage (usually around 14v) and left connected can boil out all the water and destroy the battery(s).

It does sound like a simple fuse problem and don't think that the mfg will put stuff in logical places. They build these things in stages and the following stage may go right over the top of the previous stage.

Good luck in finding your problem.

Ron

MrZip · 05-08-2017, 10:42 PM

Make sure the STORE/USE switch is in the USE position. If your plugged into shore power and the switch is in store the batteries will not charge. I know from experience, I accidently hit the switch and put it in STORE mode, I didn't realize anything was wrong until I saw the voltage slowly draining from my coach batteries.