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04-09-2012, 10:28 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
National RV Owners Club
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 259
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How do I know if my converter is broken?
I have been having problems keeping my battery charged. Went camping 3 weeks ago and everything was fine. Went out to MH later that week and lights were barely working. Took batteries out and charged them. Still not working well. Took them to auto parts store and they were not any good. Bought new battery last week. Went out to MH on friday plugged into shore power turned on lights, air, radio no problem. Went out today and lights were barely working again. Could it be my converter? It is only 1 1/2 years old so I hope thats not the problem. Oh I checked the fuses in the converter and they were fine. Can someone please help me.
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2005 Holiday Rambler
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04-09-2012, 10:47 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Pacific Northwest or SoCal
Posts: 3,035
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What brand and type of battery did you install?
Were the house batteries disconnected when not in use?
fred
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Fred and Bonnie
2005 Dolphin LX 6375
Abby, Ruffles & Scarlett, "The Cats"
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04-09-2012, 11:13 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Gulf Streamers Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Golden Village Palms, CA
Posts: 1,988
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Hello kerrbe,
The best way to check your converter is with a volt meter. The batteries should be disconnected, then read the voltage at the positive and negative battery cables (going into the coach). Depending on what model you have, you should be able to tell if it's okay or not. If you post back your readings and the converter model, we should be able to help you.
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John
'98 Gulf Stream Sunsport 325, 7.5L Banks Power Pack, Koni FSD's, Air Bags, ReadyBrute Elite,
2000 Honda Accord
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04-09-2012, 11:38 PM
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#4
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Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 33
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kerrbe, if you have a drop cord to plug to a 110 volts at home you can tell when you connect power if your charger is working. if it is your batterys will charge. if your light go dim while plug in then your charge is not charging.....
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04-10-2012, 08:07 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
National RV Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Spokane Valley, Wa
Posts: 1,987
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Kerrbe: I wonder if you have the control for the charger turned on at your main
control station. I do not know if yours is the same as mine but you can turn the
charger, inverter on and off it also tells you the state of the batteries and what the
charger is doing.
__________________
Art
1999 Trade Winds 7371 Cat 3126B w/current upgrades
1990 D 250 Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo
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04-10-2012, 04:10 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
National RV Owners Club
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 259
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So today I went out to close the slide and move the RV back so I could get to the door the converter is in, and my starting battery is dead. Took it out, checked it and my meter says 12.14. Put it on the charger. Checked the new (energizer marine 27DC) house battery and it is 10.0. My converter is a inteli power 9200 with the remote pendant charge wizard. I am trying to get this figured out before the DH gets home from work today, and so we can go camping this weekend.
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2005 Holiday Rambler
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04-10-2012, 04:27 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Gulf Streamers Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Golden Village Palms, CA
Posts: 1,988
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Check the all the fuses on your converter, you should be able to remove them and inspect to see if they are blown.
also check for 120 volts getting to the converter, there may be circuit breaker and/or a plug in connection
__________________
John
'98 Gulf Stream Sunsport 325, 7.5L Banks Power Pack, Koni FSD's, Air Bags, ReadyBrute Elite,
2000 Honda Accord
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04-11-2012, 09:20 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
Posts: 183
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Below is the trouble shooting guide copied from their website. If you follow these instructions to the letter you should locate the problem. Take notes at each step and report your findings in the event you can not correct your problem. The information you collect will help us to help you in the event you can not correct the problem.
Good luck, ~ Bill
TROUBLE SHOOTING GUIDE
PROBLEM POSSIBLE CAUSES ACTION
1. No Output 120 VAC supply not connected Connect power supply
Check AC distribution panel for proper operation
External Fuses Blown Check for Reverse Polarity
Replace Fuses with same type and rating
Short Circuit Trace RV Circuits for possible fault
Unit has shutdown due to overheating Check air flow
Allow unit to cool
Check input voltage
Converter will shut down if the input voltage exceeds 132 Volts
Unit has shutdown due to over voltage
(Also see Item 5 below)
Correct Input Voltage
2. External Fuses Blown Reverse Battery Hook Up Correct Hook up and replace Fuses with same type and rating
3. Converter cycles on & off Compartment gets too hot Check air flow to the converter
Improve Ventilation to the compartment
4. Low Output Excessive Load for Converter Reduce load requirements or Install Larger Converter
Input Voltage not between 105-130 VAC Correct input supply voltage
Bad Battery Cell(s) Replace Battery
5. Intermittent or no Output on
Generator, works on Shore
Power
Unit has shutdown due to over voltage. Add another load to the generator, this may reduce the “spikes”
to an acceptable level
Some generators exhibit excessive voltage
spikes on the AC power output, this may cause
the over voltage protection to shut the unit
down
Contact generator manufacturer for possible defect in the
generator
Do not replace the converter unless the following checks have been performed:
1. Loosen the screw on the positive terminal and disconnect the positive wire. Read the converter output voltage using a
DC voltmeter. If the voltage is above 13 volts, the converter is working properly.
2. If the converter output is zero volts, use an AC voltmeter to check for proper voltage at the 120 VAC outlet that the
converter is plugged into. This voltage should be between 105 and 130 volts.
3. Check the fuses located at the front of the converter. These fuses will only blow if the battery or DC output leads were
connected in reverse, even for a moment. Replace the fuses and repeat step 1.
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04-11-2012, 09:25 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
Posts: 183
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I think the last 3 steps of my above post should tried first . They seem to make the most sense.
1. Loosen the screw on the positive terminal and disconnect the positive wire. Read the converter output voltage using a
DC voltmeter. If the voltage is above 13 volts, the converter is working properly.
2. If the converter output is zero volts, use an AC voltmeter to check for proper voltage at the 120 VAC outlet that the
converter is plugged into. This voltage should be between 105 and 130 volts.
3. Check the fuses located at the front of the converter. These fuses will only blow if the battery or DC output leads were
connected in reverse, even for a moment. Replace the fuses and repeat step 1.
~ Bill
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04-11-2012, 09:49 AM
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#10
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 67
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354 MBS Coachman
It sounds to me like you have one big pull on your voltage does your fridge work on twelve volts?Turn every thing off you can in the camper ,then un-hook your negative post on your battery put a test light between the two terminals and see how bright the light lights if its real bright you have a power drain .at that point try turning off your sales mans swith to shut the batterys off to the house does the light stay lit??? when you get the light to go out you wil have found your problem.
My battery charger has not been hooked up(i did not know till I checked my house voltage on my two six volts and they were down to 11.9 volts ) and I guess the alternator has been keeping them up so Its not normal for NEW batterys to go dead that quick.Hope this helps A little.
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04-12-2012, 08:54 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
National RV Owners Club
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 259
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Ok I have check everything, converter is good, I charged the battery and the next morning it has dropped again. Everything worked fine 1 month ago. The only thing that has changed is I put in an LP detector right after we got home from that last trip. Now I cant believe that this is the problem, but I am about ready to give up. Tomorrow I am going to go out and pull the fuse on the LP detector and see if that helps.
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2005 Holiday Rambler
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04-12-2012, 08:57 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
National RV Owners Club
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 259
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Oh and I have a question. We are going camping this weekend and right now I only have 1 battery in the RV. I am taking the charger and an extra battery with me. The problem is one has 675 cranking amps and the other one has 625. Would it be bad to hook them both up since they are different cranking amps?
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2005 Holiday Rambler
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04-12-2012, 09:15 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Bluff Dale, TX
Posts: 624
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One is the house battery and one is the engine battery. They should both be installed.
It takes several hours to charge the batteries with your converter if they are down. It sounds like you are not leaving the coach plugged in to charge long enough. The battery disconnect switch should be closed.
Check to make sure the TV antenna booster is off and the heating strip around the refer doors, open the refer door, switch is on the right.
Your coach originally had two 6v batteries for house. With only one 12v you should not leave the RV unplugged at home.
__________________
Most RV batteries live a long and useful life, some are murdered.
2000 National Sea Breeze F53
1998 CRV Toad
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04-12-2012, 09:28 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
National RV Owners Club
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 259
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It is actually always plugged in, we have been working on it and are in and out of it several times a day. Over the winter we didnt check the batteries and I think we ruined one of them. We used to have 2 12volt batteries but one was dead and wouldn't hold a charge so we replaced it and didnt pay attention to the cranking amps. That is why I still have one with only 625 CA.
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2005 Holiday Rambler
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