2 electrical issues

[Torchic]

I have a 2007 fleetwood highlander niagara. A few months ago it was like the whole electrical system fell on its face. Well with some poking around and more exploring I've solved some issues but 2 still remain.

1st I kept getting reverse polarity on all outlets and would trip my gfi outlet for shore power. But I figured out that it only does this if I have the switch to my water heater turned on to heat with 120v, even if it isn't actually trying to heat water, simply having that switch on causes that problem. If I turn that switch off. All the rv outlets then say wired correctly and it doesn't trip my gfi shore power outlet. That's my first issue is why does turning on the water heater electric heating switch causing those issues.

2nd problem, while messing with all this and for as long as the issue ran, I strongly believe I messed up the battery charger because it wouldnt charge the battery and the battery aswell ended up being bad. I got ahold of the company that made said converter and got a replacement. Only difference was the new one had a ground wire while the old one didn't. This new converter did charge the bad battery, but only took it from like 11.7v to 12.1 volts. I got a new agm battery, tested at 12.7v straight from Costco, drained it a bit to 11.8v running the 12v fridge, but when I tried charging it. After only 4 or 5 hrs it went from 11.8v to 2.1v.....I dont understand how it slightly charged a bad battery and nearly completely drained a good agm battery. Only thing I can think of is switch from flooded to agm was a mistake. Anyone have an idea on that?

Any help is greatly appreciated. I'm trying to sell and these issues are just keeping people away.

[jimjenturner]

My guess is that the hot water tank element has failed. Turn off breaker to water heater ( check with volt meter before working that is no voltage at heater ). Use a piece of tape to mark wires going to element , now remove the 2 wires. Now with an ohm meter check between the element connection with 1 end of meter lead and the other lead to the case of tank or a good ground, it should be infinite resistance if you have resistance it means the element has failed with what's called ( Leakage to Ground ) which could cause GFI to trip.

[Persistent]

JimJen is correct. Electric water heater elements melt when run with no water covering them. Partial short to ground from melting is normal. Replace the element.

You appear to have avoided mentioning the make and model of the converter/charger. That is a mistake. Post the make and model of the converter/charger for better advice.

Most RV refrigerators use 12 volts for controls. Current draw is minimal.

Some RV refrigerators use 12 volts to provide cooling. Current draw is high when using 12 volts for cooling. Switch over to propane or 120 volt shore power to reduce load on converter. See if that solves your problem.

AGM batteries and Flooded cell batteries charge almost identically. It is highly unlikely switching to AGM made any difference.

[YC1]

Pictures of your battery setup and the charger will help.

You mentione 12 volt refer but is it really a true 12 volter? Not saying it can't be of course.

The charger and battery setup sounds suspect for sure.

As for tripping a shoreline GFCI it is a very common complaint and can be a bit tricky to sort out. But fix the charging issue first.

[Old-Biscuit]

IS this the same issue about your pop-up ?
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/batt...ml#post6062309

AS for water heater.......
Brand/Model of Water Heater??
Shorted element/wiring would cause a GFCI to trip due to 'leakage' of current onto the ground circuit
*element doesn't have to have FAILED just enough current to ground to cause imbalance between hot/neutral


Fridge......pop-up typically have small 4 cu ft fridge that runs on propane or AC
Some are 3 way...use DC element---they really put a load on Battery. Not to be used for cooling unless battery is being charged/maintained IE: traveling/tow vehicle alternator
(NOT when stationary w/o being hooked up)

[Torchic]

To answer ol biscuit. Yes same pop up. Just seemed like this thread focused more on water heater so I made the one for the battery buy itself. As for the water heater I have a new element on the way so hopefully I can get to that sooner than later. As for the battery I'll need to check those fuses still. Opening it up tomorrow. See if that works. Was able to hook it up today moving my trailers around and the tow vehicle does charge the battery still. Sorry if I'm not responding quickly. Alot going on trying to get this pop up figured out, new job, selling rental, getting roofers to fix the roof etc...