Question about Converter of Vintage RV Permanently Parked

[webby]

We have a vintage 5th wheel, a 1996 model, permanently parked in a seasonal RV park, with an added covered deck, etc. The park is open for the 6 months of summer, closed during the winter. During the summer season, it is 100% of the time connected to shore power. Power is off during the winter.

This is only the second season we have owned this. I just replaced the battery, as clearly the old battery was shot. I understand that converters make a buzzing sound, but this one seems excessively loud to my ears. The converter could have been replaced along the way, could be original, I just have no way of knowing.

Should I just go ahead and replace the converter to be on the safe side, since the buzz seems loud to me and the age of it is an unknown? Also, presumabley a newer converter's charging tech would be more sophisticated than an old coverter. Or would you all recommend testing the output of the converter first?

Our new house battery is a single 12V Interstate 24DC RV/Marine flooded battery. On the Costco website, the specs for this battery only show the Cold Cranking Amps, it does not show Amp hours, which seems ridiculous for a so-called RV/Marine battery. Does anyone have any idea what the amp hours would be for this battery? And if I replace the converter, any recommendations of what amp rating to buy, 3 stage or 4 stage, and / or other recommended parameters or specific models? I've been looking at converters on Amazon.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[SafariBen]

I would spend the money on LED bulbs, then a newer smaller converter, then get rid of the battery when it fails. I don't see the purpose of a battery when you're plugged in 6 months and off 6 months, that's a slow cycle in battery terms, not very practical.



Yes, a newer converter will be much more efficient and quieter. Possibly less of a fire risk, possibly not. Putting it inside sheet metal or drywall will help reduce the fire risk.

[TacomaJoe]

If you are permanently parked and on shore power, you really don't need a battery. The converter will handle all your 12V needs. That said, the Ah rating of the battery doesn't really matter but I would guess a GP24 would be around 70Ah with half that as the suggested useable number.

[webby]

Originally Posted by SafariBen

I would spend the money on LED bulbs, then a newer smaller converter, then get rid of the battery when it fails. I don't see the purpose of a battery when you're plugged in 6 months and off 6 months, that's a slow cycle in battery terms, not very practical.

Yes, a newer converter will be much more efficient and quieter. Possibly less of a fire risk, possibly not. Putting it inside sheet metal or drywall will help reduce the fire risk.

Thanks for your input. Already converted all lights to LED's. We do notice that there are power outages in the area occasionally. Having a house battery in those instances, does keep the lights working, as opposed to if I were to eliminate the battery, so we will keep a battery.

[webby]

Originally Posted by SafariBen

I would spend the money on LED bulbs, then a newer smaller converter, then get rid of the battery when it fails. I don't see the purpose of a battery when you're plugged in 6 months and off 6 months, that's a slow cycle in battery terms, not very practical.

Yes, a newer converter will be much more efficient and quieter. Possibly less of a fire risk, possibly not. Putting it inside sheet metal or drywall will help reduce the fire risk.

Thanks. When you recommended a smaller converter, about what amp size did you mean?

[Eman85]

Sounds like you bought a marine battery that also starts the boat, not a regular deep cycle battery which is what you wanted. That is why it has CCA rating.

[SafariBen]

https://marinehowto.com/
Yes, a marine battery is usually not a true deep cycle, but that's water under the bridge. There are true deep cycle 12v, or two 6v golf cart batteries is common.



Ideally, I'd measure the amp draw from the biggest components, water pump (if you use it) furnace and most lights added up. I bet you'd be fine in the 20-30A range.

[webby]

Originally Posted by Eman85

Sounds like you bought a marine battery that also starts the boat, not a regular deep cycle battery which is what you wanted. That is why it has CCA rating.

Thanks. I understand for sure it isn't a pure deep cycle battery, Nevertheless, it is in fact advertised and sold as a Marine / RV battery:
https://www.costco.com/interstate-24...100476410.html

During the years we were camping, I did have two 6V batteries on our RV, and I liked that setup a lot. However, since our currently permanently parked seasonal rig is always plugged into activated shore power, except for the occasional power outage, putting two 6V batteries on it would have been overkill and unnecessary.

[Persistent]

Please post the make and model number of the converter/charger or inverter/charger. Also post the make and model number of the battery.

Without that spec, it is hard to guess which of the above posts are the best.

Some old design converter had a tendency to overcharge batteries. AGM or sealed batteries are often particularly sensitive to overcharging. Flooded cells batteries can be fixed by adding distilled water.

A group 24 lead acid battery is usually in the range of 60 to 80 amp hours.

A 20 amp or larger charger should be enough to charge a 75 amp hour lead acid battery that is mostly full time connected to shore power.

A 30 amp converter/charger that provides 14.4 bulk/absorption to 13.6 float to 13.2 storage is a good choice for a unit on full time shore power. The 13.2 is easier on the battery when the unit is not occupied.

With a modern design converter, the battery should last for 10 years or more provided you store properly through the winter months.

[webby]

Originally Posted by Persistent

Please post the make and model number of the converter/charger or inverter/charger. Also post the make and model number of the battery.

Without that spec, it is hard to guess which of the above posts are the best.

Some old design converter had a tendency to overcharge batteries. AGM or sealed batteries are often particularly sensitive to overcharging. Flooded cells batteries can be fixed by adding distilled water.

A group 24 lead acid battery is usually in the range of 60 to 80 amp hours.

A 20 amp or larger charger should be enough to charge a 75 amp hour lead acid battery that is mostly full time connected to shore power.

A 30 amp converter/charger that provides 14.4 bulk/absorption to 13.6 float to 13.2 storage is a good choice for a unit on full time shore power. The 13.2 is easier on the battery when the unit is not occupied.

With a modern design converter, the battery should last for 10 years or more provided you store properly through the winter months.

Thank you. The make and model of our battery is at the link in my post right before your post.

There is no inverter on this rig, and re the make and model of the converter -- sorry, but we go back and forth throughout the summer months, and won't be back to our RV in our seasonal spot until May 21. I don't have the specs on the existing converter with me. However, it buzzes rather loudly, the previous owners didn't really maintain hardly anything, and therefore I assume that the converter is either quite old, or possibly even OEM.

For all those reasons, in an abundance of caution, I have decided to replace the converter and make new cables for it, so I plan to purchase a replacement converter soon to take with me on our next trip to our seasonal RV. If you have replacement converters that you would recommend for my application, that would be great. I've been shopping the converters on Amazon, but haven't chosen one as yet.

[Old-Biscuit]

That vintage of RV probably has a Magnetek/Parallax converter
Best to get rid of it.........read up about them here
https://www.bestconverter.com/Upgrad...llax_c_64.html

[webby]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

That vintage of RV probably has a Magnetek/Parallax converter
Best to get rid of it.........read up about them here
https://www.bestconverter.com/Upgrad...llax_c_64.html

Thank you. Good information to know. I'll check that when we return to the RV.

These are the only 12V draws our rig has:
-- All 12V lights I have converted to 12V LED's (One ceiling light, 3 pairs of wall sconces, and an exterior motion light, are all 120V LED light fixtures)
-- 12V draws of the Fan & electronics in propane furnace & propane water heater
-- Water supply is well water hook-up, so no water pump draw.
-- Refrigerator is a residential fridge.

Given the above facts re the minimal 12V draw on our rig, my question is, how many amps converter do I need. I would think that a 35 amp converter would be plenty, am I correct?

Thanks again for the input from everyone. Much appreciated!

[Soppy]

Originally Posted by webby

Thank you. Good information to know. I'll check that when we return to the RV.

These are the only 12V draws our rig has:
-- All 12V lights I have converted to 12V LED's (One ceiling light, 3 pairs of wall sconces, and an exterior motion light, are all 120V LED light fixtures)
-- 12V draws of the Fan & electronics in propane furnace & propane water heater
-- Water supply is well water hook-up, so no water pump draw.
-- Refrigerator is a residential fridge.

Given the above facts re the minimal 12V draw on our rig, my question is, how many amps converter do I need. I would think that a 35 amp converter would be plenty, am I correct?

Thanks again for the input from everyone. Much appreciated!

A 35 amp converter will work good for you. Just make sure the float voltage is not over 13.2 v for best battery life. When you store the rv allyou have to do is disconnect the battery. No need to bring it in or put a charger on it.

[Persistent]

Originally Posted by webby

Thank you. Good information to know. I'll check that when we return to the RV.

These are the only 12V draws our rig has:
-- All 12V lights I have converted to 12V LED's (One ceiling light, 3 pairs of wall sconces, and an exterior motion light, are all 120V LED light fixtures)
-- 12V draws of the Fan & electronics in propane furnace & propane water heater
-- Water supply is well water hook-up, so no water pump draw.
-- Refrigerator is a residential fridge.

Given the above facts re the minimal 12V draw on our rig, my question is, how many amps converter do I need. I would think that a 35 amp converter would be plenty, am I correct?

Thanks again for the input from everyone. Much appreciated!

The Interstate part number of the battery says it is 64 amp hours. It is a flooded cell battery.

This battery is too small to support a furnace fan for more than a few hours plus a residential refrigerator. It is sufficient to keep an old technology converter/charger working properly while connected to shore power.

Does the residential refrigerator run on 12 volts, or 120 volts?

Replace the converter/charger with a modern design of the same capacity. See GoPower or Progressive Dynamics models on etrailer.com
https://www.etrailer.com/s.aspx?qry=...12V-gw-35_Amps

Progressive Dynamics cost a little more, but are better quality and can also be used with lithium batteries. Lithium batteries can be really cheap these days although some seem to have jumped in price this last month.
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Power-Co...cs/PD69RR.html

Recommendations:
A modern converter/charger will probably work fine without a battery.

A 64 amp hour battery is too small to support a furnace fan and 12 volt residential refrigerator for 24 hours or more. 100 amp hours would be better. 64 amp hours is large enough to run a furnace fan for 24 hours.

WFCO converter/chargers have performance issues. Better not to have to deal with its problems.