Converter and Battery Question/Help

T@Buhura · July 2015

Hello from Tok, Alaska!

Does the converter not provide enough current to run 12v appliances and charge the battery when connected to shore? We have the 25Amp model.

We've been on our big ALCAN adventure and stopped at a Park with electrical last night (after 3 weeks of dry camping across provincial, state and national parks). I plugged into 30Amps and everything was working great. We'd been using propane for the fridge all of this time so I switched it to 120v (I thought) and we had the roof fan running. After a few hours I tried turning on the outside light and it wouldn't come on. Then the inside lights and nothing. I checked fuses and they're good. 120v flowing through - had a few things charging on pure 120v.

I checked the battery and it read 5.7v. I started panicking and switching stuff when I realized I may have actually had the fridge on 12v instead. Does the converter not provide enough current to 12v devices and enough to sustain the battery or is there something awry with our new converter?

When pulling fuses I noticed a light spark on the 30A fuse on the panel. We have the 25A converter. It reads "reverse battery". What is that for and after checking it again a few seconds later the spark was a little stronger and the fan on the converter would spin up a little longer 1-2seconds.

Overnight with the fridge on 120v (truly) it's cold again (just hope the food survived) and the battery is up to 11.4v.

I don't think it'll make the rest of the trip and it was new for the trip (as is the converter). Is there anyway to shore up the battery or is it truly done for? It is a marine flooded cell deep cycle group 24 by Interstate.

jkjenn · July 2015

T@Buhura said:

Hello from Tok, Alaska!

Does the converter not provide enough current to run 12v appliances and charge the battery when connected to shore? We have the 25Amp model.

We've been on our big ALCAN adventure and stopped at a Park with electrical last night (after 3 weeks of dry camping across provincial, state and national parks). I plugged into 30Amps and everything was working great. We'd been using propane for the fridge all of this time so I switched it to 120v (I thought) and we had the roof fan running. After a few hours I tried turning on the outside light and it wouldn't come on. Then the inside lights and nothing. I checked fuses and they're good. 120v flowing through - had a few things charging on pure 120v.

I checked the battery and it read 5.7v. I started panicking and switching stuff when I realized I may have actually had the fridge on 12v instead. Does the converter not provide enough current to 12v devices and enough to sustain the battery or is there something awry with our new converter?

When pulling fuses I noticed a light spark on the 30A fuse on the panel. We have the 25A converter. It reads "reverse battery". What is that for and after checking it again a few seconds later the spark was a little stronger and the fan on the converter would spin up a little longer 1-2seconds.

Overnight with the fridge on 120v (truly) it's cold again (just hope the food survived) and the battery is up to 11.4v.

I don't think it'll make the rest of the trip and it was new for the trip (as is the converter). Is there anyway to shore up the battery or is it truly done for? It is a marine flooded cell deep cycle group 24 by Interstate.

It sounds to me like it is more of a battery health issue. You really don't want your battery below 12.2-12.6. It sounds like you might have run it down too far. Lead acid batteries don't do well if they have not been properly maintained. Perhaps your 3 weeks of dry camping killed your battery from phantom power draws (LP and smoke detectors, etc..)

T@Buhura · July 2015

For the 3 weeks we've been on solar and we've kept the battery above 12V with the great sun we've had without issue. We've only had about 3 days of rain - 2 completely gray with gail force winds (Portage). And while driving our TV puts out up to 6-7amps so on long days of driving we'd usually be about 12.8v.

T@Buhura · July 2015

Oh something else that may be important - I just disconnected the battery and the water pump stopped working.

Isn't the converter to provide 12v even without the battery? Is this an indication of a problem with the converter not keeping up with 12v that the battery was totally drained while on shore?

jkjenn · July 2015

T@Buhura said:

Oh something else that may be important - I just disconnected the battery and the water pump stopped working.

Isn't the converter to provide 12v even without the battery? Is this an indication of a problem with the converter not keeping up with 12v that the battery was totally drained while on shore?

Yeah, that doesn't sound right. Maybe I misunderstand the wiring, but I thought the 12v items drew from shore power if plugged in. I do know, that the more resources you use, in the T@b, the longer it takes to charge, but, even so, something sounds off in your situation. It might be time to call your dealer or the factory.

gilbutler · July 2015

I read something in the manual, but I don't have it available for a while. It mentioned something about situations requiring a power center reset. I do know I had a situation while traveling that allowed me to operate on shore power, but not charge the battery. The battery had a very low charge, but not completely depleated. When I returned home, I left shore power off and pulled the battery fuse. That was the first time everything was completely disconnected from the power center. When I hooked back up, everything returned to normal. I haven't had that type problem again since. That might be worth a try. Good luck.

Gil

T@Buhura · July 2015

gilbutler said:

I read something in the manual, but I don't have it available for a while. It mentioned something about situations requiring a power center reset. I do know I had a situation while traveling that allowed me to operate on shore power, but not charge the battery. The battery had a very low charge, but not completely depleated. When I returned home, I left shore power off and pulled the battery fuse. That was the first time everything was completely disconnected from the power center. When I hooked back up, everything returned to normal. I haven't had that type problem again since. That might be worth a try. Good luck.

Gil

I think that maybe the situation I had actually. It seemed to turn around after I pulled the 30A fuse on the converter and reset it. I noticed that once before too. So that isn't a converter fault it's "normal"?

Thankfully we are in Tok (although we would probably not had this problem if we were dry camping in Tetlin Refuge or somewhere else on the road) and there is a NAPA down the road. They tested the battery and it was toast. It was putting out 143CCA and 11.41V after everything was well and it charged back up overnight. I bought a new one from them and paid the AK premium and no AAA discount :( in Tok because of the high freight charges they pay.

gilbutler · July 2015

T@Buhura said:

gilbutler said:

I read something in the manual, but I don't have it available for a while. It mentioned something about situations requiring a power center reset. I do know I had a situation while traveling that allowed me to operate on shore power, but not charge the battery. The battery had a very low charge, but not completely depleated. When I returned home, I left shore power off and pulled the battery fuse. That was the first time everything was completely disconnected from the power center. When I hooked back up, everything returned to normal. I haven't had that type problem again since. That might be worth a try. Good luck.

Gil

I think that maybe the situation I had actually. It seemed to turn around after I pulled the 30A fuse on the converter and reset it. I noticed that once before too. So that isn't a converter fault it's "normal"?

Thankfully we are in Tok (although we would probably not had this problem if we were dry camping in Tetlin Refuge or somewhere else on the road) and there is a NAPA down the road. They tested the battery and it was toast. It was putting out 143CCA and 11.41V after everything was well and it charged back up overnight. I bought a new one from them and paid the AK premium and no AAA discount :( in Tok because of the high freight charges they pay.

I don't know if it's normal. I did see something in the WFCO manual, but I've on;y had that single problem and I've see no posts about this other than yours and mine.

mickietucs · August 2015

Been reading up on this subject --- is the WFCO converter a 25 amp converter (in all T@Bs)? One post said "the lower the amperage on the converter, the longer it takes to charge the battery" Perhaps dry camping for 3 weeks depleted the battery and once you plugged into shore power it would have taken quite a while to get the battery back up to a good range. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm new to this as well). Another question - does anyone know if the converter is hardwired or does it have an a/c plug? Progressive makes a 60 amp Smart Converter --- has anyone thought of replacing the existing converter with it?

The Charge Wizard constantly monitors battery voltage and battery usage then selects one of the following four operating modes to properly charge and maintain the battery.
BOOST Mode 14.4 Volts - Rapidly brings the RV battery up to 90% of full charge.
NORMAL Mode 13.6 Volts - Safely completes the charge.
STORAGE Mode 13.2 Volts - Maintains charge with minimal gassing or water loss.
EQUALIZATION Mode 14.4 Volts - Every 21 hours for a period of 15 minutes prevents battery stratification & sulfation - the leading cause of battery failure.

Verna · August 2015

Michelle, if your battery wasn't charging to a full charge overnight, it probably was "toast".

And, my converter is hardwired. If you have one of the newer T@B's, I can speak with certainty that the converter is hardwired. Look under the cushion under the driver's side window. The converter is located under that seat, but you probably already knew that.

Bgkirk · August 2015

Mickietucs,

I did change the WFCO converter out with the Progressive Dynamics PD4060. I needed the extra circuits provided by this converter for another project and the higher amperage is a plus for charging two batteries. This converter fits exactly in the same cutout from the WFCO in our 2015 CSS. These are hardwired into all of the connection, so some wiring is required.

mickietucs · August 2015

Verna - I was just trying to shed some light for T@Buhura (I don't have my trailer yet) and at the same time reading up so when I do if an issue crops up I can deal with it (maybe)!

Bgkirk - thank you for the other converter's model and also that it fits in the cutout. Since it requires wiring I'd probably get someone to do it if I decide to make the switch.

Verna · August 2015

Michelle, I thought you already had picked yours up....sorry. You'll see what I pointed out when you get yours.

T@Buhura · August 2015

Hi Michelle, We have the 25Amp converter - 4 fuse panel with 30Amp "reverse battery" fuse. Gil had mentioned "resetting" the WFCO converter which I had done by pulling the 30Amp fuse and reseating it which seemed to all of a sudden start charging the battery back up. Unfortunately, it was toast having dropped to 5.7v or there about before I noticed (interior lights (LED) wouldn't turn on, and everything was eerily quiet despite being plugged into shore). The disappointing bit is after 3 weeks of solid performance on solar maintaining the battery between 11.8v and 12.9v the one night we plug in and it gets toasted.

The solar setup we have is 60W Bosch panels plugged in with battery charge controller direct to the battery's posts so it doesn't go through the converter and it simply augments if in use during the day. Being up north we had the benefit of 21 hrs of light or more and even if we were only on solar "over night" into late morning it was plenty to keep the battery happy at >12.4v. While at Denali the panels were out 24hrs x 5 days and the system stayed close to 13v even during a rain day.

Now that we're winding down from the trip I'm noticing that the converter is not putting out 12v with the battery disconnected. The I've tried resetting it again and nothing. This seems to be the similar situation I had when we first bought the T@B and had to have the original converter replaced (3 months ago). The converters seem to be quite rudimentary - are they not reliable/durable? I plan on taking it back to the dealer that had replaced it. Do these have warranty if they are faulty?

mickietucs · August 2015

T@Buhura - wonder why the converters are going bad (this will be your second - right)? I would think there'd be a warranty - do let us know what happens!

Nomad · August 2015

T@Buhura - sure haven't seen converter problems mentioned much here on the forum so it doesn't seem to be a recurring issue - as Michele mentioned, should be covered by warranty I'd think.

T@Buhura · August 2015

PXLated said:

T@Buhura - sure haven't seen converter problems mentioned much here on the forum so it doesn't seem to be a recurring issue - as Michele mentioned, should be covered by warranty I'd think.

Thanks PXLated, I checked and the new converter does come with a 2yr warranty. In the manual it gives instructions for testing it which I'll try tonight and if seems faulty I'll take it back to the dealer. It does seem to be off as it seems like it should put out 13.6v without the need for a battery. The manual implies it as it documents disconnecting the battery to test for 13.6v.

T@Buhura · August 2015

mickietucs said:

T@Buhura - wonder why the converters are going bad (this will be your second - right)? I would think there'd be a warranty - do let us know what happens!

After I tried testing it using the procedure documented in the manual and not getting a reading on my multimeter I pulled the T@B to the dealer. They thought it might be simple and put a tech on it right away to test the obvious but also confirmed that it is a bad converter. They'll be replacing it under warranty! Bummer that it killed our battery while we thought it was being maintained the one night we plug in on our month long camping trip.

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