A bad converter would have a voltage below that. Power converter employs a fan to keep the component cool while the unit is in operation and you could hear it as well. In general, the converter fan is powered by a volt AC source.
If there is nothing wrong with the energy supply then the fan is probably malfunction. Replacing a converter fan is easy, the hard part is to locate a suitable replacement. The operation of the converter fan is regulated by a thermal sensor, take a look at if your fan seems to work normally.
In the usual case, the current would be able to pass the sensor and power up the fan when preset conditions are met. Once you decided that the sensor is at fault, replace it with one of equal rating. A couple of converters depend on a resistor to control the voltage to the volt DC system and the onboard batteries. If your battery could be fully charged, the resistor is probably the culprit here.
A functional resistor should have a voltage between 3V and 13V. Removing a resistor could be a bit tricky because it may be riveted to the converter box. That means you have to disassemble the box and remove the circuit board in order to deal with the rivet.
Obviously, you have to have a suitable resistor replacement on hand before you start drilling. If the values are the same, any volt DC resistor would work. In the worst scenario, you have to consider replacing the entire converter unit if you are unable to locate the faulty component.
There are different models to match different needs and requirements as well. And that is most of what you should know about how to tell if RV converter is bad , not too hard to absorb, right?
How are you reading volts everywhere else, multi-meter, am-watt, or digital monitor? Typically a coach of this size is 50 amp so if you connect to shoreline power you have 2 legs that provide volts to each side.
What size is your Honda generator? I would guess your genset is too small to provide power to a 50 amp coach? Most of the surge protectors such as the Surge Guard will show voltage on the display. This could be the pigtail version at the plug in, or a permanently mounted protector inside the electrical compartment? Hi, John. We would be happy to assist you; we just need some more information. I have been plugged into a 30 amp outlet at an RV park thats been around for 40 years.
About 2 years ago my electricity started turning off and on alot when it was raining or moist outside, mainly during the night while not much was turned on.
Occasionally during the next year they would suddenly pop back on usually during the middle of the night the stereo would come on at full blast volume.
I would turn the volume down to mute and then turn it off. A while later it would happen again…. This would happen several times during the night. The next day these items would stop working again. Every few months this repeats again.
A couple months ago my electricity kept turning itself off and on again but more often. Several times an hour and when on my lights are continuously flickering. Then 2 weeks ago the prongs on my plug melted in the outlet. The park replaced the oulet and I had a new plug end put on. Now my electricity turns off for hours at a time and then will turn itself back on for a brief moment, but then shuts off again.
I am a senior woman who lives alone on a limited budget. Does it sound like a converter issue, battery, electrical wiring or a bad outlet? Hi, Nora. Electric power turning on and off, issues when it rains, and prongs melting in the outlet are all serious issues that need to be addressed by a qualified technician. What typically happens at the older campgrounds is larger rigs come in needing more power and the campgrounds do not upgrade which causes these issues.
I am replacing the radio in my Rockwood TT. For some reason I am not getting a constant 12 VDC on the wire coming from the converter to the radio location. There is a red light at the location of the 15 amp fuse in the panel that glows when connected to the tester to read voltage. This is the same wire the previous radio was connected to before removal. What am I missing. Hi, Larry. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your radio issue.
If that light is on, volt power is not going through the fuse to the connecting wire and ultimately the radio? Take a test light and ground the alligator clip to a metal component on the distribution center and touch each metal point of the top of the fuse.
The light should come on both sides, if not, the fuse or wiring is bad. Hi, James. If this is your fourth converter replacement, you need to stop swapping parts and find the problem! My first question is what symptoms did you experience initially that caused the first converter replacement? The only thing the converter does is charge the batteries which is on the volt DC side so turning on the microwave or the electric heater should have nothing to do with it?
Lead acid batteries must be charged every month with a multistage charge that is a high voltage initial Bulk charge that boils the acid and breaks up sulfation, then an equalizing and float charge. To check your converter, use a multimeter and place the probes on the positive and negative post of the battery. Plug the unit in or start the generator and see if it goes from My suggestion, get a Battery Minder from Northern Tool instead of the archeic converter and just shut off the existing one and use the Battery Minder which will condition your batteries and last much longer.
It appears that my converter does not always engage when plugged into shore power. If I turn the appliance off, the DC drops out.
The converter eventually engages although it takes numerous attempts with disconnecting and reconnecting the battery and turning appliances on and off. Any further ideas?
We have a Frigidaire Galley refrigerator in our rv. It stopped working again today. Is there anything we could check ourselves??? This is a good one. I have a Attitude Eclipe fk toyhauler. My problem started about a year ago when the factory radio would not shut off but no sound would come out. We replaced it with a new Pioneer unit and wired it up exactly like the original.
My wife is a Micro mini soldering tech so we used the original plugs and wired all the wires in exactly like the old one they were the same. I started seeing an issue with the radio about a year ago couple years after we bought the trailer. The original radio would not turn off but would also do nothing else. We purchased a Pioneer unit and wired it in both according to the old wiring diagram and the Pioneer one they were the same.
Seems to me something is putting vac on the yellow wire but not blowing the fuse has me stumped. And, why only on shore power and not on straight dc? We have a 33ft. We use it about 5 months during the summer and winterize it for the winter, disconnecting the battery and storing it at home in a warm, dry basement.
This season, I have noticed that the DC lights are dimmer than they ever have been. Any idea what the problem might be? Do we need a new battery? Thanks for your help.
Hi Dianne. Thus the dimmer lights. I would recommend getting a Battery Minder from Northern Tool which will connect to the batteries and send high impact waves into the battery and not only charge, but condition them and they will last longer and hold a charge longer.
You should also use this at the camper while connected for the summer as your typical converter will not have the multistage charge and your batteries will sulfate. I would suggest getting the Battery Minder and try it for a few months to see if your battery comes back to a better operating capacity, if not, you will need a new battery.
Another item I would install is LED lights as they will draw 10 times less battery power and your battery will again last longer!
Not sure why your lights get brighter when you use the blow dryer since it uses volts from a completely separate source, unless you are not plugged in to shoreline and when you do to use the blow dryer the lights get brighter which means the converter has kicked on and charging the batteries…brighter lights.
I accidentally ran the microwave in my fleetwood pace arrow, while my air conditioner was on. It was on generator power. Now neither the microwave nor the air conditioner will turn on. Also, none of the plugs will work. Not even to charge a phone.
Weve checked all the fuses and circuit breaker, everything seems fine except for one fuse. It was a 15 and said it was fir the aux starter. We put a new fuse in it and the fuse tester is not lighting up green. Im not sure what to do. I dont know how to fibd the converter or anything like that. We are just running the generator and battert.
Hi Shae. A couple of things could have happened, first the generator probably has 2 lines coming off the generator, one going to the distribution center, the other to a back air conditioner if so equipped? There should be 2 circuit breakers on the generator itself for these two lines, check those first. Next, you will have a main circuit breaker on the distribution center that shuts off all volt power inside the coach and then individual circuit breakers for volt appliances and outlets. I would also recommend using a multi-meter to verify power coming off them.
Then, check in the kitchen or bathroom for the GFCI outlet. I would suspect the GFCI outlet has tripped and they are all dead? Hit the test button and the reset button to see if you get power. If not, then you have something wrong with the distribution center. We have been trying to get it in shape to travel but… the latest trick is for nothing to work electrically. When hooked to residential power all that is available is the lighting.
All 3 batteries are new and installed correctly. The power converter appears dead. At one point the refrigerator turned on but only briefly.
The water pump worked yesterday but not today. I think I need a new power converter but the unit by Progressive is no longer produced. Any tips, anything else I should try before I try to change out the unit? Hello John, You have several things that could be going on here both volt and volt electrical. When you are connected to a residential source which you indicated, you are probably downsizing to a 10 amp or 15 amp residential plug in which will provide limited volt power and you will run the risk of tripping the residential breaker.
There are several videos on this procedure, however the easiest is to use a non-contact voltage tester after the circuit breaker. The three batteries you referred to are probably 2 6-volt batteries connected in series that are deep cycle and are the house batteries and the third is an automotive battery designed for starting the engine.
You may also have a battery disconnect that is off which is usually located in the entrance step area? I would suggest spending some time going through the tutorials on the site regarding operation of the batteries and appliances, then visit the troubleshooting volt batteries.
Do you have DC power to any other interior appliance? When you are plugged into shoreline power, the volt power goes to the distribution center and then to a converter which provides volt DC power to the components through automotive type fuses. Have you checked the fuses? I would first verify volt DC power at the battery, then to the distribution center and each fuse. You may have a battery disconnect switch that is over ridden when plugged into shoreline?
To provide more specific troubleshooting information on your inverter fan cycling, we need the make, model, and year of your inverter. Hello I have a vagabon 32 foot travel camper. Everything was running fine we are hooked up to a generator we also have a battery on board to use when the generator is off we took off the battery the other day to bring it into the house to charge.
Assuming there would be no problem with that 5 hours later when we were turned the heater was not working but the outlets were. After troubleshooting we found that plugging the battery back in worked. But then the battery died and the heater stopped again. How do I specifically test the converter itself? Did I burn up the converter having it run so many 12 volts options without a battery? I doubt you burned up the converter, rather the battery is required to create a circuit for the volt system?
When you are plugged into a volt shoreline connection the converter will sense when the battery goes below When you remove the battery and nothing works, it indicates the converter is only connected to the battery and now you have an open circuit? Some models are wired so the converter can still provide volts to the system without the battery, however it does not appear this is the case with yours?
You should be able to use a multimeter on the battery and plug the system in and see it raise from current charge to a higher voltage coming from the converter.
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Just bought a Winnebago destination….. To provide more specific troubleshooting information on your inverter issue, we need the make and model of the inverter. I would start by using a multimeter and check the condition of the batteries. They need to be Then you should be able to measure voltage coming out which evidently is 0? With the brand and model number we should be able to research if it has a reset sequence as well.
I have a Thor Freedom Elite, when connected to shoreline power there is no problems and the inverter says about When off shore power the inverter just shows 3 red lines and the red light is on for fault. The battery used to charge when the car is running but now its just blank as well.
To provide more specific troubleshooting information on your inverter issue we need the make, and model of the inverter. It sounds as though you have an issue on the inverter side or even the batteries?
When you are connected to shoreline, the converter or charger is running and showing you the Does your inverter have a reset switch that might have gotten tripped? If you have checked these out, I would get your batteries checked first and then the inverter as this should all be under warranty? When we brought the trailer home, it was connected to 30 AMP service at the house that I had installed for a welder prior to the trailer purchase.
I know that it provides the rated amperage. The problem has also occurred when connected to the post at campgrounds. We have had the trailer plugged in for extensive periods, weeks at the house, but only hours at the campgrounds, when the problem has arisen. Switching various lights or the refrigerator off would silence the alarm, but when turned back on, the alarm would sound again.
I unplugged and reconnected the cord from the post numerous times without success. After leaving the power unplugged for several hours, I was able to plug it back in and everything worked normally for two more days until we departed the campground or weeks at the house. Our surge protector, Surge Guard , normally shows three green LEDs during these episodes, although once, it did indicate reverse polarity when first reconnected to the house service.
I have not found anything unusual at the control panel, but I do suspect that the converter has been replaced, and by someone who may not have known what they were doing. How much amperage your system can handle depends on the length and size of the electrical wiring. Pushing too many amps through underrated or smaller wire makes the wiring hot. So, the resistance to flow causes restriction that builds up heat as the current flows through the wiring.
Fires can occur when too much amperage overheats the wiring and melts the casing. The watts are how much power your electricity has. Here is a bit of an equation. If you have 30 amps of main service in your RV and volts running into it, you will multiply those two numbers to get the number of watts.
So, times 30 equals watts. Now what? Say you had your RV plugged in at home with several electrical appliances turned on. Once you unplugged your RV for traveling and then arrived at your destination, you plugged it back in. That means that 5, watts flood the circuitry and because you only had 3, watts of power to use, the breaker tripped.
Whether you rent or own your RV at least make a quick inspection of it before you start your road trip. Here is an example of a minor problem that you can fix yourself. Most people can check the water in the battery or figure out that there are too many appliances left on. Thus, the problem is easily solvable.
Now, if your refrigerator stopped working, then you may have a significant problem. Should you inspect the propane management circuitry and wiring on the back side of your refrigerator? Probably not. As someone with little electrical wiring knowledge, you should not attempt repairs like this yourself. Instances such as these are the times to contact an electrician.
A qualified technician knows what to look for and how to solve any electrical problems as efficiently as possible. Before you start messing around with the electrical system or opening the panels in your RV, heed these warnings. Here is some general information on the electrical system in your RV to help you troubleshoot some common electrical problems. First, your RV contains many electrical devices that are built-in.
There are complicated protection circuitry and electrical controls designed with the safety of its inhabitants in mind.
DC power runs from the batteries on the RV. The converter charges up the power in the batteries when it gets low. This converter is sometimes referred to as the inverter. It provides either a 20, 30, or amp supply. The control panel for AC power disperses its electricity to all of the outlets and appliances that run on AC. Campgrounds supply two different wires for AC current.
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