fridge killed battery

[dcorona]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

You are going to have to get competent professional help (not sure your current repair facility is in that category) or do it yourself.

IF you take it on yourself, you will need an ammeter that can read up to 30 amps or so.
0. Disconnect the battery from the trailer and charge it using a separate charger and then put it back in the trailer.
1. Unplug the trailer from the shore power and turn off the battery disconnect switch
2. Remove the positive cable from the battery.
3. Put the negative probe from the ammeter on the battery positive post
4. Set the ammeter on its highest scale
5. Put the positive probe from the ammeter on the positive battery cable
You will have to figure out a way to keep the probes connected using alligator clips or something. With this configuration, current going into the battery will read positive and current leaving the battery will read negative. Set the ammeter for negative current if it is not automatic.
6. Turn the battery disconnect switch on. If everything in the trailer is truly off, you should see no current indicated on the ammeter. If the ammeter is not automatic ranging, one step at a time, reduce the scale of the ammeter until you get to where it gives a reading or you get to the lowest scale. Record the reading.
7. If you have a reading that is not zero, find your propane detector and disconnect it. It is typically not run through the fuse panel, and maybe not even through the disconnect switch. The propane detector can draw up to 250 milliamps (1/4 Amp). At 250 milliamps, your battery will last somewhere in excess of 2 weeks without being charged.
8. If the current remains, go to the DC fuse panel and pull fuses one at a time until the reading changes. Any time it changes, something on that circuit is drawing current. When you find circuits that are drawing current, figure out what is on that circuit and check each device.
9. If you have pulled all the fuses and current is still indicated, there is some kind of a parasitic load connected at some point other than through the fuse panel. Look for additional inline fuses in your wiring and pull them one at a time.
10. When you are convinced that all the connected loads in the trailer are OK, turn your attention to the converter. Set the ammeter for positive current and plug in the shore power. You should see positive current indicating that the converter is charging the battery. If the battery is fully charged, this should be no more than 100 - 300 milliamps or so but may be more, depending on your converter. The Power Designs PD-9260 does not go into float for 32 hours, and so may be putting out an amp or more during that period.
11. Unplug from shore power. The current should return to whatever it was prior to plugging in. IF you are still seeing a significant amount of current drain (negative indication), the converter itself may be bad. Disconnect the negative cable from the converter and see if the current drops. If disconnecting the converter gets rid of your current drain the converter is bad or wired wrong.

This is easier to do than to explain. Once you understand the concept of current flow, that loads draw current and the converter should only source current, it should be possible to find the problem.

Good luck, whatever you try to do.

Al

Thanks Al,

i will be finding someone else as center I used let year cost a ton and yet there are still issues. I guess we will scrape through this trip and then get the issue resolved.

[dcorona]

Quick update everyone,

Recharged the battery, hooked it back up and still nothing. I looked at the closet, perplexed and touched the 50amp fuse between the battery and the converter and lo and behold the lights flicked on. Although the fuse was not blown it was corroded. I turned everything off pulled off the fuse rubbed some sand paper on it and the connectors, squeezed the connectors a little so the fit is tighter pt it all back together and there you go. Everything is working bright and shiny. Converter is charging the battery, and when we did check for a parasitic drain the only thing that was pulling was the propane sniffer.

I replaced the fuse with a brand new on elater today.

Knock on wood, this is truly the end of this saga.

[Al and Missy]

If the battery was charged and the fuse was between the battery and the converter, the lights should have come on from battery power. Hopefully the fuse is between the battery and everything else, including the fuse/distribution center. If not, you may still have a problem.

Assuming all is really OK, congratulations! As I have said before in similar situations myself, I'd rather be lucky than good, anytime.

Al

[dcorona]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

If the battery was charged and the fuse was between the battery and the converter, the lights should have come on from battery power. Hopefully the fuse is between the battery and everything else, including the fuse/distribution center. If not, you may still have a problem.

Assuming all is really OK, congratulations! As I have said before in similar situations myself, I'd rather be lucky than good, anytime.

Al

I am going to say, and this is an uneducated guess that the fuse is between the battery and everything else, converter and fuses.

[Aironius]

dcorona, the refrigerator requires the same amount of heat to operate, whether it comes from propane, a 110v heater or a 12v heater. But if it is running on 12v the converter will always be in charge mode due to the load. It never will drop to the maintain level and so it will cook the battery just like an old "non-smart" charger. If the refrigerator is set to 110v whenever it is available, the battery saving function of the charger can work. If the refrig does not cool well on 110v, fix that.