Radio cuts off when all the lights are on

[JConsroe]

I just purchased a 2005 28' CCD.

The previous owner showed me that when ALL the lights are turned on, the radio cuts off. If you only turn a few lights on then the radio is fine. as you turn more on, the radio cuts off and back on until you turn them all on and then it turns off completely.

Is this an indication of a problem with the inverter? this is happening when plugged in to shore power. The only other thing I can come up with is that the batteries are original and maybe there is too much draw on the inverter since there is no additional power available from the batteries?

Just wondering if anyone else has ever had this problem?

Thanks

[kscherzi]

The radio and lights run on 12 volts so not an inverter issue. An inverter takes 12 volts and up volts the current to 120, like in a house. My guess, since this is happening when plugged into shore power is the "converter" is starting to fail. The converter takes 120 shore power volts and downvolts to it to 12, what the radio and lights need.

[DKB_SATX]

First off, you may or may not have an inverter but the thing that charges the batteries is the converter-charger.

The first things I'd check are the output of the converter-charger and the condition of the batteries (a simple voltage test comparing the voltage when plugged in and the voltage with the trailer unplugged to start, and a check of the "float" voltage of each of the batteries with the cables disconnected.) One or both of your batteries could be bad and soaking up part of the converter's capacity, or the converter may be giving up. Use a decent multimeter for this.

If the batteries are indeed 9 years old, it's likely that it's time to replace them in any case. I'm assuming that all the lights are still the original incandescents, and in a long trailer with lots of lights there can be a pretty big lighting load, but the batteries and converter SHOULD be sized to supply the trailer's systems.

[JConsroe]

Good stuff thanks guys. I don't have the camper back home yet, its traveling from Florida up to NC to get the floor repaired, then to VA. Then I will start to troubleshoot. I just assumed it had an inverter but I guess your right it might just be a 12V charger. Mostly wanted to see if this was a common problem I hadn't read about yet or an isolated issue.

[Skater]

Low voltage would be my guess. I had the same issue when the converter in my B190 was going out - if you turned on something with a high drain, the radio would shut off. (The battery was also shot.)