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Old 07-20-2018, 06:21 AM   #1
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1973 25' Tradewind
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help, fridge problem!

OK, so I have a 1973 Tradewind with a newer (2007) Dometic fridge. last year the fridge got a new circut board. I had to put in a new battery this year, like 3 weeks ago. I have not had her out camping since last fall (ugh) and I am leaving for Maine in 4 weeks. I hooked up electric and checked the fridge, worked fine on a/c. Tuesday I checked the LP and got the fridge running on LP. it cooled down perfectly. Today the fridge is off and not cold, and I have almost a dead battery. To my knowledge nothing is on to drain. Any suggestions on were to start? I am not the best electrical guy. John
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Old 07-20-2018, 07:17 AM   #2
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Dead battery is the reason the refer is not working.
You need to determine why the battery is dead.
Are you plugged into shore power?
Is the converter working?
Do you have lights inside if the converter is on?
Is there a battery disconnect switch?
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Old 07-20-2018, 10:21 AM   #3
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ok

battery was new weeks ago, fully charged. I am not hooked up to shore power. I dont think it should die that quickly. Converter was new in 2016, installed by a dealer. The electric sockets work (just plugged in shore power to re-charge) no lights, yet, because of the dead battery? i'm guessing. there is not a disconnect switch. Thank you for helping TG.
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Old 07-20-2018, 10:35 AM   #4
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Hi

The control board in the fridge pulls about 1A when the fridge is running. If you have a stock battery setup, you have between 80 and 100AH of usable capacity *if* they are fully charged (= think in terms of 24 hours on shore power).

One amp plus the other parasitic loads likely will pull down your batteries in less than four days. Just the parasitic loads probably will flatten them in a couple weeks.

Best guess, your "new" batteries were pretty far down already (unless you have a disconnect switch). They didn't get fully charged (unless you were on shore power all those weeks). Turn on the fridge and the whole thing goes flat pretty quick.

Yes, there is another possibility. Out of reflex, punch the use / store switch to "use" as you leave the trailer. At least on my trailer .... not good for the fridge .... don't ask how I know ...

Since this is "never the same way twice" Airstream, all of the above is guesswork. Without more details, it will be tough to get to an exact answer.

Bob
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Old 07-20-2018, 11:19 AM   #5
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ub

OK, so a new battery-is NOT? fully charged when you get it? I got a group 27 RV marine battery (NAPA) so if I need to charge it on shore power to recharge then test it and start again? Thanks
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Old 07-20-2018, 11:35 AM   #6
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Sounds like a less than fully charged battery and parasitic loads can explain your problem. Make sure your use switch is on because once you are plugged into shore power you should have lights again irregardless of the battery charge.
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Old 07-20-2018, 12:04 PM   #7
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use switch

my Airstream is 1973 so I am unaware of a use/store switch. Unless it is on the new converter? my converter is like the ones in new Airtreams. but I dont have mole handy. will get it
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Old 07-20-2018, 12:10 PM   #8
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converter

it's a Parallax 8300 series model 8355. and after two hours on shore power no lights at all. The converter is one that a led light indicated fuses that are out and it does not indicate any out.
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Old 07-20-2018, 12:25 PM   #9
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From Tuesday till today were you plugged into shore power? If so then you have a bad battery or bad converter. Sounds like the converter is not working right or the lights would have come on with the converter.
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Old 07-20-2018, 01:04 PM   #10
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pluged in

no, just plugged in around 12:30 today
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Old 07-20-2018, 02:23 PM   #11
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One thing I'm not clear on... you said you got the fridge running on LP on Tuesday. Did you leave the fridge running on LP from Tuesday until this morning without any shore power or solar? It's been warm, so I'd expect the flame to be on most of the time, I think the draw when the flame is on is around 1.5A, Tuesday noon until today noon is 72 hours, you may have simply used all the available capacity of your battery. I'd only expect you to get about 60AH from a Group27 before the voltage is low enough that it shuts down... 10V or so.

Do you have a multimeter? That's a very useful tool for this sort of thing... you can determine definitively what the voltage across the battery terminals is, and whether or not the converter is putting out power and whether that's getting to the battery terminals.
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Old 07-20-2018, 02:44 PM   #12
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meter

yes fridge on no shore power tuesday till when it failed. bringing a meter tomorrow. also going to start checking fuses with flashlight and replacements
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Old 07-20-2018, 02:53 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moparjohn View Post
yes fridge on no shore power tuesday till when it failed. bringing a meter tomorrow. also going to start checking fuses with flashlight and replacements
Hi

Ok, how long before Tuesday was the trailer on shore power? It sounds very much like a normal "kill the battery" situation at this point. Since it's not charging, there is something going on past that.

If you have blown a fuse on the converter, that's not a really good sign. Normally they only blow if you hook things up backwards ( battery negative to the positive lead). In some cases they survive and run ok after both fuses are replaced. In other cases, it's time to replace the converter.

If the converter is > 20 years old, it's past it's use by date anyway. On a 40+ year old trailer, it could be an early unit. Obviously I have no idea when it was put in ....

Lots of fun !!

Bob
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