Converter/Charger

[dbaur]

Traveling and have been on 50amp shore power most of the trip. Arrived in Georgetown, TX and, after hooking up to 50amp, noticed the battery monitor was showing 75% and overnight went to 65% all the while on steady 50amp service. Had our Converter/Charger replaced at Jackson Center shortly after we purchased our 2016 Classic. They also replaced both factory installed batteries because they had dropped so low that they were damaged. It is Sunday here, raining so no help from solar. How can I keep from further draining and damaging our batteries until I can reach a dealer? The shore power is obviously not charging them. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you, Dave

[FL Crackers]

You could find a /Walmart/auto supply store and buy a simple battery charger. Most 50 Amp posts will likely have a 110 V outlet for an extension cord.

[Bill M.]

You are either going to have to get the converter back to running or hook up a battery charger. I am a little leary of the the higher power generic automotive chargers because Uncle Bob posted that they sometimes go to 17 volts. I do not know if that will hurt the system or not. But with your monitor you could see what the charger is doing. About your only option if the converter is actually blown, I think. I would spend some time trying to see if the converter is powered. Breaker out, output fuse, something like that.

[dbaur]

What about running the truck hooked up to the camper for something of a charge?

[Bill M.]

You can try that. My truck does not add much charge to my rig when driving or idling. I would go with a charger.

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by dbaur

What about running the truck hooked up to the camper for something of a charge?

Works for me.

[Bill M.]

Of course it "works for me" for you. You have your truck rewired with 2 gauge wire and Anderson connectors and maybe even a 12 volt to 12 volt converter.

The question is whether it is likely to work for the OP through his 7 pin connector and stock wiring, I do not think he is going to get much charge in a couple of hours idling.

Desperate, one could use jumper cables from the truck to the trailer batteries.

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

Of course it "works for me" for you. You have your truck rewired with 2 gauge wire and Anderson connectors and maybe even a 12 volt to 12 volt converter.

The question is whether it is likely to work for the OP through his 7 pin connector and stock wiring, I do not think he is going to get much charge in a couple of hours idling.

Desperate, one could use jumper cables from the truck to the trailer batteries.

I was referring to the charge wire in the seven-pin connector. It works for me, showing good voltage (not sure of the amperage) even at idle.

After towing for 6 hours the batteries are always fully charged when we stop.

Now, if a truck has a 'smart alternator', designed to save fuel it may not recognize the house batteries as needing a charge if the TV battery is 100%. If so, you can easily buy a DC-DC charger for less than a third the cost of a 2000 watt generator.

IMHO, the only reason to need a portable generator is to run your air conditioning e.g. to keep your pets safe if you are boondocking and want to leave the trailer for several hours in the heat of the day. I personally don't need a coffee maker, the microwave or a hair dryer if camping off grid.

[Bill M.]

I have a diesel with 2 batteries and a big alternator. 6 hours driving might up my trailer batteries by .1 to .2 volts. The systems seem to be working fine. There is output to The charge pin. Just not much. What is your TV? Does it have 1 or 2 batteries?

[billrector]

Did you check the breaker for your converter?

[billrector]

Also, do you have an EMS that could be preventing shore power to your AS? Easy to see if you really have 110 by seeing if outlets work.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Do you have two input receptacles on your AS? 🤔
Yes...plug into the other one.

Bob
🇺🇸

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

I have a diesel with 2 batteries and a big alternator. 6 hours driving might up my trailer batteries by .1 to .2 volts. The systems seem to be working fine. There is output to The charge pin. Just not much. What is your TV? Does it have 1 or 2 batteries?

I drive a Jeep with 160 amp alternator with one start battery.

[BoatNutG2]

Back to the OP problem and how to dissect it? I am having similar problems. We just took our 2015 FC 28 out of storage and can not tell if the battery charger part of the converter is working. how do you tell if the charger part of the converter is working?
All last summer when hooked up to any amperage from 15 to 50 Amps the Airstream panel read 13.6 V. (it read actual voltage when not connected).

Now comes 2019, The first night out (last night) hooked up to 30 amp it read 11.4 volts. When the sun came up and the solar panels kicked in the voltage went up to 12.2 maybe 12.4 highest during the day(normal charge voltage is 13.6 from the panels).

I bought a 15Amp battery charger this afternoon. With the sun up the battery charger said I had the clamps connected in reverse(I'm guessing from the solar Panel charging interfering). I checked and the red is to red and the black is to black. Now that the sun has set the charger is able to work and in 30 minutes it went from 12.0 to 12.5 but for the last 30 mins it is fluctuating between 12.4 and 12.5. House load is just a couple of led lights. All the normal 110 works fine. 2 6V AGM, in series, age one year. Funny thing just happened the voltage dropped to 12V (I went out in the wind and rain and the just bought 15 Amp battery charge had gone into protection mode saying that the clamps are reversed so it wasn't charging any more). Any suggestions???? we are going to have the batteries test tomorrow.

[gator.bigfoot]

What kind of charger did you buy. Is it rated for your batteries? What kind of batteries do you have? It is not uncommon for chargers to fail. And it is not uncommon for batteries to fail if they've not been cared for. Personally I prefer equipment that is not combined. A separate charger for shore power and a separate one for solar.

Not sure what type of equipment you have, but I would start with a good meter. Unplug from shore power and test the input to the charger from solar. Then measure the output with no connection to the batteries. Measure the batteries on their own. Then measure the output of the charger on shore power with solar disconnected. If you can't disconnect your devices then first install breakers or disconnects so you can isolate everything. If your batteries are low you need to bring them back up first. Then leave them for 24 hours and retest. They should maintain their charge with no load.

Let us know what you're measuring and how with actual voltages.

[BoatNutG2]

Thank you Gator

Unfortunately we are on our trip. And can not work on any thing easily. I did get some new 6V batteries to see if the old ones were just not accepting the charge. At first voltage went up in about an hour to 13.2 so I thought we were good. Came back 5 hours later from doing the tourist thing and voltage is back down to 12.5 and it’s getting darker. I’m guessing that the higher voltage was from the solar charger not the Paralax unit. Will see what happens over night. I can not believe there is no way to isolate the solar charger.

[BoatNutG2]

The charger is the 15amp from Autozone, (not one of the starting type). Can set it for battery type.

[BoatNutG2]

Thank you for all your help. I called Parallax and they had me do a couple of quick tests( disconnect blue wire from distribution board and test with digital multi meter for voltage ( read zero) determined lower unit of converter was dead. Ordered a new one on Amazon, had it shipped two days ahead of us. Installed it in an hour or 2. Solved the problem!!!!! Yeah!!!!

I had a power awning installed and I’m guessing they shorted out my 12 volt side, didn’t affect the batteries but fried the converter. Because I put in new batteries and the solar panels were keeping up I couldn’t figure out the problem so you could say we have been Boondocking for the last couple of weeks . Now reads 13.8 all night long!!!