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Post by the1percent on Aug 19, 2019 10:28:57 GMT -5
Hi all. I got a 2012 Spree after a tornado destroyed my house back on December 23, 2014. Thankfully i wasn’t hurt and my insurance paid for temporary housing allowing for the rv purchase. We lived in the rv for eight months while home was rebuilt. We had no issues. Since then we have maybe taken her camping once a year. Last week was this year’s trip. The power is doing some strange things and I am thinking it is the converter. While at the campground if the bathroom light switch wasn’t on no other lights or the a/c would come on. When we got home it seemed to work ok with shore power but now if the inside lights are off the porch light won’t work and when I turn on the inside lights the refrigerator bogs down. Also the a/c thermostat reset to 72 degrees. I’m hoping someone can confirm my suspicion of this being the converter.
Thanks all and I’m happy to be here.
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Post by lynnmor on Aug 19, 2019 12:41:36 GMT -5
Welcome! Have the battery tested, it may need charged on a portable charger first. Autozone and Advance Autoparts will test for free. Cycle the 120 volt breakers to be sure they are not tripped. With a good battery, you should have at least 13.6 volts across the terminals when the trailer is plugged in, and at least 12 volts at the converter when it is not plugged in. Your problem also sounds like a bad ground connection, so check at the battery cable as well as on the frame at several locations. Also check both sides of the circuit breaker for that 13.6 volts. If you had the battery out, you may have accidentally connected it in reverse, just a spark of reverse polarity can blow the reverse polarity fuses in the converter, so check them. If you have good connections and the converter is receiving 120 volt power, and output voltage is low, it well may be toast. The WFCO brand converters are poor quality, so replace with a better one. One source of good information and converters is Best Converter. |
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Post by the1percent on Aug 20, 2019 10:32:58 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply. I remember seeing this same reply as I was searching the forum before i asked my question. Some of these things I have already tried. I will try the others. Questions first. Do i need to have the battery switch closed before i test voltage? I have a manual blade switch located on the battery terminal. Also, there is a junction box on the trailer tongue with wires running through it. Is that something I should check as well? Thanks again.
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Post by laknox on Aug 20, 2019 22:17:23 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply. I remember seeing this same reply as I was searching the forum before i asked my question. Some of these things I have already tried. I will try the others. Questions first. Do i need to have the battery switch closed before i test voltage? I have a manual blade switch located on the battery terminal. Also, there is a junction box on the trailer tongue with wires running through it. Is that something I should check as well? Thanks again. Absolutely check all connections. Bad grounds cause all sorts of problems. Check voltages with no loads, so open the disconnect. Load test the battery after charging it with an external charger. Lyle |
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Post by the1percent on Aug 21, 2019 15:19:34 GMT -5
Thanks for y’all advice.
I have checked voltage at the battery and it was reading 6 volts. I checked the cells and every one was almost dry. I added water and charged overnight. Battery read over 12 volts. I plugged in camper to shore power and the voltage at the wires in battery side read over 13 volts. I connected the battery and tried lights etc and everything is working correctly at the moment.
I have concluded that the battery is part of the problem and will have it tested at auto parts store.
In ya’lls opinion, can a bad battery cause the 12 volt issues i am having even though I’m connected to shore power? I find that strange.
Thanks again!
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sg
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 28
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Post by sg on Aug 21, 2019 16:04:12 GMT -5
A bad battery can cause problems even when hooked up . I’m not sure it could cause all the problems you described but it can cause trouble even hooked up to power and if left hooked up with a bad battery it can do damage to your converter over time as the converter will keep trying to charge the battery even tho it can’t.All that being said it sounds to me you have a bad ground somewhere check every connection both a/c and d/c . But it is possible that a bad battery can cause what seams to be grounding issues on your d/c stuff but it shouldn’t show up on anything a/c if it’s only a bad battery. Good luck
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Post by laknox on Aug 21, 2019 21:16:00 GMT -5
Thanks for y’all advice. I have checked voltage at the battery and it was reading 6 volts. I checked the cells and every one was almost dry. I added water and charged overnight. Battery read over 12 volts. I plugged in camper to shore power and the voltage at the wires in battery side read over 13 volts. I connected the battery and tried lights etc and everything is working correctly at the moment. I have concluded that the battery is part of the problem and will have it tested at auto parts store. In ya’lls opinion, can a bad battery cause the 12 volt issues i am having even though I’m connected to shore power? I find that strange. Thanks again! Absolutely a bad, or weak, battery can cause issues. Problem is that the converter just doesn't have enough juice to both charge the battery and power...whatever. Given that your battery was nearly dry and only showed 6v, I'd be willing to bet that it's toast. Lyle |
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Post by nvguy on Aug 21, 2019 22:04:02 GMT -5
Yep, if a battery is that dry, I wouldn't trust it. What happens is the lead starts falling off the grids /plates and collects in the bottom of the battery, eventually it can cause shorts between the grids. All of this can "confuse" the converter and cause erratic voltage, as the battery also acts as a buffer for the 12V electrical system.
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Post by the1percent on Aug 22, 2019 8:29:54 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. The battery tested ok and I’m charging it now. but given yalls comments i am going to get a new one.
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Post by the1percent on Aug 24, 2019 0:11:15 GMT -5
New battery will be here Monday. In the meantime, I have the old battery connected and it is taking a charge from the converter. I have the cutoff switch connected and all is well so far. I did disconnect the switch and the thermostat reset to 72. Since then i have kept the switch connected and the thermostat hasn’t reset. I think this confirms that the converter seems to be ok. Thank again for everyone’s input. Now to find slide out seal to replace sticky and broken seals.
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Post by the1percent on Nov 6, 2019 18:24:46 GMT -5
Well, the issue came back. I have connect a new battery and that hasn’t changed the problems. With fully charged battery and connected to shore power the lights are dim and get dimmer when i put a load on them by trying to operate the slide out.. I think i need to replace the converter. Does anyone concur and if not, suggestions please. Thanks!
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Post by lynnmor on Nov 6, 2019 19:49:24 GMT -5
Sounds more like a bad connection. Check the voltage at the battery both with and without being plugged into shore power. Report back.
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Post by the1percent on Nov 6, 2019 20:48:32 GMT -5
Just checked. Same reading both scenarios.
12.21
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Post by nvguy on Nov 7, 2019 22:58:58 GMT -5
12.21 V = about 50%. With a properly operating converter, you should see a voltage increase. Lots of things to check. First would be make sure the converter is receiving shore power, that its power doesn't come thru a GFI that has tripped or something strange like that.
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Post by lynnmor on Nov 8, 2019 2:07:29 GMT -5
Just checked. Same reading both scenarios. 12.21 Sorry, I missed your reply. nvguy is correct, you have no charging current from your converter. Check the pair of reverse polarity fuses in the converter, check that it is getting 120 VAC power and check the output voltage right at the converter. You might need a new one, but get a better brand than the current WFCO. |
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Post by Edd505 on Nov 8, 2019 12:01:08 GMT -5
Lights get brighter operating the slide because that motor is grounded so the system gets a better ground. My first though would be a check the ground, that causes weird stuff to happen. Could be way off base but it's easy enough to check before throwing parts at it.
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Post by the1percent on Nov 8, 2019 13:53:34 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. If I replace the converter i can just buy that and put it i. The housing of the “breaker box”? Or does the WFCO box need replacing too? And recommendations on an upgrade for converter?
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Post by the1percent on Nov 8, 2019 13:55:16 GMT -5
Lights get brighter operating the slide because that motor is grounded so the system gets a better ground. My first though would be a check the ground, that causes weird stuff to happen. Could be way off base but it's easy enough to check before throwing parts at it. The lights don’t get brighter. They get dimmer when trying to operate the slide out. |
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Post by lynnmor on Nov 8, 2019 16:30:02 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. If I replace the converter i can just buy that and put it i. The housing of the “breaker box”? Or does the WFCO box need replacing too? And recommendations on an upgrade for converter? Call Randy at Best Converter, and ask his advice. He has several models to upgrade what you have. Be prepared with the make & model number of your current converter. Tell him you want something better than a WFCO. His prices are good and you might be able to save a few bucks elsewhere, but the advice is invaluable. |
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Post by Edd505 on Nov 8, 2019 22:13:07 GMT -5
The lights don’t get brighter. They get dimmer when trying to operate the slide out. Sorry misread your prior post  |
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