my converter, r.i.p.?

[Wild Horse]

geez....ok, doing mods trying to get finished up. scenario....i'm plugged into a 110 outlet {cord won't reach}, which is plenty of power for what i need. been running this way for twoweeks, no problem. running furnace and a few lights. today i ran the slides in to check for hang ups on new floor...i even heard the converter fan. all good, ran slides back out, kept working. came in house for dinner, and over 30 minute time frame i watched porch light dim down to nothing. went out, and everything 12v quit working. hooked up dodge to rig, everything was fired up instantly. can't hear the converter fan running anymore, soooo....I don't know if its got an in line fuse or not, but will check tomorrow. geez, down to just the carpet, and now this...

[Crossthread]

Wild Horse, Check to see if the circuit breaker tripped. I had that happen last week after I cycled the slides a few times. Bill

[Irlpguy]

Two things would indicate your battery is dead in the fifth wheel, the fact that the 12V lights all went out over a short period of time but came back on when you plugged into your TV.
Usually the converter is on it's own circuit breaker in your panel box, I would check that and I am sure you have confirmed the 110V outlet has not thrown the breaker.

I would also check the battery terminals for corrosion and if you have a multimeter check the battery voltage at the battery. If the battery is finished or the terminals are bad then the converter just might not be able to put a charge into the battery anymore. Running the slides in and out twice would draw my batteries down to a point where without being charged they would soon be dead.

Your profile does not say year and make of your Monty and different converters were used over the years. I think most recent years are using the Progressive Dynamics.

Wish we could be of more help.

[Ozz]

Check the fuses on the converter as well.

[Wild Horse]

its an iota dls55....funny, i have no breaker for it other than the outlet it plugs into. didnt see any fuse either [pulled panel too] but going out to check more closely, and near battery too. the converter is definitely not operating. charging a spare battery now too. also, shouldnt the converter operate even without battery hooked up, or no ? thanks for the help....multimeter is in storage too !

[jimcol]

Check the easiest first. Verify you have 110 going into the converter. If your VOM is in storage use a lamp or a power drill or something. The 110 feeding the converter has to have a breaker on it somewhere, just may not be labeled correctly in your breaker box. Yes, your converter should run w/o a battery if you have a dc load on it. Just turning a 12 volt light on will make it run but I also think the propane detector should do the same thing. If the battery is out of the unit make sure to insulate the battery cable ends to avoid shorting them out. Beyound the 110 going into the converter problems are pretty difficult to find w/o a VOM or a least a 12 volt test light. Good luck!
Jim

[Wild Horse]

110 checks out fine...battery out, got zero 12v anything. sad,sad,sad....lol

[Irlpguy]

If you have confirmed 110V to the converter and checked the reverse polarity fuses on the converter, then I would remove power to the converter, disconnect the battery cables at the converter and after plugging the converter back in check the voltage at those terminals. You should have between 13.4 and 13.8 volts or perhaps a bit higher.
If you have no voltage at those terminals then the converter is not working.
Take care with any live 12V cables that they do not come in contact with one another or ground.

[DQDick]

It does sound like you may have reached the end of it's useful life.

[Exnavydiver]

Our converter took a dump a couple years ago and was replaced. It started out by popping the breaker for that outlet intermittently. After a couple years it started popping the breaker all the time so I called IOTA and they sent me another 75 amp unit except when it arrived it was a 55 amp unit. That got us back up and running until the correct converter arrived. No problems since. Our unit didn't just cease functioning but shorted out. Sent it back but never heard what the diagnosis was. The rig was well out of warranty at the time but IOTA still replaced it for free. Call IOTA and explain the problem, they might ship you a new unit for free, or not..

[Recumbent]

Just put on a new 80Amp converter after having similar problems as you described. As others here on the MOC advised me we got the charge wizzard feature. A new multimeter revealed the converter when place under a load was outputting much less DCV than needed and converter fan was making loud noises. We had also purchased a new battery as the old one had boiled over several times due we think to the faulty converter. We actually got by for awhile by only using two or three 12vdc lights at once and the new battery did help as it came already charged and when hooked to TV the truck would charge the battery (I think). Anyway it was a $200 converter along with a new $100 deep cycle battery and a $25 multimeter.

[Wild Horse]

problem solved ! never seen it before...1/2 the electrical outlet went bad. wiring checked out fine, installed new outlet and we are up and running. I still don't like the fan sound, so someday soon I think we'll replace the converter anyway. thanks for all the help! now, back to installing the new carpet !

[capn chris]

Yay! Way to go, Bill. You da man!!!