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Old 07-29-2005, 03:07 PM   #1
bigbob7777
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battery not charging

My battery indicator seems to be showing low, even when I am plugged in to the tow vehicle or 50 amp service.

Can anyone tell me how to check that a fuse for charging is blown?

The lights seem low and the battery indicator is not even showing that it's charging.

bob
 
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Old 07-29-2005, 04:20 PM   #2
lightningjack11
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I recommend you purchase a Voltmeter to aid in your checks.

Set the meter to DC and clamp the leads on the battery.

You should read 13.5(approx) when plugged into shore power or connected to the tow vehicle with engine running. Check both!

I have an older model but there is a fuse in line in the battery compartment. It may be hidden or covered with tape. Follow the charging leads off the battery to find it.

Also purchase a hydrometer from Walmart to check the acid level for charge. They only cost a buck and I always keep one handy. Most of the time the battery will have a bad cell when your battery is too low.
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Old 07-29-2005, 07:30 PM   #3
HamRad
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bigbob7777,
It could be that your converter is not working.... at least the battery charging part of the converter. Might be worth checking out.

HamRad
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Old 07-29-2005, 11:44 PM   #4
Bill and Ann
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I had problems with my battery not charging and it ended up being a fuse problem. One fuse on the the converter had blown and another time it was the truck accessory fuse going to the unit.
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Old 07-30-2005, 12:41 AM   #5
Montana_2785
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I have had this problem as well but the problem comes & goes. I haven't found the root cause yet. After running the battery flat a couple of times, the problem suddenly went away

Still clueless....

Eric
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Old 07-30-2005, 04:42 AM   #6
bigbob7777
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I checked the battery fuse located in the battery compartment - OK. When connected to shore power, all 120 VAC works, except get low volt warning on my AC and it won't come on. Also, my refer won't work now on AC (the dealer said the control panel is 12 volts).

I feel the converter is bad. Is there a fuse by the converter itself? All the fuses in the fuse box are working OK.

bob
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Old 07-30-2005, 06:21 AM   #7
lightningjack11
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Bob,

If you are going to tackle this problem yourself, you should buy a volmeter or borrow one. Connect to shore power and read the voltage accross the battery. If you read about 13.5DC then the converteris charging the battery. Check you battery by the hydrometer battery tester and/or measure accross the battery with Shore power disconnected. Should read 12VDC.

If you don't read 12v w/shore disconnected, your battery is probably bad.
If you don't read 13.5 w/ shore connected then your converter/fusing has a problem.

Also with the voltmeter check your shore power coming into the converter. Should be 115-225VAC.
-------------------
A long time ago my converter was not charging(no 13.5). The charging circuit in the converter will have a large resistor toward the back of converter. Sometimes this resistor opens. In my case I found a bad solder joint on one of the connectors to the resistor. Re-soldered and have no problems since except for a blown fuse in the trucks charging circuit.
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Old 07-31-2005, 11:00 AM   #8
rames14
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We had an issue with our battery not having enough power while boondocking. I added a second battery (first was a very small battery with low amps). Afterward I checked and I'm showing 12.8v while running the generator. Could it be that a dead cell also reduces the voltage? If so, you could still have an issue with the battery even if you aren't showing the 13.5v.
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Old 07-31-2005, 12:56 PM   #9
gungho
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When the converter went south on our first trip out on our new rig
it also blew the fuse in the tv. I would check it also. And there were also fuses located on the converter.
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Old 07-31-2005, 01:24 PM   #10
lightningjack11
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Rames,

Yes, if the battery is drawing too much current it could lower the voltage. You could remove the positive battery cable while leaving the meter hooked up to the cables and not that the charging voltage will rise to maybe 14-15v (unloaded)

But the hydrometer will tell you if a cell is bad. The hydrometers will have 4 balls that float if the cell is fully charged and will not float if the cell is defective.

Check the battery first so you can rule it out as problem.
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Old 08-01-2005, 05:26 AM   #11
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FYI:
Charge Level: 100% SpGr 1.265 Voltage (12) 12.68 Voltage (6) 6.3
Charge level: 50% SpGr 1.190 Voltage (12) 12.24 Voltage (6) 6.1
Discharged: SpGr 1.120 Voltage (12) 11.89 Voltage (6) 6.0

If you have a variance of 0.05 between any cells in any one battery, then that battery's cell is "toast". If you purchase a voltmeter, I would suggest one that has a clamp-on amp meter built in. This way you can check both the Tow Vehicle's charge output to the RV batteries or from the internal charging circuit of the RV itself. These units have both AC and DC capabilities. To get the amp output to the batteries, just clamp the meter over any RV battery while in a "charge mode".
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Old 08-01-2005, 07:55 AM   #12
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Tom -

You are using a different battery tester than the one that has just the balls floating to get the specific gravity. Where did you get your tester and what is the cost? Always looking for new "tools" and "gadgets". Thanks for the info. I will be at the trailer this weekend and will do a little more checking. Thanks.
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Old 08-01-2005, 11:07 AM   #13
tweir
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Well, there are two types: a float-type "automotive" hydrometer that has a long float graduated into SpGr numbers; not balls and my newest one---a digital hydrometer----about $1600.00 (yup--it was really expensive. I have a fleet of 30 electric burden carries that range from 6-12 volt batteries each (72 volt systems) to 6-6 volt batteries (36 volt systems) and each one must be checked at least monthly---that is a lot of cells to test and accuracy on the newer 72 volt systems is critical for "balance". NAPA sells a decent shop-type hdrometer (P/N 700-1145) that has the numeric "long-float"---I have one of those and I think it cost about 25 bucks. Don't forget to temperature-compensate your electrolyte---makes a big difference. I've cut my battery check time down from almost 2 hours per vehicle to about 15 minutes with the digital unit as I run two test for consistency. For most purposes, your floating ball-type works well. Just go to a battery store once a year and ask them to do a real composite test for you---save the bucks...!
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Old 08-13-2005, 03:40 AM   #14
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Follow-up.

thank you to all of you for your help. I was able to get Keystone to send me a new converter because there were no dealers that would help me within 4 weeks. Craig at Keystone was super nice.

I changed out the converter on my 3500rl (it was behind a wall in the basement) and everything turned on exactly as it should. There were two 30 amp fuses on the converter - I discovered later - and they were both blown.

The battery read 2.2 volts when hooked up to shore power before the change and 13.2 volts after.

Again, thanks to all. I love this unit and after 2 months, this is the only thing I could find wrong. I think that says alot for Keystone and this unit.

bob
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