Battery Issue

[awheeler]

Well, we are on the road and so far things have been great. We have had one issue that I hope someone can help me with. While we are in an RV park, hooked up to electricity, the batteries run down and we have had to recharge them. Should the inverter be running this whole time? Should they be turned off and then back on? I have been putting them on a charger to get them back up to full charge, but I feel like I am doing something wrong, hence, the loss of battery power.

Can someone help? Describe what you do with regards to your batteries?

I sincerely appreciate your help.
Ann

[MARK A]

Everything should run while on shore power. Check your battery disconnect (in the convenience center) to be sure it's not turned off. Otherwise start checking the cable connections on the batteries and the termination on the converter end. Of course check the water in your battery (batteries) no water, no electricity but all should operate while plugged in. Are you certain the breaker is ON in the pedestal?

Mark

[Oldsoldier]

I assume you have a modern, 5th wheel Keystone Montans since you are on this site. I'm new to MNontana, but owned a Keystone Cougar plus other brands for years. You should have a Converter, not an Inverter in your camper. A Converter converts 110/220 volts down to 12 volt to power any 12 volt needs in the camper; an Inverter draws 12 volt power from your batteries and converts it to 110/220 volts) The Converter, hidden away near your fuze panel, charges the battery(ies) when hooked up to shore power. I realize many new rigs have inverters, especially to power residential style appliances. (Personally, I find that extremely bad thinking...especially when you camnp wioth unreliabnle shore power). But your Inverter won't charge your battery(ies): it functioins to only drain your battery(ies). Inverters are fine for certain applications, especially dry camping, but they necessitate shore power, hookup to your vehicle (while depleting the truck's battery), and/or a generator and/or solar charging system. Assuming you have a Converter (possibly with an Inverter included), your batteries will charge while plugged in to shore power. If not, you have a malfunctioning Converter or possibly a bad wiring issue. A Converter is essentially a "smart charger" battery charger with three output designs. If you have to plug in a battery charger (which means you are connected to shore power, solar panel, or a generator) your Converter is not working right. Also: have you checked your batery(ies)? If you leave a camper plugged in for weeks or months straight, you can damage normal batteries, although a properly
functioning Converter should reduce the problem. Going to a gel battery is a good idea, as well. The main reason we bought our 2018 High Country 310re was because it did NOT have residential appliances and did not use an Inverter. If you aren't experienced with camper electrical designs, go to Vintage Trailer Supply online. They sell an excellent book on 12 volt electrical applications. It covers 12 volt in depth, but also covers 110/220, solar, generators, etc. An outstanding reference book for your home library, it focuses on campers and sail boats. When I jerked the 15 amp system out of my 1964 Fireball camper to install a 30 amp systerm with nine, 12 volt interior circuits, it was the best $20 I ever spent!

[MARK A]

They could be plugging the battery charger into the 20A outlet in the pedestal, while the 30 or 50A breaker is tripped and not passing current.

Mark

[rohrmann]

There is usually confusion about the battery disconnect, on or off. I think the switch should be off, meaning the disconnect is not disconnected, and on means the disconnect has disconnected the batteries. The best way to check is, when turned to whatever position you decide, if the red plastic key comes out, that has the batteries disconnected, and when the key is turned so it will not come out, that is the normal connected position, when the batteries are operating and the converter is able to maintain a charge when you are plugged into AC power and your breakers are also turned on.

[DQDick]

The place to start is with the batteries. Are they low on water and if so have they been damaged by that to the point where they won't charge, or do they have some other problem. Any auto parts store will test them for you.

[TLightning]

We need more information...do you have a converter/charger, inverter/charger, or converter with stand alone inverter?

[awheeler]

Originally Posted by TLightning

We need more information...do you have a converter/charger, inverter/charger, or converter with stand alone inverter?

Yes, we have all of the above - converter, inverter, both stand alone and we have a battery charger. It seems the converter/inverter is not charging the batteries - hence using the battery charger.

Ann

[awheeler]

Originally Posted by DQDick

The place to start is with the batteries. Are they low on water and if so have they been damaged by that to the point where they won't charge, or do they have some other problem. Any auto parts store will test them for you.

The batteries themselves are fine, they are 4 months old, no damage.

Ann

[awheeler]

Originally Posted by MARK A

They could be plugging the battery charger into the 20A outlet in the pedestal, while the 30 or 50A breaker is tripped and not passing current.

Mark

No, we plug the charger into the outside power outlet on the coach while the coach is plugged into 50 amp at the pedestal.

[awheeler]

Originally Posted by Oldsoldier

I assume you have a modern, 5th wheel Keystone Montans since you are on this site. I'm new to MNontana, but owned a Keystone Cougar plus other brands for years. You should have a Converter, not an Inverter in your camper. A Converter converts 110/220 volts down to 12 volt to power any 12 volt needs in the camper; an Inverter draws 12 volt power from your batteries and converts it to 110/220 volts) The Converter, hidden away near your fuze panel, charges the battery(ies) when hooked up to shore power. I realize many new rigs have inverters, especially to power residential style appliances. (Personally, I find that extremely bad thinking...especially when you camnp wioth unreliabnle shore power). But your Inverter won't charge your battery(ies): it functioins to only drain your battery(ies). Inverters are fine for certain applications, especially dry camping, but they necessitate shore power, hookup to your vehicle (while depleting the truck's battery), and/or a generator and/or solar charging system. Assuming you have a Converter (possibly with an Inverter included), your batteries will charge while plugged in to shore power. If not, you have a malfunctioning Converter or possibly a bad wiring issue. A Converter is essentially a "smart charger" battery charger with three output designs. If you have to plug in a battery charger (which means you are connected to shore power, solar panel, or a generator) your Converter is not working right. Also: have you checked your batery(ies)? If you leave a camper plugged in for weeks or months straight, you can damage normal batteries, although a properly
functioning Converter should reduce the problem. Going to a gel battery is a good idea, as well. The main reason we bought our 2018 High Country 310re was because it did NOT have residential appliances and did not use an Inverter. If you aren't experienced with camper electrical designs, go to Vintage Trailer Supply online. They sell an excellent book on 12 volt electrical applications. It covers 12 volt in depth, but also covers 110/220, solar, generators, etc. An outstanding reference book for your home library, it focuses on campers and sail boats. When I jerked the 15 amp system out of my 1964 Fireball camper to install a 30 amp systerm with nine, 12 volt interior circuits, it was the best $20 I ever spent!

Yes, the 5th Wheel is a 2017 and it has both an inverter and a converter. We also have the residential fridge. From reading your post it sounds like our converter is not charging the batteries. Thank you for all your advice. I will be working on this issue today. We also have a camping world nearby, so I may give them a call.

[twindman]

I believe someone once posted that the converter has a fuse in it that blows or pops if it is a resettable fuse. Might want to crawl in there and check that. Otherwise it sounds like a bad converter.

[Carl n Susan]

The converter (which is responsible for charging the batteries) should be producing ~13.4V while plugged into shore power. Check the voltage at the batteries to see what you are getting. You can use a volt/ohm meter or your Level-Up panel (use the "up" button on the left 4 or 5 times to get to that display) to check the voltage.

If the voltage is NOT ~13.4V then the problem is somewhere from the converter to the batteries. The disconnect switch in the convenience center is often the source. If the batteries have been connected backwards at some time it will blow the protection fuses in the converter. If the fuses are not blown, the disconnect switch is in the proper position and the converter is not putting out ~13.4V then the only reasonable conclusion is the converter is faulty. That is pretty much all that can be wrong..

[mjammersc]

If you get the model # for the power center (probably a progressive dynamics 4500 series http://www.progressivedyn.com/rv/pow...r-4500-series/) and look up the instructions, it will show some led light sequences for the converter charger to see fi it is showing if it thinks it is charging the battery. It also has a basic wiring diagram to give you some ideas to check to see if something has come loose.


A way to get a basic idea is to see what the voltage shows on the level up control center before you hook up and after/when the converter thinks it is charging. When it is charging/converting, the DC voltage should see a moderate increase (how much depends on what it starts at). The manual will list the charging voltages and you should see within a 0.5V or so of that level when it is charging.

[mjammersc]

Carl - great minds think alike

[Carl n Susan]

[awheeler]

Thank you! I will check it out.

[awheeler]

Thank you. I will check this out also.

[Oldsoldier]

There will be a circuit breaker just for the Converter with all the other breakers in your power distribution panel.