DC Power Surge

[winter texan]

It's happened a couple times. 12 volt lights have gotten britgher and then dimmed while hooked to shore power. I'm thinking it has to do with the converter. Anyone had this problem?

[bsmeaton]

Do you have your batteries hooked up? If so, you might be getting a bad battery.

The reason I ask, my batteries are disconnected and I'm plugged in at storage (to run the sonic de-mousers). I jumped in there yesterday to get something, turned on the lights and hit the slide button and the converter couldn't do it - lights dimmed - everything quit until I let off the switch. Had to go hook up the batteries to run the slides, then disconnect them. The converter has a limit (mine is 55 Watts I believe).

[H. John Kohl]

quote:Originally posted by winter texan

It's happened a couple times. 12 volt lights have gotten britgher and then dimmed while hooked to shore power. I'm thinking it has to do with the converter. Anyone had this problem?

Winter Texan,
You did not mention the model and year of your Monty. I had to replace mine a year ago and the replacement has a charge monitoring addition.

quote:I got the INTELIPOWER 9260. It is a 60Amp converter and has a remote display. It does show the three stages of charge.
Normal mode - Output voltage set at 13.6 volts DC.
Boost mode - If the converter senses that the battery voltage has dropped below a preset level the output voltage is increased to 14.4 volts DC to rapidly recharge the batteries.
Storage mode - When the converter sense that there has been no significant battery usage for approximately 30 hours the output voltage is reduced to 13.2 volts DC for minimal water usage.
Equalization mode - When in storage mode the microprocessor automatically increases the output voltage to 14.4 volts for 15 minutes every 21 hours. This will help to reduce the buildup of sulfate on the battery plates.
If I was buying one again I would get 80 amp but this 60 amp works fine and I like to watch the status.
Manufactured by Progressive Dynamics Inc. www.progressivedyn.com

When the convert goes into the Equalization mode it makes the 12 VDC lights go bright for that 15 minutes because of the 14.4 volts DC.

Not sure if this is the same for your unit. You need to know what type of converter you have and if it has the additional function.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

[firetrucker]

Brad, sometimes it might seem like 55 watts, but it's really 55 amps.

Bob

[bsmeaton]

quote:Originally posted by firetrucker

Brad, sometimes it might seem like 55 watts, but it's really 55 amps.

Bob

hahahahaha- Oops. That explains why I couldn't find any 60 Amp lightbulbs at Home Depot the other day for the house.

[winter texan]

Got the converter taken care of. It was within 3 weeks of being out of the 2 year OEM warranty. Called Cheng, USA in Elkhart, they gave me a RGA # and within a week of sending the old unit back, I have a new one.

[Dean A Van Peursem]

We had something similar happen on our DC lights where they were slowly going dim. Checked shore power, checked batteries, checked converter which led me to what I should have Checked to begin with. Checked the AC circuit breakers. One circuit breaker had tripped. Of course it was the converter. Don't know what tripped it and it has never happened again. Several months have gone by w/o a repeat. Don't have any idea what happened.