Converter Question - Montana Owners Club

navybanker · 02-09-2015, 04:40 AM

Doing some pre-trip checks and hit the battery status button inside and three out of four red lights came on. Never noticed that before with regular battery installed and hooked to 120 outlet. Looked at the "power center" in the bathroom and the green light is flashing several times per second (hard to count). Got the multi meter out and the battery is showing 12.57 volts. This reading is while the battery is hooked to the camper. The battery has been on a maintainer all winter and placed on a charger before placing back in camper last weekend. Camper is hooked up to garage 20 amp outlet. Breaker is on for the outlet. I did run the furnace and the ACs (generator for ACs) last weekend to check them. The battery is less than one year old, water level okay and a group 29 RV/Marine type. 12.57 if low in my experience and probably shouldn't get down that far?? Any advice? what else should be checked? Thanks,

K0LCB · 02-09-2015, 07:07 AM

Sounds like you have a bad battery

navybanker · 02-09-2015, 07:41 AM

Thinking that could be the case. Need to determine that before hauling the rig one hour to the dealer. Placed the battery on charger to see what happens. One thing puzzling is the 12 volt lights looked bright and okay. May not take much power to energize the lights but think around 12.5 volts is a dead battery.

dieselguy · 02-09-2015, 08:23 AM

Here's the status light info on the converter ...

BOOST MODE – Indicated by green LED remaining on. The output voltage is 14.4VDC to rapidly recharge the battery up to 90% of full charge.
NORMAL MODE – When the battery is between 50% and 90% charged, the green LED will flash once per second. When the battery has reached 90% of full charge, the green LED will flash 2 - 3 times per second. In this mode the output voltage is 13.6VDC and the converter is safely completing the charge of the battery.
STORAGE MODE – Indicated by green LED flashing every 6 - 8 seconds. In this mode the output voltage has been lowered to 13.2VDC, the RV battery is fully charged and the converter is maintaining the charge.

Irlpguy · 02-09-2015, 09:23 AM

If as you indicate the lights in the RV seem bright when on shore power I don't think there is an issue with the converter. You can try turning off the breaker to the converter with lights on and see is there is significant drop in brightness. Also your battery when it is receiving a charge should read more than 12.5 volts as the converter maintenance voltage is 13.3 so your battery should show approximately the same voltage. If you put your battery on a separate charger before putting it back in the RV then when on the charger it should be reading approx 13.8 volts, if it is not then there is a problem with the battery.

My bet is a bad cell in the battery, you can go to a Automotive supply place and pick up a cheap Specific Gravity tester and check each cell yourself. A bad cell will also cause the battery to discharge at a faster rate even when not being used and it will never charge to 100%.

Invest in a tester or take the battery to a shop to have it tested where they can also load test it as well..

navybanker · 02-09-2015, 09:26 AM

Dieselguy - I saw these readings in the manual for the converter but the green light was flashing rapidly. I think more than once a second which should mean the battery is 90% charged. However the multi-meter and the Shumacher battery charger that it is now on the battery charging it read around 12.5 volts. I am attempting to determine if the battery is bad. If it is will replace as it is still under NAPA warranty. If the battery is good the converter is bad is my logic. Then a trip to the dealer. Thanks for the help.

navybanker · 02-09-2015, 10:22 AM

I notice the multimeter is reading 15.6 volts for the battery while on the charger set at 15 amps. I have one of those specific gravity tester somewhere if I can find It! Thanks,

mhs4771 · 02-09-2015, 01:59 PM

The battery disconnect isn't in the wrong position not letting the converter voltage get to the battery is it?? The converter could be suppling power to the lights, but not getting to the battery because of the disconnect switch. Again, arm chair troubleshooting.

navybanker · 02-09-2015, 02:24 PM

I checked the battery disconnect several times. That is something I could forget and thanks for mentioning it. The battery is charged and will place back in the camper tomorrow and leave some 12 volt draws on and see what happens. Leaving battery on the charger/maintainer over night. The manual on the charger says if the battery constantly needs charging after a full charge it will abort and indicate bad battery. Need to know if converter or battery is bad before the next trip. Thanks to all.

Irlpguy · 02-09-2015, 02:51 PM

Easy to determine if the converter is working, just disconnect the battery and if you are on shore power which you must be then the 12V lights will work normally being supplied by the converter. Don't think that is your problem.

rohrmann · 02-09-2015, 05:55 PM

This is the directions on page 4 of the Progressive Dynamics Manual for checking the converter:

Do not replace the converter section unless the following checks have been performed:
1. Use an AC voltmeter to check for the proper voltage at the 120 VAC breaker that the converter is connected to. This
voltage should be between 105 and 130 volts.
2. Remove the reverse battery fuses and check the converter output from the CONVERTER GND to the CONVERTER POS
terminals on the DC board. This should be 13.6 VDC.
3. Check the Reverse Battery fuses . These fuses will only blow if the battery or DC output leads were connected in reverse,
even for a moment. If they are blown check the polarity of the battery connections before replacing them.
4. If the Converter output is not present and there is AC to the converter , the converter is defective.

navybanker · 02-10-2015, 03:53 AM

This morning the dc lights are not working with the battery removed. So, assume the converter is the problem. The camper is hooked to 120 and the AC lights are working along with power going to Micro and TVs, etc. I thought this was tested previously but apparently not. Trying to check too many things at once! The battery is reading 13 volts after being off the charger for about an hour. The battery was powering the furnace Saturday for a couple of hours or so when getting the inside temp to 65 to test run the air conditioners with the generator. The generator ran for about an hour. Guess the converter did not recharge the battery once the generator was disconnected.

mhs4771 · 02-10-2015, 04:48 AM

OK, just another tid bit, we had an issue with our 2010 2955RL where I thought our converter went belly up, but upon removing the basement wall to get to the converter found that it's plug had worked loose from it's outlet. Your's may be different, but again something to look into.

clarkandsheila · 02-13-2015, 04:31 AM

And be sure the battery terminals and the wire lugs are clean, tight.
Your converter measures voltage at its own output terminal, not at the actual battery.
If the lugs are dirty that will create resistance causing a too high voltage at the converter and then a too low voltage in the battery.

navybanker · 02-14-2015, 03:54 AM

I found the problem and it is Me! Previously didn't check the "reverse polarity" fuses since no way I could have hooked the battery cables incorrectly. I have a piece of paper in the battery compartment showing the correct hookups. But, decided to check the fuses as a last resort before hauling the camper to the dealer. Well stupid, all four were blown! Replaced the fuses and converter has worked ever since. I use a small jump starter to open sides during the winter rather than taking the heavy battery out to the camper. I must have hooked cables backwards or touched the cables somehow.

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