Bought an old Class C - Electrical question?
Hi all- A friend of mine and I just bought an old 1978 Dodge Midas Class C motorhome to use on a property she just bought until the home is built. To be honest, the thing is a bit of a mess, but we'r...
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It sounds to me as though the converter is working as far as powering the lights and so forth, but the coach battery isn't charging from the converter.
It would be very helpful to find out what specific converter is installed. Often the converter is built into the power center with the AC breakers and the DC fuses, but not always; there are also separate deck-mount converters. Most of the older converters will hum more or less in operation, which can be helpful for tracking down where it is hidden. (It's kind of unfortunate that RV makers label obvious things, like the fact that you can exit through the front cab doors of a class C, but don't label the things that are not obvious but you might like to know, like where the converter is or what that mysterious switch over there is supposed to control.)
As j-d mentioned, some older converters had separate sections for charging the battery and for powering the 12V loads in the motorhome, and for various reasons the charging section can die without the rest of the converter being affected. (Magnetek is a common brand, and they produced a large array of various configurations over the years.) Regardless of the type, if the converter is original, you'll get much quicker battery recharging on AC power and much less of a tendency to overcharge or undercharge (and thereby harm) the coach battery if you replace it with a new multistage converter. The new ones are also lighter weight, usually quieter acoustically, almost always quieter electrically, and typically more energy efficient than the old ones.
It would be very helpful to find out what specific converter is installed. Often the converter is built into the power center with the AC breakers and the DC fuses, but not always; there are also separate deck-mount converters. Most of the older converters will hum more or less in operation, which can be helpful for tracking down where it is hidden. (It's kind of unfortunate that RV makers label obvious things, like the fact that you can exit through the front cab doors of a class C, but don't label the things that are not obvious but you might like to know, like where the converter is or what that mysterious switch over there is supposed to control.)
As j-d mentioned, some older converters had separate sections for charging the battery and for powering the 12V loads in the motorhome, and for various reasons the charging section can die without the rest of the converter being affected. (Magnetek is a common brand, and they produced a large array of various configurations over the years.) Regardless of the type, if the converter is original, you'll get much quicker battery recharging on AC power and much less of a tendency to overcharge or undercharge (and thereby harm) the coach battery if you replace it with a new multistage converter. The new ones are also lighter weight, usually quieter acoustically, almost always quieter electrically, and typically more energy efficient than the old ones.
