No DC power even when plugged in help PLEASE
Hello. Just got home from a nice camping trip with my family. Went outside in the dark, flipped light switch and nothing. No rado, lights, pump, etc. no lights on the meter either. Plugs work, fridge ...
Forum Discussion
Shwthomas1975 wrote:
Thank you. Going to get one. I took the cover off the panel and the little pic fans are spinning, but maybe not charging. I hooked jumper cables from my truck directly to the camper battery. So the battery is dead. Might be so dead it won't charge, but I don't think that's the case. Meter will help tho. When plugged in, how many volts should be going to the battery to charge it?
Makes me think. Isn't the battery after the converter? When it's plugged in, even if the battery is junk, the lights should still work right?
Short answer is no.
If the battery has an internal short, it can act like a monster size resistor, and draw more power without holding any charge, than the power sent from the converter. Little to nothing gets through to power DC equipment.
I've had this happen in a truck camper. With battery connected and shore power hooked up, I had no DC power to lights, radio, water pump, etc. With battery disconnected and shore power hooked up, all DC equipment worked fine. I even found the DC equipment was working off my solar panel, with no battery or shore power.
When you go shopping for a meter, take your battery and have it load tested. Most auto part stores will do it free of charge.
