I'm not new to using my little Honda 2000i to charge my battery while boondocking, but on a recent outing at a music festival I ran my generator for nearly 2 hours and my battery didn't charge. Then the next morning (after my battery was totally dead) I tried the generator again and it charged the battery. I had the fairly new Interstate battery checked at one of their shops and no problem was found. We're heading out to another music festival this coming weekend and I'm concerned about the charging issue. What should I be looking for in regard to the generator charging issue? BTW all the fuses look fine. Thanks!

Loose connection? Are you using the charging cord or charging the rv through the power cord?

Yes, you should be just plugging in the RV to the gen to give 120v input to your installed converter (which charges the batteries as well as run the other "12v" things in the RV)Of course to do that you will need an adapter to go from your shore power cord to your generator receptacle. Then you will also need to do some "power management" so as not to run other things so much that the gen can't run the converter.After a while as the battery gets charged up and amps to the battery taper, your converter will draw less from the gen and you can run more of other 120v things up to the gen's max output.

Direct charge from the generator 12v output is very small, about 8 ampsFor good charging results, you need the RV converter or an external battery charger 20 amps or larger

If you are trying to use the 12 volt charger from the generator... it is probably not providing enough amperage to charge a battery bank. As others mentioned just plug the generator to the RV with an extension cord and let the RV converter charge the batteries.

I carry a battery charger to plug into the generator, this is much faster and more reliable to charge the battery.

Charging the battery with generator issue | Good Sam Community

32 Replies

time2roll
Nomad
Sep 13, 2016
Parrothead Mike wrote:
OP here - Thanks for all the excellent input. You're right, I need to understand the charging/battery/converter issue better. I've never been much at electronics.

At this point I think I'm going to take my Schumacher battery charger along as a back up for this weekend. Of course I'll first try charging the usual way, but use the charger if that doesn't work. A longer charge will also help. One thing I did while charging when it failed was I switched over to the Eco feature and that definitely didn't help the charge I was hoping for.

Thanks again everyone!
ECO mode will kill the already weak 12v charging. ECO mode does not affect 120v output for charging.

Hopefully the Schumacher is at least 10 amps. 20 to 40 is even better. I recommend starting the Schumacher first then plugging the main cord into the generator. May as well skip the direct 12v connection.

Open the fuse/breaker panel and post the model number of the panel or converter for best answers.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Sep 13, 2016
road-runner wrote:
If there's no "surge protector" type of device in the RV blocking the AC to the converter, then I'd suspect something like a bad minus connection from the converter output, causing the AC bond to carry the converter's DC output, or alternatively an open neutral at the converter, causing the ground wire to carry the neutral side of the AC power.

Agree. I've owned two different EU2000i gensets and either would power any of the trailers I owned without having to first bond the genset's floating neutral to ground. It even worked with the first Surge Guard I owned, an early model 334730 that unlike current versions had no open ground detection capability. I replaced that SG with a Progressive EMS-HW30C which does have open ground detection and as a result would not pass power from the genset to the trailer unless I did G-N bond the genset output OR removed the EMS entirely. However, none of this has anything to do with the converter itself so anyone not running surge protection / EMS should be able to power their trailer from any suitable genset whether it's output is bonded or not.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Sep 13, 2016
SUrge Guard (Voltage protectors) may object to open ground. Bypass or bond either method works

Some converters are very poorly built. I mentioned (I think) the Magnetek 6300 which is the worst. Parallex bought out Magnetek and improved it somewhat to the 7300, but it's still a long way from Good. Progressive Dynamics with wizard (optional or built in.. None better.. Many in between.
dclark1946
Explorer
Sep 13, 2016
road-runner wrote:

You really should share your expertise with WFCO tech support so that you can correct them. The WFCO in one of my trailers will not pass convert 12v from my Honda 3000, UNLESS THE GROUND & NEUTRAL ARE BONDED. The same with a neighbor. Remove the bond plug = fail. Reinstall the bond and it works. Tech support advised contrary to your remark so contact them and advise that your advice supersedes.

I have nothing else in between the trailer plug and the generator, so please advise why it fails.
I'll agree with Mr. Wizard here. If there's no "surge protector" type of device in the RV blocking the AC to the converter, then I'd suspect something like a bad minus connection from the converter output, causing the AC bond to carry the converter's DC output, or alternatively an open neutral at the converter, causing the ground wire to carry the neutral side of the AC power. Easiest way to find the sure answer is to check for AC power at the converter's plug, or run an extension cord to connect the converter directly to the generator.

Not sure what is going on with your trailer but we are on our 4th trailer that I have powered the converter with an EU generator by plugging the trailer ac power cord into the generator using a standard plug to 30 A RV adapater. I have two EU 2000s and two EU 1000s and all of them have been used during various dry camping trips to power the trailer and charge the battery. The last two trailers came with WFCO converters.
road-runner
Explorer III
Sep 13, 2016

You really should share your expertise with WFCO tech support so that you can correct them. The WFCO in one of my trailers will not pass convert 12v from my Honda 3000, UNLESS THE GROUND & NEUTRAL ARE BONDED. The same with a neighbor. Remove the bond plug = fail. Reinstall the bond and it works. Tech support advised contrary to your remark so contact them and advise that your advice supersedes.

I have nothing else in between the trailer plug and the generator, so please advise why it fails.
I'll agree with Mr. Wizard here. If there's no "surge protector" type of device in the RV blocking the AC to the converter, then I'd suspect something like a bad minus connection from the converter output, causing the AC bond to carry the converter's DC output, or alternatively an open neutral at the converter, causing the ground wire to carry the neutral side of the AC power. Easiest way to find the sure answer is to check for AC power at the converter's plug, or run an extension cord to connect the converter directly to the generator.
EV2
Explorer
Sep 13, 2016
MrWizard wrote:
Some of this is going way off course
The no bond generator is not and never has been a converter problem

FYI
I have used wfco converters with inverter generators, open frame, and Onan
Never ever a ground conflict

You really should share your expertise with WFCO tech support so that you can correct them. The WFCO in one of my trailers will not pass convert 12v from my Honda 3000, UNLESS THE GROUND & NEUTRAL ARE BONDED. The same with a neighbor. Remove the bond plug = fail. Reinstall the bond and it works. Tech support advised contrary to your remark so contact them and advise that your advice supersedes.

I have nothing else in between the trailer plug and the generator, so please advise why it fails.
Byrogie
Explorer
Sep 12, 2016
All good points, but all moot, as the OP has not defined his charging regimen...., battery state before and after charging, etc
He does it the "usual way"
bikendan
Explorer
Sep 12, 2016
EV2 wrote:
bikendan wrote:
could have tripped the resettable circuit breaker hidden along the A-frame.
then if the OP was using the converter to charge, the battery wouldn't be getting charged.

If so, how did it reset itself?

It's not an auto reset, it has a tiny black reset button you have to push to reset it.
But if the 12v stuff is still working off the battery, it can't be this resettable brealer.
Parrothead_Mike
Explorer
Sep 12, 2016
OP here - Thanks for all the excellent input. You're right, I need to understand the charging/battery/converter issue better. I've never been much at electronics.

At this point I think I'm going to take my Schumacher battery charger along as a back up for this weekend. Of course I'll first try charging the usual way, but use the charger if that doesn't work. A longer charge will also help. One thing I did while charging when it failed was I switched over to the Eco feature and that definitely didn't help the charge I was hoping for.

Thanks again everyone!
MrWizard
Moderator
Sep 12, 2016
Some of this is going way off course
The no bond generator is not and never has been a converter problem

It is a problem with 'line voltage protectors'
That think there is an open ground
And with energy management systems that also might look for open ground circuits

And in these cases, you either turn on the by pass or you plug in your little home made bonding adapter

FYI
I have used wfco converters with inverter generators, open frame, and Onan
Never ever a ground conflict