Converter Allegro

Not following the story very well :( Anyway, just to clarify, you have one of these, which has the converter and power centre under the fridge (in photo there?) and it has a Chev 454 engine? Where is the house battery bank and what is it made up of?

No idea, but sounds like your driver's side batt is an extra "aux batt" and the starting batt is is on the passenger side. What is the middle batt mentioned?
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EDIT--are the driver's side and "middle" batts the two house batts? what are they (brand and model) and what is the brand and model of the passenger side "starting" batt? What is the brand and model of the new driver's side batt and how old is the middle batt?
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http://www.mhsrv.com/1998-tiffin-allegro-bay-w-slide-m34-used-rv-for-sale-used-class-a-tx-i485036

Not clear you did an actual "bench test" of the converter--ie not connected to anything, and when plugged in, the output was 13.6 volts.

When you do measure "converter output" where exactly do you put the voltmeter probes? At the converter itself, or to the battery lugs on the DC fuse panel, or to where?

As feared - converter output was down to 12.2v - read same across batteries and monitor showed fair condition now instead of good or charging. Turned off the fans and connected a charger to the batteries. Cold again out. Guess I'll try something else tomorrow with the advise of the good people here. Happy New Years everyone!!

Thanks for all the comments folks!! Had quite the day today with the rig. Some revelations and some questions left at the end.

On shore power all this time below.

Converter out connected and driver side battery disconnected (I thought this was the battery for the motor to crank but found that it was not) fuse that was giving me the drop yesterday out - 12.7 volts

Same but fuse back in 12.5 volts (was ~ 2v yesterday but maybe I didn't have a good connection with meter)

Same but driver side battery connected - 12.4 volts

Disconnected driver side battery and checked voltage of the battery - 3.96 (this is when I found that I could still crank the motor with this battery disconnected - kinda caught me off guard)
Battery shot most likely - I have a desulfator that might bring it around but am going to replace anyway

Disconnected middle battery and checked the voltage of the battery - 12.67 and motor still cranked - slow beep from inside maybe the carb dioxide detector..

Disconnected the passenger side battery - 12.4v - motor would not crank (whew!!) I would have really been confused if it had!

Converter output with converter connected and all fuses in but all three batteries disconnected - 12.1 v

Converter out - disconnected - 13.7v

Converter out - connected but no batteries and all fuses in - 12.2v

Converter out - connected but no batteries and all fuses in except #8 - 13.15v

Converter out - connected but all batteries and all fuses in except #8 - 12.7v (replaced bad battery)

Converter out - connected but all batteries and all fuses in except #8 - 12.7v (difference here is that I plugged in the wizard) - slow blink and when I pressed the mode button it went solid but voltage stayed the same @ 12.7v

Stuck fuse #8 back in - still 12.7v

Never during any of this did the monitor (press a button and it shows water tank levels and battery condition) show charging. It showed good, out of weak, fair, good, charg.

Cranked the motor - monitor shows charg.

Turned off motor - monitor shows charg.

Converter output now shows 13.3v!!! Not sure what that means and maybe it was the killed battery that was causing the issue but 13.3V means it is charging right? Not sure why but seems like it is working. Guessing that battery had a lot to do with it but still sometimes saw issues when it was disconnected and never saw what I expected until after I cranked the motor for a minute....

Hour later - Monitor not showing charg. Converter output - 12.8v (Ken is bummed!)
Turned on fans for heater - Converter output - 12.36


I'll check it in 30 minutes and let ya'll know what I find.

Thanks!!

According to the Intelipower 9100 manual- excessive load can cause low output voltage. But excessive load coming from one circuit should blow that circuits fuse. It could be that the batteries are drawing high current and the addition of more current draw through the fuse block puts it over a current limit point. The next if is, if all the lights are turned off, does it still drop the voltage, if so then you have at least a partial short.

If you leave that fuse out and check that everything else on 12V is working, then that would prove the converter is capable of supplying power. The vent fans and fridge pull enough current to test it at lower currents.

Local auto parts place may have a battery tester that can be adjusted to different loads to test it.

I've tested my PD9140A up to about 35 amps by connecting an inverter to it's output and trying different 120v appliances to draw current from the converter. Trying not to overload the inverter, I didn't find anything that would pull the full 40 amps.


As far as schematics, you may have to draw your own. I've done that for may TC and it really makes electrical issues easy to troubleshoot.

An overload or short circuit would make the PI converter go into basically shutdown mode, and drop its output. It does sound to me like your converter is working properly.

I'm somewhat surprised the fuse for the light circuit didn't blow. I would check that everything is good at the fuse panel before getting too far on, and make sure the fuse is properly sized for the circuit.

In case you are unaware of it, there is a Tiffin RV Network which has a forum and tons of good people with lots of knowledge on the Tiffin coaches. The forum is accessed by clicking "Forum" on the menu on the left of the home page.

Actually the converter HAS a wizard connected to it. I disconnected it for the troubleshooting. It was blinking when I crawled in. I pressed the button and it went solid. Unplugged it after. I sure do appreciate the reply friend. Years ago there was all of us against the wind. Now adays you get enough folks in on the discussion and usually I have found the answer. Thanks again!!

You seem to have a bad 12v light. Check the outside door lamp for water in it. Somebody here in the past had water in his bathroom lamp ISTR. (Good trouble-shooting BTW! :) )

Also, you could get a Charge Wizard for that 9100 if you ever needed to do three-stage charging.