Converter repair?

Ugh, rockhillmanor, that sounds familiar, except my fridge is fine. I just replaced the converter two years ago. How dreary.

I replaced the start capacitor this spring.

Happy to pay shipping costs for your dead and or dying converters

Mine will do that when it's above 100/105* out. I think it's just high pressure in the a/c unit. Or the start capacitor is going bad.

I know my conv is good.

RJsfishin wrote:
If I was an elect tech, I think I would tell you that your converter has nothing to do w/ your A/C

It has EVERYTHING to do with your air cond AND fridge. They need 12v to run the thermostats. Happened to me.

I had my air come on but go back later and it would be off. Then the fridge didn't seem to stay cold.

THAT is what led us to the converter. The A/C will come on but when it shuts off when it hits the set temp it can't come back on. Same with fridge. And let me correct this, it was a forum member that told me the A/C and fridge needs 12v. Thank you btw! 2 service guys didn't even know that.

Check the output of your converter. I've posted this several times but if it helps you here is what happened.

I had 2 service calls on it. All put a meter on my converter and said it was fine when it hit the appropriate output. Long story short I would hear my converter come on but in a few seconds later (after the mobile repair had gone of course) it would make a very low clicking noise. And of course the A/C would stop and the fridge was still warm.

The third guy I made stay and had him LEAVE the tester on AFTER it reached the appropriate output. The dang converter pegged the meter!!! It was putting out 4 times MORE than what it should, and was also boiling the batteries every time I used it.

We replaced the converter and the A/C and Fridge ran fine.

We opened up that converter and one capacitor looked like someone shot it with buckshot and yet it still was working only it could not regulate itself. Goes both ways too much or too little 12v will affect A/C and Fridge on some model MH's.

Good luck I hope you get to the bottom of your problem faster than I was able to! :B

As far as the air conditioner goes, it will come on just fine, but when the converter shuts off after the set temperature is reached, it cannot seem to come back on. Something similar happens if I shut the A/C completely off then try to turn it back on. It can take a couple hours for it to turn on correctly.

Which just reminded me. Would there be any reason for this to happen based on my use of a 30 to 50 adapter?

Thank you wa8yxm. I will give that a try and report back.

To the original poster..

Technically what I am about to describe is a "Failure of the converter" but.. Well fixing it is a bit easier than you are fearful of.

Most converters have one or two (or more) fuses, these are usually 30 amp, and are often in parallel. They are called "Reverse Polarity" fuses.

SOME converters, if you OPPS your battery, can put out enough current to pop these fuses.

HOW to fix.

Step one, Pre-charge the house batteries using an external automotive type chargber.

2 UNPLUG from shore power (or shut off breaker to converter)

3 Replace the fuses, all of 'em, inspect them as well if they look blown you are likely on the right track, but even if they do not look blown.. Replace 'em.

Hook digital voltmeter to battery and note reading

Plug in (Reset breaker to ON).

Readiong should increase, likely by over a volt though it may only go up a little at first.

RJsfishin wrote:
If I was an elect tech, I think I would tell you that your converter has nothing to do w/ your A/C

Well, as an electroncs technician I would tell you why you are WRONG about that.. in fact I will.

Now this is not 100% So I will qualify.

Air Conditioners come in a couple different flavors for this post.

Some have mechanical controls (Thermostat, fan switch and such) in the ceiling (in the A/C itself) what I am about to say may not apply to these.

Others use electronic controls, which may be in the ceiling, or may use Remote Controls (Infra Red) or use a wall mounted T-Stat.

Most all of these use 12 volt battery power for the control electronics, I mean why build in a power supply when the house has oh, In my case, about 1,000 spare watts of power supply.

So the A/C would not work with the dead battery because the control power was ... Dead.

It is a fiver. The battery was fully charged when I left, hooked to a/c power when I got there and the battery is fully discharged now. All I did was charge it with my battery charger and checked for water.

So glad to hear I may have two problems!

Here is the thread on my a/c issue. I have had this camper since '07 and have been using a camper about 20 weeks a year for 20 years, always hooked to shore power, so I am an experienced camper, but basically have never had electrical issues.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27048066.cfm