Converter Running Continuously

There should be a placard on those battery empty/full indicators that come with most RV's that says "DO NOT PUSH BATTERY TEST BUTTON UNLESS THE BATTERY HAS BEEN OFF OF ANY CHARGE SOURCE FOR AT LEAST 1 HOUR". So many folks plug in for an hour or 2 and test their battery while still charging and it says it is full so they unplug. Or test it right after unplugging when there is still a surface charge on the battery, then bring their slides in (high load that removes surface charge) and all of a sudden their batteries read 1/3 full. Well they are 1/3 full because they never got fully charged by their WFCO in 2 hours but they think must be bad batteries or a bad charger.

The presence of an AMMETER that indicates just how much power is actually flowing into the battery is a surefire method of determining where the battery stands as far as how charged it is - or isn't.

Specifically NOT the amount of amps the converter is producing. That is a different subject altogether.

The amount of amps actually entering the battery.

Along with an accurate panel voltmeter a panel ammeter is worth its weight in wasted dollar bills. Wasted on blown batteries, ruined trips, and sedatives.

I suspect you may be having the same misunderstanding that I had, which caused me to ruin my first set of batteries.
The voltage charts say 12.6 volts indicates 100% charge. BUT the chart applies only hours after all charging has stopped. Initially the reading is the same as the charging voltage - then it declines as the surface charge is absorbed by the battery chemistry.

It is enlightening to charge a battery for an hour, disconnect the charger, and check the voltage every hour through the day. I found that an hour of charging brought the voltage up to well over 13 volts (all 4 idiot lights lit up to indicate fully charged) but with no load it declined over the next several hours to well under 12.6 volts - meaning it was far from fully charged.

The only way to see the % of full charge at any time is to install a battery monitor which counts the amp-hours of charge going in and out of the batteries.

Check the battery now for excessive heat or gassing/boiling.
Would not be the first time WFCO was suddenly stuck in boost mode (14.4 volts) boiling your battery dry.
Supposed to be limited to 4 hours max.

In reply.

The converter is a WFCO 65w. And when I turn off the battery disconnect the fan on the converter shuts off too.

Hmm, will check the converter fan in the morning as the temps are supposed to get back to the normal/cooler range. Will also talk to my local dealer about the WFCO converter. This converter is only about 1 year old. My Silverback got some lightening damage back in June 2015. The local dealer replaced it at that time and then about a year ago I was having trouble with the converter so they replaced it with another WFCO converter. In other words, this is the 3rd converter in my Silverback in less than 3 years.

WFCO

CONVERTERS

WORK !!!





(against you)

lenr wrote:
Is it a WFCO converter? They often go bad in many different ways in just a few years.

Was going to ask but you beat me to it....

best thing to do with a WFCO is replace the guts with something that actually works.

Leave the battery disconnected and see if converter fan still runs.
If it does, check if refrigerator is not running on 12V or any other stuff.

Is it a WFCO converter? They often go bad in many different ways in just a few years.

In reply.

The battery is brand new last month - an Interstate Marine/RV. I picked up a 2nd battery (same brand/model) last month because a few weeks ago we attended a music festival and no generators allowed. So the new battery was the one I was using on this latest trip along with my Honda gen.

The fan is what is running so I'm assuming it's "running". Of course the weather here in SW Michigan has been in the low 90s for about 5 days in a row. Maybe that's why the fan is on.(?)

I've got a Schumacher charger and will charge up the battery in the garage. Could be that when towing I didn't give it enough time to charge back up, but I would think plugged in at home it would have charged up by now (about 4-5 days). When I unplug the monitor shows 2/3 charge.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be cooler (mid-70s) so I'll drag my neighbor over to help with checking proper voltage. He likes the mechanicals that I'm not knowledgeable about. Thanks for everyone's input.