Dim lights

TomG2, you described me to a "T.":) I am proud to say, however, that I know more about converters today than I did yesterday. Thanks to all of you who submitted suggestions. I located a serviceman who came by and checked the unit today, and yes, the converter was not working. He will install a new one Monday or Tuesday. In the interim, we have hooked up a battery charger that a nice RV neighbor offered and everything is working properly. This is a great forum. Thanks again to all of you.

The OP did not indicate that he had the training or tools to do much troubleshooting. Keep it simple. Portable charger will get them by.

Converter fan not coming on........Converter NOT working????

Open the panel where converter fan is.
Should be 120V AC breakers on one side and 12V DC fuses on other side.
Check ALL the 120V AC breakers making sure that the one for converter is actually closed---feeding AC to converter.

Doubt you have 12V DC fuse blown.....

Either 120V AC circuit breaker to converter is tripped or converter is problem

Swapping fridge to propane DIDN'T change anything..actually placed higher demand on DC System.
Both electric and propane for fridge require DC (control panel/circuit board etc) but propane also requires DC for gas valve.

Swap back to electric.

Check battery voltage......don't want battery to go below 12V at battery.
portable battery charger would be best while you are still out camping.

Not a permanent solution, but connecting a portable battery charger should get you through the week. Even a $30 Harbor Freight model will keep the lights lit.

If this is a major park, ask the management if they can offer any basic assistance. If you have made even a passing acquaintance with any of your neighbors, ask them too.

Sometimes it is as simple as the connections at the battery posts looking clean and tight but they are NOT.

EVERY RV OWNER NEEDS TO CARRY A MULTI-METER WITH THEM.
$10 or less at WalMart or Harbor Freight.

In addition, I have a portable 110 V and 12 V meter plugged in all the time too so I can see at a glance that things are still working. Those also are about $10.

The breakers on the pedestal I'm plugged in to all seem ok. Where would I check for a blown 12v fuse?

The lights are 12V, the outlets are 120V. Using the 120V outlets and appliances is fine. What's happening is you're running the 12V stuff off the battery and it's not being replenished by the converter. It could be a tripped 120V breaker, blown 12V fuse or lose wire.

Old Biscuit: We both noticed that we haven't heard the converter fan come on today. We've switched the frig over to propane. The regular electrical outlets seem to all work fine, it's just the built-in trailer lights, frig light, etc. that are dim. Will it harm anything to use the outlets? We hadn't planned on going home till next Friday. I hate cutting our trip short. We're outside most of the day so won't be using the lighting all that much. The television works fine.

Sounds like converter is failing.......

Plugged into 120V AC power converter is supplying DC System and maintaining battery ........if converter output is less then 13.2V DC then it can't maintain battery AND supply DC demand.
Lights dimming is classic sign of failing converter (provided it has 120V AC input)

I guess we'll just try to conserve and make do till I can find someone to call Monday. Seems like there's an unwritten law that mandates that things like this can only happen on late Friday afternoon's.:)