Morning.....First camping trip was last weekend in our hybrid trailer. No power so used battery and generator. Last year the battery would last quite a while. This time it lasted til about midnight both nights (woken by the blaring carbon monoxide detector LOL). Was running the heat, but that didnt matter in the past. Did a little poking (I am no electrical guy). Noticed that when the generator was plugged in the 4 electrical charge gauge lights were only 2 high. Last year they were 4. When I plug it in, it's only 3. I also noticed that when I turn off the breaker for the fridge, the lights dim and then go out. Took ff the cover and the fridge breaker also has the wire to the inverter. So when I turn off that breaker, the battery isn't charging anymore. But, why would the lights dim? Any way to check for a bad breaker? Any help would be greatly appreciated....

Two things contradict:With shore power on that means the converter (not inverter) should be on and that means you should get all the lights on the monitor even with no battery at all showing "full". Two or three out of four would indicated no converter on, just what the battery is doing.But, turning off the breaker to the converter (bright lights if the converter is working) would put you on battery (dimmer lights) so converter must have been workingSo either the converter works or it doesn't, which is it?

was your battery charged,before the trip? converters are nice but can,t handle everything all at one time, also you should run your frig on propane .it,ll work better and save your battery.

Converter is working. The battery was charged before leaving. Not sure if fully, but I had it plugged in all day before leaving. Then when I leave I switch the fridge to propane for the rermainder of the trip. One more thing. Not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but my Nuker sh%t the bed. Plug works, but nuker doesnt. Think that is unrelated though. I have it plugged in now and the cpu fans are on meaning the charging system is working I believe. I'll give it a few hours and see where it's at. If charged, I'll unplug and watch it and see what it does.

With shore power on so converter working, you should show all four lights on plus out at the battery you should be getting at least 13.6v across the battery posts. If all you get at the battery is 12.x, then you have an open on the converter-battery path.That is usually the battery disconnect switch you operate, or else the battery fuse on the pos wire near the battery. That "fuse" might be a DC circuit breaker instead. If so, some of those can be reset by pushing a little black button.

If you have one battery, and are using lights and the furnace, you were lucky to get as much time as you did. With the battery as low as yours was the generator should have run around 12 hours to fully recharge it. If you have a multi-stage charger which would start charging soon at 14.4 volts, and then fall to 13.6 volts the charging time could have been 3 to 4 hours.I suspect you have not been monitoring battery condition with a multi-meter (tested @ battery-terminals). Your battery most likely did not get recharged "fully" most times during the first camping season and while stored.Your battery may be sulfated from misuse and has much lower capacity from when new.

Going to try to explain this....LOL...Need help

BFL13
Explorer II
Apr 08, 2014
Two things contradict:

With shore power on that means the converter (not inverter) should be on and that means you should get all the lights on the monitor even with no battery at all showing "full". Two or three out of four would indicated no converter on, just what the battery is doing.

But, turning off the breaker to the converter (bright lights if the converter is working) would put you on battery (dimmer lights) so converter must have been working

So either the converter works or it doesn't, which is it?
midnightsadie
Explorer II
Apr 08, 2014
was your battery charged,before the trip? converters are nice but can,t handle everything all at one time, also you should run your frig on propane .it,ll work better and save your battery.
Shwthomas1975
Explorer
Apr 08, 2014
Converter is working. The battery was charged before leaving. Not sure if fully, but I had it plugged in all day before leaving. Then when I leave I switch the fridge to propane for the rermainder of the trip. One more thing. Not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but my Nuker sh%t the bed. Plug works, but nuker doesnt. Think that is unrelated though. I have it plugged in now and the cpu fans are on meaning the charging system is working I believe. I'll give it a few hours and see where it's at. If charged, I'll unplug and watch it and see what it does.
BFL13
Explorer II
Apr 08, 2014
With shore power on so converter working, you should show all four lights on plus out at the battery you should be getting at least 13.6v across the battery posts. If all you get at the battery is 12.x, then you have an open on the converter-battery path.

That is usually the battery disconnect switch you operate, or else the battery fuse on the pos wire near the battery. That "fuse" might be a DC circuit breaker instead. If so, some of those can be reset by pushing a little black button.
MNtundraRet
Navigator
Apr 08, 2014
If you have one battery, and are using lights and the furnace, you were lucky to get as much time as you did. With the battery as low as yours was the generator should have run around 12 hours to fully recharge it. If you have a multi-stage charger which would start charging soon at 14.4 volts, and then fall to 13.6 volts the charging time could have been 3 to 4 hours.

I suspect you have not been monitoring battery condition with a multi-meter (tested @ battery-terminals). Your battery most likely did not get recharged "fully" most times during the first camping season and while stored.

Your battery may be sulfated from misuse and has much lower capacity from when new.
beemerphile1
Explorer
Apr 08, 2014
MNtundraRet wrote:

...I suspect you have not been monitoring battery condition with a multi-meter (tested @ battery-terminals). Your battery most likely did not get recharged "fully" most times during the first camping season and while stored.

Your battery may be sulfated from misuse and has much lower capacity from when new.

True that and we also don't know what abuse the battery suffered during the winter.
donn0128
Explorer II
Apr 08, 2014
Have you ever checked the acid level in the battery? Have you ever cleaned the posts? How old is the battery?

Take the battery out, fully charge it and take it to a battery store for a load test.
Shwthomas1975
Explorer
Apr 08, 2014
I don't have a multimeter to test, but will get one tonight :) The battery was new at the end of last season. And it always had 4 lights after charged. And the 4 lights always came on when plugged in. Now, I get 3 lights when plugged in and after being plugged in for a while as soon as I unplug it drops to 1 light.
Sounds like I need a meter.
Thanks again. Last year was our first time at this and there is so much to learn....
Walmart carry these meters? Which kind do you guys recommend? Not even sure what it weould be called...besides multimeter
Shwthomas1975
Explorer
Apr 08, 2014
Battery was charged and negative disconnected at the end of the year. Should I have brought it inside? Maybe a little blanket... ;)
BTPO1
Explorer
Apr 08, 2014
Shwthomas1975 wrote:
I don't have a multimeter to test, but will get one tonight :) The battery was new at the end of last season. And it always had 4 lights after charged. And the 4 lights always came on when plugged in. Now, I get 3 lights when plugged in and after being plugged in for a while as soon as I unplug it drops to 1 light.
Sounds like I need a meter.
Thanks again. Last year was our first time at this and there is so much to learn....
Walmart carry these meters? Which kind do you guys recommend? Not even sure what it weould be called...besides multimeter

I am not sure if Walmart carries mutimeters, but Harbor Freight, Lowes, and Home Depot, Sears do. For what you are going to use it for it does not need to be an expensive one but should be digital. JMO

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