Forum Discussion

Bemota's avatar
Bemota
Explorer
Dec 19, 2015

interior lights

I'm having an issue with myinside lights. They ramdomly go from dim to bright. I have a WFCO 55 amp charger, that goes from 14.3 to 13.2, on a 1 minute cycle. I'm on 50 amp shore power at a campground, my EMS tells me that I'm drawing 118-120 volts and about 10 amps on each leg. Other than the coach lights, furnace and etc. I have a 12V electric cooler in the basement for DW's insulin. I think the charger is going further south then I am, thinking about replacing it, should I go to a 65 amp or larger? This is a keystone cougar 2011 326MKS I got used last May. I have 2 12V batteries that run everything for over 4 hrs when I turn the converter off. Should I stay with WFCO ? Whats better, any help would be great. Thanks, Dan

Sorry for so long !!!
  • Bemota's avatar
    Bemota
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2015
    I just checked the voltage same lights on now, goes from 9.3 to 10.7 volts without batteries. Dan
  • Bemota's avatar
    Bemota
    Explorer
    Dec 20, 2015
    Hi, last night I turned my battery switch off, so running on converter, 3 #1076 bulbs (ceiling lights) flickered like turn signal lights and were dim, turned ading light on (double 921's) everything got brighter and quit flickering, guess a new converter is needed, I didn't find a place to load test batteries yet, Thanks again, Dan
  • Bobbo's avatar
    Bobbo
    Explorer II
    Dec 20, 2015
    MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
    Bobbo your HF carbon pile is better than a La Z Boy cheese grater tinker toy tester. An impedance handheld tester would suffice.

    I have absolutely no idea what this means.
  • MEXICOWANDERER's avatar
    MEXICOWANDERER
    Explorer
    Dec 19, 2015
    Bobbo your HF carbon pile is better than a La Z Boy cheese grater tinker toy tester. An impedance handheld tester would suffice.

    Shut off yhe breaker for the WhiffCo. If the lights remain constant the converter needs to go to China. Big converter chargers are for boondocking. 55 is plenty for power pedestal use.
  • Bobbo's avatar
    Bobbo
    Explorer II
    Dec 19, 2015
    Any auto parts store can load test batteries. Be sure the batteries are fully charged first, even if you have to put a stand alone battery charger on them.

    Heck, if you were in TN, I would tell you to bring them to my house. I have a 500 amp carbon pile load tester.
  • Bemota's avatar
    Bemota
    Explorer
    Dec 19, 2015
    Thanks for the replies, I'm north of Oceanside ca. Where or who could load test batteries, I have to take a wall down to get to the converter to check it out. Thanks again, Dan
  • time2roll's avatar
    time2roll
    Nomad
    Dec 19, 2015
    Disconnect the battery and see if the voltage continues to fluctuate.
    WFCO will run the Rv just fine with no battery... if it is working correctly.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Dec 19, 2015
    I have 2 12V batteries that run everything for over 4 hrs when I turn the converter off. .....:H
    Two 12V should last 2 days.not 4 hours.

    WFCOs are NOT the best but I would pull batteries and have them load tested first.

    Lights getting bright then going dim and converter output fluctuating sounds like a converter going bad BUT could also be bad battery cell(s)

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