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perrodiablo's avatar
perrodiablo
Explorer
Nov 13, 2016

Flickering lights/Heater will not fire

Good morning folks...

I have a 2007 Rockwood Ultralite. First problem is my lights have been dimming low/hi. I can also hear the bathroom fan speeding up/slowing down. Voltage at the battery moves from 13.9 to 12.4 back and forth. Second issue is my Suburban heater will not ignite. The fan start, I hear the igniter clicking, then I can see a blue flame thru the site glass and then it disappears and no heat. Once I turn it off it cycles down and off.

At first i was think the gas regulator, but combined with he flickering lights, I started thinking electrical issue.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
  • Start by checking your battery. Sounds like it is shorted causing the converter to turn charge on and off.
    Voltage problem is causing the sail switch to drop out
  • perrodiablo wrote:
    Voltage at the battery moves from 13.9 to 12.4 back and forth.


    Your battery is not getting fully charged, either because the battery is going bad or (more likely I think) your converter/charger is failing or there is a bad connection between it and the battery.

    13.9 is a common charging voltage for a single stage charger.
    12.4 indicates that the battery is only about 75 percent charged, unless it is under a heavy load for some reason.
  • Just buttoned everything up for the day with no success, however, it is odd that the voltage at my battery is now 15.4 volts. This converter is all over the place. You would think with that voltage and fan speed the sail switch would stay closed.

    But what do i know...just an old RVer trying to save a buck. Thanks to all.
  • Need new converter.
    Get make and model as some have replacement upgraded converter sections at a reasonable price.
  • Converter......failing

    Earlier the voltage was fluctuating. That was causing DC issues with furnace

    NOW voltage is too high..... over 13.5V at the circuit boards (furnace/water heater/fridge) can damage them

    15.4V BAD BAD BAD

    Bad for circuit boards, bad for electronics, bad for batteries

    Bad Bad BAD