Lights dimming, fridge clicking off and on.

All I've had in my RVs is LP/120vac fridges. What's yours - 120vac or 12vdc with a compressor? Craig

Battery was ok.....less than 6 months old. Power converter was the original from 2007. Everything is running great today.....even turned on AC as the FL Panhandle feels like a pressure cooker this afternoon. Bought this unit late last fall and have been away for a few months. Now it's time to get to know this thing.

Usually what happens is the older single DC voltage converter/charger like what may installed in your 2007 year model will only put out 13.6VDC which over time will boil out the battery fluids... If this hasn't been checked and not re-filled promptly the batteries may take on internal failure and short out a battery cell.

Changing the converter/charger unit to a multi-charge smart mode model will usually resolve this problem.

When the internal battery cell shorts out the on-board convert/charger will really work hard to try to compensate for the battery shorted cell causing your 12VDC ceiling lights and other 12VDC items to dim and do strange things. Over-working of the on-board converter/charger sometimes makes that unit fail as well.

The first thing to do is check your battery fluid levels and get them at the proper fill point. You really need to start looking at your battery cells on a regular basis. I check my battery cell fluid levels ever two weeks even tho I very seldom see them needing maintenance any more since I switched to the smart mode converter/charger.

I use the PD9260C Smart Mode 60AMP converter/charger unit here for my 255AH Battery bank.

By all means like suggested above check the batteries first which may the culprit causing the on-board converter/charger unit doing the dimming your are experiencing. I too would suggest that you change out your older single mode on-board converter/charger unit is that is what you have. These became standard options on the newer trailers starting in 2012 I think it was...

You can check with Mr randy at BESTCONVERTERs and let him come up with a good replacement for your older on-board converter/charger. However don't let Mr Randy talk you into a WFCO product as many of of us have had smart mode problems with those units. The Progressive Dynamics and IOTA models are the most popular ones most of us like to use...

Having an inexpensive MULTIMETER around is a must have tool for making battery measurements. These can be purchased for $7-$25 from many places like LOWES-WALMART-Any number of auto parts stores, or ordered from AMAZON. A fully charged battery will read 12.6-7VDC at the battery terminals when not connected to shore power. When you plug into shore power this reading at the battery terminals will jump to 13.6VDC telling you all is OK with your battery system.

Food for thought...
Roy Ken

bfkendrick wrote:
My 2007 Mountaineer is my full time home. Bought it used last year. Just recently bedroom and bathroom lights will dim, which triggers the lights above the fridge to click off and on. I am new to this....rented RV's in the past but decided to make life simpler and down sized. Living on family property so plugged in to power pole and hooked to septic. Love the lifestyle but electric issues scare me. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

".Just recently.." started using the A/C?


A/C Compressor is stalling, stalled.

I would get the batteries checked before I spent any money. You may only need a new battery.

It is pretty easy. Got it out and went to camping world....ugh. Took the old WFCO 55 amp I disconnected and they sold me the same thing. Then I got home and saw they have another brand on sale for $90 less. Customer service sucks. So which would be better, the WFCO Ultra III 9855 or the PowerMax 55 Amp 3 Stage Converter.

It's not a big job as others have said. Mine was easy to get to once I emptied out the basement.

Wow....thanks for all the helpful info. I only have one place in town that does RV repair and they are super expensive. I think I will order one, use all the info from everyone and ask for help from a friend ?? I know enough to be dangerous when it comes to this kind of stuff. Thanks!

Unfortunate for us, this happened to us this weekend at a state park. Ours was a voltage issue which jacked up converter, zapped microwave, coffee pot and water pump. At least that is all the damage we are aware of at this point. About a year ago we purchased a Progressive Industries hard wired voltage protector but never got it installed :(. The electric Company was in the state park replacing ground wires at every campsite. They disconnected our power, reconnected and drove off. Took about 5 minutes. We went in camper about 30 minutes later and power was going off and on. The electric company was still in the park so I went and asked if what they were doing should be causing us power issues? They said "no" so they came back to check it out. Come to find out, when they took off the cover the first time, they accidentally pulled the neutral wire out causing voltage issues. We will be taking in tomorrow to see for sure what all damage was done but we are out of "camping" commission until repaired. Expensive lesson learned and we will definitely be getting the voltage protector installed before heading on another camping trip.

I just changed the converter in our Big Horn...went from a 60 amp Progressive Dynamics to an 80 amp Progressive Dynamics...hardest part was getting to the converter...then 4 screws, 2 wires and unplug the old...reverse procedure to install 80 amp unit...I did have to change the 120V plug out to a dedicated 20 amp style to accommodate the 20 amp plug on the 80 amp converter...whole job took 90 minutes...

I bought the converter on Amazon...$217.00

Regards