Strange Electrical Issue

[cswinford]

Thanks in advance to anyone that helps us solve this mystery.

We were in St Louis yesterday and left for Kansas which means we were on the road for about 9 hours. I tell you this simply to say that my battery did charge during that drive time. I'll also say that we haven't experienced any electrical issues up to this point.

We arrived in Kansas last night and plugged into 30 amp shore power. We noticed the interior lights were very dim but didn't think too much of it.

I woke up this morning and started noticing electrical issues, such as the refrigerator was off and would try to start but couldn't. The furnace would try to start but couldn't. The water heater would try to light but couldn't. The built in stereo would try to come on but just flickered off/on. It seemed that everything on the 12 volt side was having issues; as if it wasn't getting enough amperage. I shut down all the interior lights and was able to get some stuff to come on but it was very limited.

This led me to believe that we had a bad battery because I knew it had plenty of charge from the drive the day before. The strange thing is that when I removed the battery altogether the 12 volt was operating perfectly. All lights were bright and everything worked as it should (I'm still plugged into shore power at this point).

I took the battery to a local Advanced Auto and they checked it. Surprisingly to me, they told me the battery was just fine.

So now I'm scratching my head. Do I have a bad converter? What else could it be?

Thanks!
Chad
http://longlongwaytotipperary.com

[MrVan]

cswinford wrote:

JamesBr wrote:
Based on your other thread you mentioned a breaker panel as the WFCO converter part number. My searched turned up that the part number is only the 30/50 amp breaker panel, but compatible with a WFCO 9800 series converter. I still think you should check to see if the fan is working, as your problem sounds like thermal protection with it working intermitently.

As for autozone or advanced auto, they use the same tests used by shops. They are pretty accurate on the battery being good or not and can even dected how much CCA is left in the batteries. Only the big heavy load testers (not the handheld) can detect aH or Amp hour capacity. But from what I found, CCA capacity even in 6v, when they get below half, the battery is done.

JamesBr


You're right about the part number being the panel only. I'm learning as I go here. I dug into the unit and took the front cover off only to find that the converter was not in the same compartment. Instead, I found a 110 plug (like a three prong house plug) in the back of the panel leading to another cavity. I went into the basement wall and found the converter back there. I put everything inside back together and put a load on the converter and the fan did not come on.

The oddest thing to me was that the converter plugged into the back of the power panel with a three prong plug. Is that normal?

I'm having trouble following the logic of what you are doing but the fan may not come on until it has been under a heavy load for a period of time. Have you taken any voltage measurements at the converter and/or battery yet?

[Artum_Snowbird]

Another worthwhile purchase is a laser thermometer. You can point it around the converter area and find hot wires so easily with one of these. Once again, from the beginning, my converter was pumping out all it could do but all of that power was being wasted heating wires that were not tight instead of putting electrical energy into the battery.

As others have said, you need to see exactly what is on the converter output connections and not on the wires themselves. My laser thermometer would have shot up to almost 175 degrees compared to the solid connections at room temperature.

[cswinford]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

You also need to either drive faster, get a better tow vehicle or get a better GPS. St Louis to the Kansas line is only about 250 miles. Really shouldn't take you 9 hours Good luck with your problem.

Thanks for the response. I didn't suggest that I stopped at the Kansas state line. It's a big state.

[westernrvparkow]

You may have several problems. Check all the battery cables, including the cables that connect the batteries to each other and the main cable to your converter. Often they corrode inside the casing and will test just fine when checking voltage or when testing resistance, but they will not be able to handle any load. Best way to test them is to tug and bend them, if there is little to no resistance as you would expect with intact wiring, change them out.
You also need to either drive faster, get a better tow vehicle or get a better GPS. St Louis to the Kansas line is only about 250 miles. Really shouldn't take you 9 hours Good luck with your problem.

[cswinford]

JamesBr wrote:
Based on your other thread you mentioned a breaker panel as the WFCO converter part number. My searched turned up that the part number is only the 30/50 amp breaker panel, but compatible with a WFCO 9800 series converter. I still think you should check to see if the fan is working, as your problem sounds like thermal protection with it working intermitently.

As for autozone or advanced auto, they use the same tests used by shops. They are pretty accurate on the battery being good or not and can even dected how much CCA is left in the batteries. Only the big heavy load testers (not the handheld) can detect aH or Amp hour capacity. But from what I found, CCA capacity even in 6v, when they get below half, the battery is done.

JamesBr
You're right about the part number being the panel only. I'm learning as I go here. I dug into the unit and took the front cover off only to find that the converter was not in the same compartment. Instead, I found a 110 plug (like a three prong house plug) in the back of the panel leading to another cavity. I went into the basement wall and found the converter back there. I put everything inside back together and put a load on the converter and the fan did not come on.

The oddest thing to me was that the converter plugged into the back of the power panel with a three prong plug. Is that normal?

[JamesBr]

Based on your other thread you mentioned a breaker panel as the WFCO converter part number. My searched turned up that the part number is only the 30/50 amp breaker panel, but compatible with a WFCO 9800 series converter. I still think you should check to see if the fan is working, as your problem sounds like thermal protection with it working intermitently.

As for autozone or advanced auto, they use the same tests used by shops. They are pretty accurate on the battery being good or not and can even dected how much CCA is left in the batteries. Only the big heavy load testers (not the handheld) can detect aH or Amp hour capacity. But from what I found, CCA capacity even in 6v, when they get below half, the battery is done.

[cswinford]

lawaco12 wrote:
do you have a battery charger that you can hook to battery. if that keeps things bright then you know its your converter. that's how I found my problem was a bad converter

That's a fine idea but we are on the road and without a battery charger. I do have a jump starter but that's a bit different.

[lawaco12]

do you have a battery charger that you can hook to battery. if that keeps things bright then you know its your converter. that's how I found my problem was a bad converter

[cswinford]

MrVan wrote:

cswinford wrote:
I'm thinking about replacing the battery even though I was told it was good. I hate to spend the $100+ and then still find out that I need a converter on top of that.

The OP hasn't responded on how the battery was tested. If it wasn't tested under a heavy load the current results are probably not valid.

It was tested however places like Advanced Auto and AutoZone test batteries; with a handheld tester. So I doubt it was put under a load.

[MrVan]

cswinford wrote:
I'm thinking about replacing the battery even though I was told it was good. I hate to spend the $100+ and then still find out that I need a converter on top of that.

The OP hasn't responded on how the battery was tested. If it wasn't tested under a heavy load the current results are probably not valid.

[cswinford]

I'm thinking about replacing the battery even though I was told it was good. I hate to spend the $100+ and then still find out that I need a converter on top of that.

[soling2003]

The one other test to do is to make sure the batteries are fully charged, then unplug the rig from shorepower and see how the 12v. systems work. That takes the inverter out of the equation. and as stated before, 12.5 v isn't really a fully charged battery.

Good luck. You just have to isolate each part of the system one at a time to see what is happening.

[JamesBr]

I saw your post about the converter you have. What you listed in the spec was your 120 panel which is 30/50amp capable and compatible with the WFCO 9800 series converters. But no matter what converter you have it will have a variable speed fan with termal protection.

[okiejoe]

Classic Converter problems, replace it.