Forum Discussion

Your_Pal's avatar
Your_Pal
Explorer
Sep 28, 2015

Bad converter?

How do I know if my converter is bad? I has a slight buzzing sound coming from it. The fan is spinning. My slide comes in and out slowly as well.
I want to clean the battery cables. They look fine but I would like to eliminate that as a cause. Is it the neg. or pos. that I remove first. Also I have only 2 house batteries. Is it always in pairs of two? If so, if I have enough room in the compartment, could I add two more thus increasing the house battery power on hand.

Thanks
Rico
2006 Coachmen Cross Country
  • if you have a volt meter you could check the voltage at the battery terminals. Should be at least 13.4 if your converter is working. Good luck.
  • My fridge stopped working on AC- I measured the input from the 12V supply coming from the converter and when I turned on more likes in the RV the voltage dropped to 8V- and the fridge shut off.
  • Removing the negative first is safer because you might touch the frame or any grounded metal around the battery with the tool your using while trying to remove the positive first.
  • Your Pal wrote:
    Also I have only 2 house batteries. Is it always in pairs of two? If so, if I have enough room in the compartment, could I add two more thus increasing the house battery power on hand.
    You can have 3 12V batteries. If 6V then they must be in pairs. A pair produces 12V and you can have 2 pairs in parallel known as a series/parallel connection. ie 4x 6V batteries.

    But before any upgrade it might be wise to figure out if you need/want to go down that road and all of the pros/cons associated with a larger battery bank.
  • Some months ago while having other repairs done on my coach, I asked the mechanic to check the "voltage system".

    He said my power CONverter was weak...and altho it still did the job OK, it was (according to him)borderline failure.

    He recommended I get a new one and the installation was so simple, "even you can do it"

    So...going online I found a PARALLAX 55 amp unit for about 200 bucks. My coach is a 2001....and the "new" technology...what a difference. The old one was HUGE and heavy. The new one is very lightweight and small. 2 wires and a copper chassis ground. Mounting it was no problem, however, due to the difference in the size and location, I could not use the screw-holes provided in the new unit. It's so light...that I used a strip of VELCRO to keep it from wandering around. It works!