[SOLVED]New Class C Owner Power Issues

[thefuzz4]

Hey there everyone,

So we just upgraded from a popup to our first RV. We got a 1996 Coachman Leprechaun.

So after leaving it plugged into the house for several days we noticed that the batteries just kept getting lower and lower on their charge.

With our popup when we had it plugged in we could hear the converter knocking the voltage down with a suttle hum, however with this I can't hear any sound at all coming out of it and I've taken a voltmeter to the batteries while it was plugged in to see if there was any signs of juice going to the batteries and it just reads in at 9v which I know is a bad place for the batteries to be at. We also noticed that while plugged into shore power it is only powering the 110 items and nothing 12v. Same goes when we fire up the generator as well which leads me to believe that the converter is bad.

So coming from the popup world over to this new world brings me with new questions. The popup was easy it just ran off of its battery and it was happy.

This we now have either shore or gen power along with the batteries and I know that there is a ATS switch to transfer the power between shore and gen.

I firmly believe that I am in need of a new converter for this. Does the power converter contain the ATS inside of it? Or is this a separate device elsewhere? I know that the ATS works because well we watched it tonight do its magic.

We looked at this http://amzn.com/B004LF14Q4 but since I wasn't sure if the ATS was included inside of this or not I just don't know lol.

If not does anyone have any recommendations on a converter that will get the job done. Thank you all in advance for your help with this.

EDIT: Also wanted to mention that when we run the main engine it does charge the batteries. We let it run today for like 45mins while we were doing other things inside of it and it brought the Batteries back up to the G (Good) level on the tester. I didn't stick a volt meter back on them when we shut it back off but I did make sure to turn off the battery disconnect. We did also find some terminal connections under the step that are a bit corroded so thats on our list of things to replace here soon before our first trip.

[DrewE]

Glad you found the problem. I've seen enough bad terminals on battery cables (in various vehicles/applications) to try to remember to check them whenever there's a problem; it's not a rare condition.

Sometimes it's easier and just as cost effective to buy a whole new premade cable, particularly if the other end is showing signs of corrosion or whatever. Generally you're looking for a "switch to starter" cable of an appropriate gauge and length.

By the way, the WFCO 9855 is almost certainly an upgrade from the original converter. It's a reasonably modern three-stage converter, though I gather sometimes recalcitrant to switch into bulk mode (or whatever they call their high-speed charge mode).

[Sam_Spade]

thefuzz4 wrote:
We'll have it all fixed up and ready to go before our first trip of the season. Thank you all so much for your help with this.

ALL RV owners need a multi-meter.

Things like this will come up again and a meter makes things much easier.

First verify circuit breakers and fuses.
Then check input voltages and connections.

Often removing things to "bench test" them causes more trouble than it solves.

[thefuzz4]

Oh and btw the converter is a WFCO 9855 series. The thing looked like it was brand new

[thefuzz4]

Thanks @cousin_Eddie93

So we went a huntin inside to find the converter. It was located behind the drawer to the left of the cabinet that the distribution center is located at. We took the converter out and did a bench test with a battery to see what it would do. Viola it started to charge the battery. So ok the converter works woohoo. So we put it back inside the camper and then started the process of diagnosing the problem. Traced the hot from the converter underneath to the battery box located below the step. We just touched the wire and it broke from its ring. The entire connector there is completely corroded, and there is also a lot of rust on the other ring connectors and terminal posts inside there so gonna have my father in law who is a mechanic come over and put new connectors on everything and new battery cable where needed. 2 owners ago the owner added 4 batteries to this camper so the whole thing has 6 granted 1 of them is for the engine. We thought initially it was just taking a while to charge all 5 of them but turns out just some nasty wires. We'll have it all fixed up and ready to go before our first trip of the season. Thank you all so much for your help with this.

[Cousin_Eddie93]

Best converters will have a replacement for just about any converter. Installs in 15 minutes inside your existing casing and will do wonders for your batteries and your rig for $200-300. Best money I ever spent on my old 93 ford chassis C.

http://www.bestconverter.com

[thefuzz4]

@mits22: Not sure on that since we've only had it since last Friday but I'm assuming its all original in there.
@drewe: Yeah we're going to go out there and try your suggestions and see what we can find out. We're going to go dig around in there and see if we can find the converter. Our panel is inside of the sink cabinet underneath the shelf. Not a bad location for it nice and easy to get to. So I'm assuming that the converter should be somewhere in that area as well since that is also where the shore power cord is at as well.

[DrewE]

It does sound as though the converter isn't converting for some reason.

Do verify that you actually have 120V power at the converter. Just because other circuits in the RV have 120V power doesn't necessarily mean that the converter does; its breaker could be tripped in the RV power panel, or it might be on the GFCI circuit and the GFCI is tripped (it's often in the bathroom, with other protected outlets chained off of it), or there could be other wiring problems. It's also possible that the 12V wiring between the converter and the batteries is somehow broken or disconnected, maybe due to a bad ground or a failed self-resetting circuit breaker or fuse.

On my '98 Coachmen Santara, the converter is not part of the power center/fuse box, but is a separate deck mounted unit...in my case, behind a panel underneath a little pantry area. There's no telling offhand if your motorhome is the same in that regard.

I replaced my original converter with a PD 9245. I've no complaints with the replacement; it works well, and works very quietly.

[mlts22]

Was the converter replaced at any time? The first thing I'd do is toss that converter and buy a multi-stage unit. They are not too expensive, and they do wonders for prolonging battery life.

[thefuzz4]

Yeah we know that the converter is getting 110 to it since the microwave turns on and with the gen on I can run the AC. I won't run the AC off of my house power since its on the garage circuit at 20A and well the AC is on a 20A breaker in the RV so no need to try to trip the house breaker. Thank you for your help with this and do you think that unit that I shared will do the job?

[Germania]

Make sure the converter is getting 110V to it(chk ckt brkrs or fuses feeding it)if they're OK chances are the converter is no good. The ATS is not part of the converter. Good Luck