converter breaker tripped

[rtreptow7]

Converter= WFCo 9865
Was dry camping for 5 weeks. Using Honda 2000 every day to give the 2 12V batteries a charge and charge up everyones devices. Some days ran generator for 6+ hours, some days a couple hours only. Batteries are brand new Interstate deep cycle SRM24. Unfortunately I wasn't at the campsite all the time because of work, but I got a call one day saying the batteries seem low and they had been running the generator every day too. When I got back to camp a couple days later, the breaker was tripped on the converter. What would cause that to trip? I did have a post on here about my generator ramping up every 20-30 minutes for just a few seconds. It didn't do that anymore after the converter breaker tripped. Won't be dry camping again for a couple months. Think something is wrong with the converter? Is this a decent converter? Should I consider replacing it? Camper is brand new this year. I am getting a battery monitor to more closely monitor my batteries too. Suggestions? Thank you.

[wa8yxm]

The breaker may be too small for the 9865 Let's see 65 amps at 14.5 volts is 942 watts Figure a power factor of .7 and we have a draw of 1345 divide that by 110 (low voltage this week) we have 12.23 amps If the connection is not 100% the unit may draw enough to overload the breaker if batteries are low

[pianotuna]

Your converter may be starting to fail.

I prefer solar charging to any other method.

My panels are 14 years old and still put out the same number of amps as when they were new.

[time2roll]

Yes that is odd. Reset and let it run. Instruct the operator how to reset a breaker.
If it starts happening on a regular basis I would start by replacing the breaker.

Also check if the WFCO is actually putting 14+ volts on the battery. More likely you are just trickle charging at 13.6 and wasting time and fuel to make more noise.

[rtreptow7]

time2roll wrote:
Breaker on the converter? You mean the breaker in the power center? Or the output fuses?

I would speculate by some miracle the 9865 finally shifted to boost mode and the 15a breaker tripped. Is the breaker shared with the fridge? Anything else?

Is this a decent converter? Generally I say no. Much better off with a 45 to 60 amp IOTA, Progressive Dynamics or Boondocker. Especially for charging on generator power.

I meant to say breaker for the converter tripped. So yes, breaker at the power center tripped. Nothing else is on this breaker. It's a 20 amp breaker.

[time2roll]

Breaker on the converter? You mean the breaker in the power center? Or the output fuses?

I would speculate by some miracle the 9865 finally shifted to boost mode and the 15a breaker tripped. Is the breaker shared with the fridge? Anything else?

Is this a decent converter? Generally I say no. Much better off with a 45 to 60 amp IOTA, Progressive Dynamics or Boondocker. Especially for charging on generator power.

[Artum_Snowbird]

If the connection to the batteries from the converter is bad, either positive or negative, the batteries will not show a high voltage when charging and will not get a good charge.

It sounds like you have done everything right, but you need to have a battery voltage meter (mine cost $3 from China). That will show you what level your batteries are at.

If you are charging by plugging in the camper with Honda 2K 120 volt power, the converter should put out 13.6 volts, and you should see that at the batteries. If you do not see that, check right on the converter output terminals. If you see it there, check the tightness of the wires on the converter terminals, both the positive and the negative wire that feed the battery.

In my case, I was plugged in to power, and the negative wire on the converter was so loose the converter was putting out full power but the batteries were not getting any of it and they were getting lower and lower in their voltage.