Would this be safe?

[mgirardo]

I am currently experiencing a problem with my converter/charger. Unfortunately at this hour I can't get a replacement and need to be able to keep my full fridge running. I can run the MH's engine to charge the house battery, but I don't want to do that overnight since we are in a campground.

Would it be safe to connect a battery charger to the house battery to charge the battery while the MH is on shore power?

Thanks,

-Michael

[mgirardo]

Thanks for the follow-up all. The charger didn't actually help. The battery ran down over night. I'm guessing the battery was in such poor shape it would not take a charge from the charger and it kept the converter/charger from working as well.

I replaced the battery and all is well now. We are almost 2 weeks into a 6 week trip and this the the 3rd issue we had with the MH.

I don't have reliable internet access where we are, so I grabbed our packet with all our manuals, etc and went to a reliable internet source. I knew we had an IOTA DLS 45, but for some reason we also had a Progressive Dynamics manual for the PD9200 series charger/converter, so that really threw me for a loop
I guess someone with a Jayco RV is missing the manual for their PD9200 series converter/ charger.

Thanks again,

-Michael

[wa8yxm]

There is little difference between a SMART charger and a modern 3-stage converter.. The major difference is you may have to restart the charger manually from time to time, where as the converter does that automatically.

And please note the key word MAY in that sentence, implies it might not be needed as well.

[rjf7g]

I ran a jump pack in parallel with my house battery for weeks without any issues until I could have my charger replaced. It worked like a champ!

[RoyB]

Be sure to check the fuses associated with REVERSE POLARITY - might be all that is wrong with your converter. Usually one hooks up the batteries in reverse which blows those two large fuses...

I also have a in-line fuse real close to the battery bank but the newer trailers I think have a auto reset circuit breaker there now...

We carry a 40amp smart mode BLACK and Decker VEC1093DBD just to charge our battery if we need to. A great PLAN B...

If you have ad your batteries disconnected before starting to have problems with your converter you might want to check your battery polarity. Find the words NEG or the SYMBOL '-' and make sure this is the cable going to the trailer frame ground...

Since you said you have been charging your battery by running the MH motor you are problem ok I would check anyway haha...

Roy Ken

[SCVJeff]

newman fulltimer wrote:
yes but flip the breaker on the converter off or unhook it

shouldnt make any difference. It's likely diode isolated, and is akin to paralleling chargers that several around here do

[newman_fulltime]

yes but flip the breaker on the converter off or unhook it

[mgirardo]

Great thanks! I appreciate the quick responses.

-Michael

[Ductape]

No problem at all. Just mind your polarity as always.

[accsys]

Absolutely, that's what I would do.