Battery Issue?

[DD716TED]

We are camping and I noticed something that I had never noticed in the 11 years we have owned the trailer.. We are plugged into pedestal power. When nothing that requires 12 volts is on, the 12v power monitor meter reads 13.7 volts dc.. However when the refrigerator is on (not on gas), the dc power drops to 12.6 vdc AND when the furnace cycles on with refrigerator on, lights dim and 12 v power monitor meter drops to 11.7 volts dc.. Don't ever remember seeing this in the past..ARE MY BATTERYS FAILING? Help please.. easier to find new batteries on Saturday than Sunday when camping..

[time2roll]

DD716TED wrote:
I am replacing the MBA in my WFCO WF-8955PEC power center with a Boondocker BD 1255MBA 55 amp, 4 stage MBA. No instructions came with the Boondocker unit however, I believe it is the same as the "Powermax" PCMB-55-MBA. I found some instructions on INET for Powermax, but they are very poorly written and make little sense. Installing the circuit board and associated wiring is a breeze, but the instructions on how/when to adjust the fixed voltage circuit switch/potentiometer are a joke.. they jump all over.. Has anyone installed this particular Boondocker board and did you even bother to adjust the "fixed voltage"? or maybe even a better question, did you find better instructions on how to do it?

No need to adjust the voltage. Should work out of the box just fine.

[DD716TED]

New converter installed..All works great.. Thank you for all the inputs / help..

[BFL13]

DD716TED wrote:
Thank you for the response..The one question I have is.. when installing the circuit, do you only connect the AV 115v.. then adjust the switch/potentionmeter to the correct DC Output, then turn off AC ,then connect the battery / dc circuits (fuses), re-energize AC and check that all is working properly..thanks again for your help..

It should come with the mode switch set to three-stage and the pot at 14.6v so you don't need to do anything if that is how you will be leaving it--except you can check the DC voltage is indeed 14.6(ish) before connecting to the battery.

If it is not at 14.6, tweak the pot till it is. Tweaking the pot will change the voltage for all the stages in three-stage mode, so you want to get it started at 14.6 to get 13.6 and 13.2 later when it gets to there.

BTW, there is no 4th stage like with some that do a shot of 14.6 every so often when it is Floating. You have to do that yourself. Real "Equalizing" is done using the single stage mode and set to say 16.2v for wet Trojan batts eg.

Otherwise, you can make sure there is no battery voltage at the DC fuse panel (various ways to do that--eg take the wires off one battery post) and connect the converter wires to the DC fuse panel and measure Dc voltage at the lugs there with meter or from your battery monitor, whatever you have.

Or you could check the DC output voltage with a meter on those wires before putting them on the DC fuse panel.
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It should start at 14.6 and stay there about 30 minutes then drop to 13.6. That is too short a time usually.

If you want longer at 14.6, just pull the 120v to it and turn the 120v back on and it will do another 30 minutes, repeat as desired. Or use the single stage mode set to any voltage and it will stay at that till you change the voltage to something else.

I choose to use the single stage mode all the time and leave it at say 14.8v or whatever that is for the temperature the batts are at--eg 14.6 is for 80F but is 15.2 at 35F. So you can do your own temperature compensation.

I leave it at 14.8 till amps taper right down and SG is near 1.300 (wet 6s) and then manually drop it to 13.6. Or with AGMs leave it at 14.4 till amps are down to 0.5a/100AH of battery, then drop to 13.6.

LFP should not be left at 14.x for very long after they are full, so also with them drop to 13.6 for Float time.

That converter with adjustable voltage lets you meet all charging specs for the various types of battery. But you have to do the manual work--it is not fire and forget except in three-stage mode, and that will not meet many battery charging specs as you will know. You could leave it in three-stage if you are always on shore power of course.

[DD716TED]

Thank you for the response..The one question I have is.. when installing the circuit, do you only connect the AV 115v.. then adjust the switch/potentionmeter to the correct DC Output, then turn off AC ,then connect the battery / dc circuits (fuses), re-energize AC and check that all is working properly..thanks again for your help..

[BFL13]

https://powermaxconverters.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/PM3-mba-LK-Manual-2018.pdf

In my previous post, I mentioned that the adjustable voltage controls might be inaccessible once the unit is installed, but am not sure about that.

EDIT: Can you install it the other way around so the open board is to the front? That way you could get at A and B. Kind if loony of them to have the MBA with the LK feature if you can't get at it!!! 😞 Or else don't use the MBA, but get a deck mount so you can turn it the right way to get the two holes in front )

If you can get at the two controls A and B as seen in the above link, it is easy to do with a small screwdriver in the voltage pot when the other switch is made to "single stage". I have the deck mount LK and it is easy to operate A and B.

In the deck mount LKs, they have two holes in the side to get at A and B, which are open on the board in the MBA version, as seen in the above link.

If you just want it for the three stage operation, set it for that with switch A making sure the voltage is set to the right value on the pot so it does the right voltages in all three stages. ( It is confusing but read it carefully--if you mess up don't worry it won't break--just go back to square one and set it up.

Big thing is to have your voltmeter on it when turning the pot so you can see what you are doing, and not have it connected to the battery yet. Connecting to the battery skews the voltage you see on the meter. You just want to see pure converter voltage.

[DD716TED]

I am replacing the MBA in my WFCO WF-8955PEC power center with a Boondocker BD 1255MBA 55 amp, 4 stage MBA. No instructions came with the Boondocker unit however, I believe it is the same as the "Powermax" PCMB-55-MBA. I found some instructions on INET for Powermax, but they are very poorly written and make little sense. Installing the circuit board and associated wiring is a breeze, but the instructions on how/when to adjust the fixed voltage circuit switch/potentiometer are a joke.. they jump all over.. Has anyone installed this particular Boondocker board and did you even bother to adjust the "fixed voltage"? or maybe even a better question, did you find better instructions on how to do it?

[wa8yxm]

Suspect list.. First you mentioned the fridge was NOT ON GAS. What was it one. Fridge on 12 volts draws around 20 amps or more. On AC it draws or gas only a few amps DC.

Furnace draws major power for the blower.

Suspect list in no particular order
Batteries, Converter, Dirty connections, Bad cable.

I've had 'em all. .

[BFL13]

Had to look up "pin terminal" got:

https://www.airic-terminal.com/products_din_terminals_din_pin_terminals.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4M-Ew...

You can just put the two wires into the bottom of the breaker without joining the wires first, if I have the correct thing in mind. The pin terminal idea is ok too.

I think you have the converter and another circuit using the same breaker (not the Main breaker though). I had that with the Parallax 7355 in the 5er we had.

The problem there was to be able to still run the 120v outlets via inverter with the converter shut off, so I was playing with that. Answer was to put a switch in the converter's black wire before it got to the bottom of the breaker. That way, I could leave the breaker on to run the 120v outlets and shut off the converter with the inserted switch.

If you got the Boondocker MBA version, AFAIK once installed you can't get at the adjustable voltage setting screw, but not totally sure about that. Last I heard, you needed the deck mount under there turned so you can get at the two holes in its side. The deck mount has a plug to go in a 120v outlet (ISTR Randy does a hard wired version though)

[DD716TED]

Bottom line, WFCO 8955PEC MBA was bad.. I ordered a replacement (not WFCO) from Randy at BEST CONVERTER.. Since the trailer is stored out of the area, I want to make sure that I take with me everything needed to do the changeout. Looks really simple but have one question for anybody that has done it and I can't look for myself. The Black AC wire that comes from the MBA connects to the main breaker along with another black lead combined using a pin terminal under the same breaker lug screw. QUESTION..WHAT TYPE OF PIN TERMINAL will I need to have with me? As said before, I would look for myself, but the trailer is miles away for now..
Thank in advance for any information.

[BFL13]

BFL13 wrote:

DD716TED wrote:
Thanks for all of the responses.. Tested batteries..they were failing.. replaced with new batteries and all is well..
__________________

All is not well unless you found the converter issue reported in the OP.

If the converter was working, the voltage would have stayed at 13.7ish the whole time, and you would not have noticed anything about
the condition of the batteries.

I guess you missed this at the time?

I like the PowerMax LK adjustable voltage models.

[dieseltruckdriv]

DD716TED wrote:
I previously reported all was well BUT it is not. A recent camping trip
showed me problems again. New batteries seemed at first to help but that was incorrect.. Same thing started to happen again.. With nothing turned on, batteries connected and pedestal power applied, DC Voltage read 13.6 VDC. Then within 30 seconds of turning on
either the water pump or furnace, everything dimmed or slowed down..
I the disconnected batteries and again applied pedestal power to the trailer.. as long as nothing (pump or furnace) was on DC Voltage remained about 13.5 vdc.. The minute I turned on wither the pump or furnace, DC voltage dropped to 7.5vdc, overhead lights flashed on/off and furnace or water pump started rapid on/off cycling...
Given this, I now believe the WFCO WF-8955PEC has failed failed and needs a new power converter circuit assy. Am now searching for an exact fit / drop in replacement power converter circuit assembly at a reasonable cost.

While it sucks you are having problems, just get a battery charger and hook it up to your batteries. That is basically what a converter is anyway. That will buy you time until you get a replacement for the WFCO. I would recommend a Progressive Dynamics.

Edit: Also, turn your fridge to AC power.

[CA_Traveler]

A new charger does not have to be in the same location, but your choice. A good charger will ramp up a discharged battery to 14.6V at maximum amps known as bulk mode , It will hold 14.6V as the amps begin to taper knows as absorb mode then both amps begin to taper down to 13.6V which is float mode, this mode begins at about 85% SOC and can take many hours to reach 100% SOC.

If you have or can borrow a decent auto battery charger you observe the above.

Another important aspect is the distance and size of the wire from the charger and unfortunately wiring is to often inadquate so consider checking.

[DD716TED]

I previously reported all was well BUT it is not. A recent camping trip
showed me problems again. New batteries seemed at first to help but that was incorrect.. Same thing started to happen again.. With nothing turned on, batteries connected and pedestal power applied, DC Voltage read 13.6 VDC. Then within 30 seconds of turning on
either the water pump or furnace, everything dimmed or slowed down..
I the disconnected batteries and again applied pedestal power to the trailer.. as long as nothing (pump or furnace) was on DC Voltage remained about 13.5 vdc.. The minute I turned on wither the pump or furnace, DC voltage dropped to 7.5vdc, overhead lights flashed on/off and furnace or water pump started rapid on/off cycling...
Given this, I now believe the WFCO WF-8955PEC has failed failed and needs a new power converter circuit assy. Am now searching for an exact fit / drop in replacement power converter circuit assembly at a reasonable cost.

[BFL13]

DD716TED wrote:
Thanks for all of the responses.. Tested batteries..they were failing.. replaced with new batteries and all is well..
__________________

All is not well unless you found the converter issue reported in the OP.

If the converter was working, the voltage would have stayed at 13.7ish the whole time, and you would not have noticed anything about the condition of the batteries.