Converter in Gulfstream Class C

[z-fam]

The coach battery had been removed from our motorhome, when I just happened to check the display panel which shows tank levels and battery power; the display indicated the battery was fully charged -- again, the battery had been removed. Does this mean our converter is failing?

[BFL13]

Your "display" is just a sort of voltmeter. A full battery will be at about 12.7v and show as Full (briefly) then drop to Good, etc.

The converter makes 120v into 13.6v, way higher than a full battery, so your "display" will show Full. Note that means you can have a dead battery connected and with the converter on, the display will still show Full.

It also means that you cannot monitor on that "display" the rising voltage of a battery when being charged by the converter. It will show Full all the way up. It is when you turn off the charger and let the batteries sit on their own that you can tell how far up they are (after waiting a while for the surface charge to go away).

Note also that under load the voltage will be lower. So your "display" will show Fair with the furnace on and bounce back to Good when the furnace shuts off. After a while it will stay at Fair after the furnace shuts off. Means it is time to recharge the batteries!

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[Harvard]

z-fam wrote:
The coach battery had been removed from our motorhome, when I just happened to check the display panel which shows tank levels and battery power; the display indicated the battery was fully charged -- again, the battery had been removed. Does this mean our converter is failing?

No, quite the opposite, the converter will always produce an output when ever plugged into shore power. If the battery is installed then it will also charge the battery.