Converter Running Continuously

[Parrothead_Mike]

Got back from a trip and noticed two things. 1 - My battery was not charging up during my trip home. 2 - I've got the camper plugged in to my shore station and the converter has been running pretty much continuously. I didn't notice the converter issue for a few days, but now that I'm watching it, it has been running.

While dry camping I recharged by battery with my little Honda 2000. The battery was down to one notch and ran the generator for nearly 2 hours. The batter was charged to full, but shortly thereafter I noticed it was down to 2/3 and it stayed there until the morning we left when I pulled the slides in, etc. when it went down to 1/3. Drove home (about 4 hr drive) and saw the monitor still at 1/3.

Checked the 2 40 amp fuses on the converter and they look good. The circuit panel fuses and breakers were all good too. I'm not much at electronics, but I'm puzzled as to where to look next. Things were working good prior to this situation.

[CJW8]

There should be a placard on those battery empty/full indicators that come with most RV's that says "DO NOT PUSH BATTERY TEST BUTTON UNLESS THE BATTERY HAS BEEN OFF OF ANY CHARGE SOURCE FOR AT LEAST 1 HOUR". So many folks plug in for an hour or 2 and test their battery while still charging and it says it is full so they unplug. Or test it right after unplugging when there is still a surface charge on the battery, then bring their slides in (high load that removes surface charge) and all of a sudden their batteries read 1/3 full. Well they are 1/3 full because they never got fully charged by their WFCO in 2 hours but they think must be bad batteries or a bad charger.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The presence of an AMMETER that indicates just how much power is actually flowing into the battery is a surefire method of determining where the battery stands as far as how charged it is - or isn't.

Specifically NOT the amount of amps the converter is producing. That is a different subject altogether.

The amount of amps actually entering the battery.

Along with an accurate panel voltmeter a panel ammeter is worth its weight in wasted dollar bills. Wasted on blown batteries, ruined trips, and sedatives.

[Harvey51]

I suspect you may be having the same misunderstanding that I had, which caused me to ruin my first set of batteries.
The voltage charts say 12.6 volts indicates 100% charge. BUT the chart applies only hours after all charging has stopped. Initially the reading is the same as the charging voltage - then it declines as the surface charge is absorbed by the battery chemistry.

It is enlightening to charge a battery for an hour, disconnect the charger, and check the voltage every hour through the day. I found that an hour of charging brought the voltage up to well over 13 volts (all 4 idiot lights lit up to indicate fully charged) but with no load it declined over the next several hours to well under 12.6 volts - meaning it was far from fully charged.

The only way to see the % of full charge at any time is to install a battery monitor which counts the amp-hours of charge going in and out of the batteries.

[time2roll]

Check the battery now for excessive heat or gassing/boiling.
Would not be the first time WFCO was suddenly stuck in boost mode (14.4 volts) boiling your battery dry.
Supposed to be limited to 4 hours max.

[Parrothead_Mike]

In reply.

The converter is a WFCO 65w. And when I turn off the battery disconnect the fan on the converter shuts off too.

Hmm, will check the converter fan in the morning as the temps are supposed to get back to the normal/cooler range. Will also talk to my local dealer about the WFCO converter. This converter is only about 1 year old. My Silverback got some lightening damage back in June 2015. The local dealer replaced it at that time and then about a year ago I was having trouble with the converter so they replaced it with another WFCO converter. In other words, this is the 3rd converter in my Silverback in less than 3 years.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

WFCO

CONVERTERS

WORK !!!





(against you)

[SidecarFlip]

lenr wrote:
Is it a WFCO converter? They often go bad in many different ways in just a few years.

Was going to ask but you beat me to it....

best thing to do with a WFCO is replace the guts with something that actually works.

[Kayteg1]

Leave the battery disconnected and see if converter fan still runs.
If it does, check if refrigerator is not running on 12V or any other stuff.

[lenr]

Is it a WFCO converter? They often go bad in many different ways in just a few years.

[Parrothead_Mike]

In reply.

The battery is brand new last month - an Interstate Marine/RV. I picked up a 2nd battery (same brand/model) last month because a few weeks ago we attended a music festival and no generators allowed. So the new battery was the one I was using on this latest trip along with my Honda gen.

The fan is what is running so I'm assuming it's "running". Of course the weather here in SW Michigan has been in the low 90s for about 5 days in a row. Maybe that's why the fan is on.(?)

I've got a Schumacher charger and will charge up the battery in the garage. Could be that when towing I didn't give it enough time to charge back up, but I would think plugged in at home it would have charged up by now (about 4-5 days). When I unplug the monitor shows 2/3 charge.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be cooler (mid-70s) so I'll drag my neighbor over to help with checking proper voltage. He likes the mechanicals that I'm not knowledgeable about. Thanks for everyone's input.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

"Do you mean you were drinking home..."


Ummmmm, a Freudian slip, Mr Wizard :)?

[MrWizard]

The trip home is from engine alternator to batteries
It has nothing to do with your converter,
Which only works when there is 120v available

Your indoor charge indicator, idiot light, is next to useless

At one notch you where near dead
And (2) hours is not a full charge, more like 6 ? 12 hours, for full charge
Depending on you converter you put back about 40 amp hours, and probably need to put back 100 or more

The indicator was showing the charge voltage, the moment you stopped charging, the voltage started settling, you run the batteries down, you can expect the converter to take many hours for a full recharge

The alternator charge circuit is a separate issue
Or
Do you mean you were drinking home with the generator running and the batteries did not charge


With out meter readings of before, during, and after charge
We can't really tell you if the it's the batteries that are bad our the converter

[red31]

Parrothead Mike wrote:
The batter was charged to full

What type of battery can be full after just 2 hrs?

My daily use AGM gets charged to mid 14vs and that can take a few hrs, then it is held there (mid 14v ~14.4v) for 2 hrs. I only discharge is ~15-20%/day. 2 yrs and counting doing this daily.

[SidecarFlip]

Don't expect your tow vehicle to recharge your battery(s) because it won't unless you drive all day and no loads in the coach.