Going to try to explain this....LOL...Need help

[Shwthomas1975]

Morning.....First camping trip was last weekend in our hybrid trailer.
No power so used battery and generator.
Last year the battery would last quite a while. This time it lasted til about midnight both nights (woken by the blaring carbon monoxide detector LOL). Was running the heat, but that didnt matter in the past.
Did a little poking (I am no electrical guy). Noticed that when the generator was plugged in the 4 electrical charge gauge lights were only 2 high. Last year they were 4. When I plug it in, it's only 3.
I also noticed that when I turn off the breaker for the fridge, the lights dim and then go out. Took ff the cover and the fridge breaker also has the wire to the inverter. So when I turn off that breaker, the battery isn't charging anymore. But, why would the lights dim?
Any way to check for a bad breaker?
Any help would be greatly appreciated....

[BFL13]

No, it might just mean the neg cable where it is on the tongue ground is corroded so it has high R. Take that off and clean it up. when not on the battery, no current is flowing so voltage reads ok. with current you get the voltage drop from the high R. ( I think--could be all wrong)

[Shwthomas1975]

I hope I'm not being the biggest pita.....
New find. If I unbplug the negative cable while plugged in I get 4 lights and the meter shows 13.4 on the positive terminal on the battery and the negative cable not attached to battery.
That mean the newish battery I bought last year could be junk?

[BFL13]

How about also cleaning up any corrosion where the battery neg post is grounded to the frame plus jumpering the "fuse?"

with shore power on, what is the voltage at the pos wire that was on the "converter side" of the "fuse" and a clean frame ground (tongue)?

Corrosion may have gone up under the insulation at the ends of those wires that were on the corroded "fuse" so you might need new terminals farther up where the wires are clean.

[Shwthomas1975]

Nevermind. Stopped dropping. And is charging now. But still says 12.60 when plugged in. Climbs slowly, but not at 13.4 or something higher.

[Shwthomas1975]

Quite the draw somwhere. Drops quick until I disconnect the negative. Also not charging anymore either....Ugh

[Shwthomas1975]

Yes. Its an 01. Purchased last year.
I bypassed the fuse and no change (Need a new one as it was so coroded the terminals broke. ) Now I also just noticed that when I Unplug the the shore the battery drops .01 every 3 seconds or so. Oh, I'll disconnect the negative and see if it continues

[mena661]

Your furnace fan shouldn't be running with the thermostat turned off. That's probably a different problem. Did you buy your rig new? I'm wondering if the previous owner did some "creative" wiring.

[BFL13]

Resistance. I am thinking (don't know) the corroded breaker is not an "open" but just a high R.

[Shwthomas1975]

Sorry. What is high R?

[BFL13]

Try jumpering past that corroded circuit breaker, then take battery post voltage. (high R means big voltage drop)

No, 15 or 20 is fine to run the converter.

[Shwthomas1975]

One more thought., Would it matter that it is only plugged into a 20 amp plug? Not a 30 or 50?

[Shwthomas1975]

That's probably why I am only getting 3 lights. Any clue what could cause that? I'll go turn off breakers one at a time and see if that makes a difference..

[Shwthomas1975]

The voltage on the battery terminals? It's not. Slowly getting higher, but not there.

[beemerphile1]

If the converter/charger is working correctly the voltage should jump almost immediately to 13.5 or higher.

[Shwthomas1975]

12.29 for battery still plugged in 10 minutes later.