holding tanks monitor

[calibek]

the monitor panel is an ACU.GAGE from Larson electronics in a 1985 Toyota Dolphin
panel work fine (reads the actual level of tanks and battery) when the RV is on battery power but when it is to an external AC outlet it only show only the empty light for tanks and poor for the battery likes it's not reading at all. Is this normal?
thanks

[Old-Biscuit]

Delete

[Almot]

calibek wrote:
When the battery is fully charged with the converter shows 13.4 volts
there is also a 100 watts solar panel connected to the battery.

Not really important, but if chargers are connected to battery, 13.4 is not a battery voltage. This is a charger voltage - either of converter, or solar charger, or both. Though it doesn't sound like you have problems with battery.

[Mr__Patches]

The DC filter circuit in my converter went bad so that I had 2.5 volts AC riding on the 12 volts DC. It didn't affect any of the appliances but caused the tank monitors to go crazy when the camper was plugged into AC.

Rich & Miss Ivy
BunFest Express II

[RJsfishin]

Do you know how the old Magnetek converters work??
OP is having trouble when on shore power. When on shore power the DC stuff is no longer connected to the battery,....running strictly on converter. When dropping shore power, a transfer switch switches all DC stuff back to the battery. If the convert4er is not putting out proper DC current, this could be causing his problem.
If he has a newer converter, then all the DC stuff really is running off the battery. All the converter does is up the voltage to charge the battery.
I shouldn't have to explain this to you.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

RJsfishin wrote:
Buy a new converter, then all your DC stuff truly will be running on battery power. If you still have the original converter, some DC stuff is running on the converter, not the battery,.......when on S power that is.

Regardless of converter...when connected to shore power the converter supplies the DC system (plus charging of batteries)
Good/fully charged batteries are 12.8V....a functioning converter minimum output is 13.2V

Batteries supply DC to things like front landing gear/tongue jack/slides because they are wired directly form battery and have a high amp draw.....converter would still supply DC to rest of rig and chargng power to batteries when operating those items

[calibek]

When the battery is fully charged with the converter shows 13.4 volts
there is also a 100 watts solar panel connected to the battery.
when i turn on the main breaker i can see the magnetic piston going down and releasing a switch. the converter looks like its working. I have one circuit that is going to the tank monitor and water pump so I will take that circuit and hook it up directly to the battery to see if it changes anything.

[Old-Biscuit]

RJsfishin wrote:
Buy a new converter, then all your DC stuff truly will be running on battery power. If you still have the original converter, some DC stuff is running on the converter, not the battery,.......when on S power that is.

Regardless of converter...when connected to shore power the converter supplies the DC system (plus charging of batteries)
Good/fully charged batteries are 12.8V....a functioning converter minimum output is 13.2V

Batteries supply DC to things like front landing gear/tongue jack/slides because they are wired directly form battery and have a high amp draw.....converter would still supply DC to rest of rig and chargng power to batteries when operating those items

[RJsfishin]

Buy a new converter, then all your DC stuff truly will be running on battery power. If you still have the original converter, some DC stuff is running on the converter, not the battery,.......when on S power that is.

[Dutch_12078]

The monitor should work the same on either source, except the battery will always show "Full" on shorepower. I would guess that your converter may not be switching over properly, something the OEM Magnetek converters are well known for. You might be able to burnish the relay contacts in the converter and get some more life out of it.

[westend]

calibek wrote:
I calibrated the panel with the tanks full.

And how did you calibrate the battery SOC?
What I'm thinking here is that when you're plugged into AC, the converter is supplying a different DC voltage than what the battery offers. Regardless, you have such a great difference in gauge readings that your monitor must also have an issue.

[Old-Biscuit]

No it is not normal.
Monitor uses DC and DC is the same whether from battery or from converter when on AC power.

[calibek]

I calibrated the panel with the tanks full.

[westend]

How have you confirmed that the readings are accurate when on battery power?

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support