New House Batteries, Converter Beeping?

[Munk888]

Hi. Lot's of learning going on! We have a 2003 Fleetwood Tioga and we killed the batteries during storage. Didn't disconnect them and that damned LP detector wiped the batteries out: chassis and house, so we think... So we got a new chassis battery first. Replaced that ez pz. Went to replace the house batteries and that is when the proverbial poo hit the fan. We had 2 Napa deep cycle batteries at 75amps each. I hit autozone and got 2 Duralast 65amps batteries. Swapped em out. So far so good. Kept the wiring the same. Now, when we turn the rig on, there is a shril continuous tone coming from the converter (the plug with all the wires and fuses?) area of the battery compartment. Lights don't turn on. Generator won't kick up. Are converters amp specific? IE, should I swap out the 65amp batteries with 75amp batteries and keep all the things like for like? Any helps appreciated!

imgur pictures

[2oldman]

Read this: 12v side of life.

And get thyself a voltmeter. You got lucky, this time.

[IAMICHABOD]

I don't know which model Tioga you have,that would be useful,but if it is like my 26Q,the Converter is under the rear dinette seat.

Remove the bottom cushion and under it there will be a plywood piece, unscrew the screws that hold it down.

After that is out of the way you will find the Converter.
Of course I have changed mine but yours should be in the same place.

It is pretty easy to change out,pretty much plug and play. Make sure that you are not plugged into shore power,disconnect the batteries.

The ac cord is plugged into the rear of the power panel,remove that and then the red and black wires and the ground wire unscrew the unit from the floor. Remove it then install the new one making sure that the red and black wires are in the proper slots and the ground wire on the side of the unit is secure make sure they are screwed tightly.



I found that taking a few pictures helped on the install.

[Munk888]

Thank you! I do have that same little fuse box in the bird box. Lol. Thanks for the diagram! I can now make sure all the right fuses are in the right slots. Converter...I would imagine it is the original. We bought the 2003 Tioga this year used. Is the converter below the bird box? Or maybe under the flooring somewhere? All good! You are all awesome.

[IAMICHABOD]

Munk888 wrote:
I should probably find fuse diagrams to the RV and make sure the right amps are in the right spots...

There should be one in the battery box like this

Click For Full-Size Image.

And one inside your door to the fuse panel in dining area.

Click For Full-Size Image.

And another suggestion,if you still have that old WFCO converter that came with it I would trash it and get a new Converter That WFCO is a piece of junk and will kill your batteries.

[Munk888]

Opnspaces et all, thank you sincerely for your help! My family is greatly happy we get to go camping! @iamichbod I do have the same setup! My bird was chirping when I had it all wired up to 24v. Since it is good and parallel now, the whole coach seems good! Only lost 2 led cabin lights. Fridge, water pump, all seem good now. Fuses behind bird and in dining room are good, none blown. I should probably find fuse diagrams to the RV and make sure the right amps are in the right spots...

[IAMICHABOD]

A bit late to this but a word of advice, go over to your Costco and get a pair of CG2 batteries then wire them as in the first photo and as the others have said.

Another thing,I have a Fleetwood Tioga,and I have to ask does your battery box look like this?

If so that box you mentioned where the fuses are and a shrill tone is not your converter.It may be a BIRD

A lot of the Tiogas of this vintage have them. It will look like this.

You didn't say which Model of Tioga you have but if it is like mine a 26Q or similar I may be of help on other things,just ask.

[ksg5000]

Next time you store the rig make sure the batteries are fully charged and then disconnect them from the rig (both house and chassis) - should help insure you don't have dead batteries when your start up the rig in the spring.

[opnspaces]

Yes, as BFL13 says you can criss-cross the wires if it's easier to have a battery turned in the opposite direction. As long as all the positive (+) terminals are hooked together and all the negative (-) terminals are hooked together you'll have 12 volts.

[BFL13]

Munk888 wrote:
Hi there! One more Q: at the auto stores they only have 4GA cable. Is that going to be ok to use with that parallel set up? I realize bigger is better...but it is all they got:) thanks!

Yes. Note that you can criss-cross the cables with the batteries lying in opposite directions if that makes it easier to connect your RV wires with pos to one battery and neg to the other, as is proper.

Sometimes one or the other set of wires won't reach if both batteries are lying the same way.

[Munk888]

Hi there! One more Q: at the auto stores they only have 4GA cable. Is that going to be ok to use with that parallel set up? I realize bigger is better...but it is all they got:) thanks!

[Sam_Spade]

Munk888 wrote:
Faster if I keep storing the RV with everything all plugged in and the LP detector draining the batteries to kingdom come!

So....now you KNOW that can be a problem.....so WHY would you do it again ??????

I don't think your problems are anywhere near being over.

If you really did have 24 V feeding the 12 V devices, there may be more damage than just fuses.

[2oldman]

MrWizard wrote:
The picture I saw was the 2 old 6Volt batteriesNot the new batteries

Scroll.

[opnspaces]

Yes that caught me at first as well. Then I went back and looked again and had to scroll down the page. That's when I saw the 12 volt replacements.

[MrWizard]

The picture I saw was the 2 old 6Volt batteries

Not the new batteries