Power max converter keeps blowing 30 amp fuses

[revcononthehill]

Hello everyone!

My revcon has a power max 55amp converter and when I put in a new fuse it pops instantly. I unplugged shore power and it popped instantly still. I measured the voltage with it plugged into shore and was 110 going in and 26 coming out. I figured it has to do with wiring to the batteries but I checked so many times and can’t figure it out! Any help appreciated.

[BFL13]

wa8yxm wrote:
You say it blows a 30 amp fuse. Is there a 2nd 30 amp fuse (Check it) if yoru converter is bigger than 30 amps it may have two or 3 fuses in parallel ALL of them need to be repalced at the same time..

Also a shorted cell in one of those batteries can pop-a-fuse rather fast.

The PowerMax 55 amper has two 40 amp reverse polarity fuses. I missed that in the OP where he said a 30 amp fuse was blowing. I can't figure out how he got 26v measured at the converter output terminals with the 30 amp fuse somewhere downstream blown. All very confusing.

Needs to separate the converter from the battery wires and then check the voltage at the empty converter terminals and then on the bare wire ends so we know where the 26v is coming from.

I wonder if that white wire to the bracket shown lower left is the battery frame ground. It has two other ring terminals to it as a sort of neg buss maybe? But that is the old photo when things all worked, so can't be a neg ground on the pos post. Not a clue.

The OP has to come back and explain it all. 🙂

[BFL13]

revcononthehill wrote:
Thank you for the excellent explanation.

So it sounds like I need to put the rest of the positives onto the one battery on the right and all the negatives on the battery to the left and use the jumper cables to jump them together. I’ll test the white one tomorrow to see what it is.

I put the batteries in the same way but am going to take them out so they aren’t reversed like that. Not sure why I did it like that again.

You reverse the batteries like that so it is easy to reach the two posts, now at the same end of your tray, the load wires go on. In that photo above, it looks like it would be easier to use the two posts at the bottom of the photo if the neg wires will reach.

With the batteries reversed, your parallel linked are crossed.

[wa8yxm]

You say it blows a 30 amp fuse. Is there a 2nd 30 amp fuse (Check it) if yoru converter is bigger than 30 amps it may have two or 3 fuses in parallel ALL of them need to be repalced at the same time..

Also a shorted cell in one of those batteries can pop-a-fuse rather fast.

[wa8yxm]

BFL13 wrote:
Red (pos) and white (neg) load wires to the same post?

Thought that may be (Red and white to same post) be aware that The color of the wire is not standardized.. Black and White both have the same meanings depending on who put the wire in (I would make Black Negative since I'm DC trained) most RV bilders black is HOT. So do not trust colors. use our meter to find out.

Recetly 'Fixed' a very expensive bit of electroics by having the owner meter the incomig power leads.. RED was negative on the supply (RV) side. and on the electronics side red was Positive as it should be.

Your volt meter is your friend which is why I have a bunch of 'em.

[cavie]

Get us a good pic of the batteries showing all four post.

[revcononthehill]

Thank you for the excellent explanation.

So it sounds like I need to put the rest of the positives onto the one battery on the right and all the negatives on the battery to the left and use the jumper cables to jump them together. I’ll test the white one tomorrow to see what it is.

I put the batteries in the same way but am going to take them out so they aren’t reversed like that. Not sure why I did it like that again.

[BFL13]

The two 12s are in parallel ok in that old photo. Your negs go on the neg of one battery and the pos wires go on the pos of the other battery. Your negs are on the top left so all the pos go on the top right with the batteries reversed like that.

Your reds should go to the same post on the one battery, not one to each.

I am not sure what the white wire is there, so you would need a meter to check if it is pos or neg.

Disconnect the DC wires into the converter and check the voltage across them for that 26v. It should be more like 12.7 with new batteries in parallel.

Did you put the new batteries in the same way, reversed, or if they are now lying the same way, but wired the same, that might get them in series and 26v.

[revcononthehill]

Haha sorry this is an old photo! I have new batteries in now with the same wiring as the old.

[revcononthehill]

The top left is three black wires (ground) and the top right has one red wire

[time2roll]

That cloth covered white looks like it goes to a fuse so probably correct on the positive.

Hard to tell what is at the top of the picture in the shadows.

Eight years on Everstart is pretty dang good BTW.

[revcononthehill]

So would I need to put that white wire some where else?

[BFL13]

Red (pos) and white (neg) load wires to the same post?

[time2roll]

revcononthehill wrote:

[BFL13]

26v DC sounds like two times 13v, which you would get with your 12v batteries in series instead of parallel.

http://photoposting.is-great.net/?i=2

[revcononthehill]