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RE: Electrical Issue - Help! - camping tomorrow night!
Went out to check again this morning. With shore power plugged in and battery disconnected I get nothing with the breakers off. If I flip the breakers on there is slight flicker of the lights then nothing. With battery connected, lights are on with breakers on or off. It appears that I'm only getting battery power at this point.
So....how difficult is a converter to change out? And would I necessarily need to change the whole converter?
Wait. So you get lights just fine with the battery connected and the breaker on???
Or do you get lights for a bit and then the brown out again???
If I'm piecing this together correctly... I'm guessing that your battery was, indeed low before. So the converter would kick itself off for whatever reason and you would be left with battery power only... hence the "brown out."
But now that the battery is fully charged... when the converter kicks off... the battery is there to keep the lights going without browning. Yes?
Again... temp fix for this trip is to keep the converter's breaker off and run a portable charger.'
When the battery is connected and converter's breaker on - all I am getting is battery power. I did have the battery tested and it came up with a possible bad cell so I purchased a new batter. No change - still do not seem to be getting shore power.
I ran off the battery all weekend using the charger as recommended (thanks btw!). Got us through the weekend but now I need to really start troubleshooting to figure out if it's the converter or something else causing the converter to shut down.
Thanks again for all the helpful comments.
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thatguy1967
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10/25/11 02:05pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Electrical Issue - Help! - camping tomorrow night!
Went out to check again this morning. With shore power plugged in and battery disconnected I get nothing with the breakers off. If I flip the breakers on there is slight flicker of the lights then nothing. With battery connected, lights are on with breakers on or off. It appears that I'm only getting battery power at this point.
So....how difficult is a converter to change out? And would I necessarily need to change the whole converter?
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thatguy1967
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10/21/11 06:09am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Electrical Issue - Help! - camping tomorrow night!
I'm guessing bad converter.
What happens when you kick off the breaker with battery connected... or unplug from shore?
Seems to just run off the battery when not connected to shore power.
Bad converter.
Same with breaker off?
Yes, lights are dimmer running off battery power then I flip the breaker off and back on and can hear the converter fan run for a few seconds before the lights dim again.
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thatguy1967
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10/20/11 08:47pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Electrical Issue - Help! - camping tomorrow night!
I'm guessing bad converter.
What happens when you kick off the breaker with battery connected... or unplug from shore?
Seems to just run off the battery when not connected to shore power.
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thatguy1967
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10/20/11 08:40pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Electrical Issue - Help! - camping tomorrow night!
Yes, we will have shore power but right now that's not working either.
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thatguy1967
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10/20/11 08:39pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Electrical Issue - Help! - camping tomorrow night!
I just went out and tested the battery with my cheapo tester - the needle registers in the "good" range and I just charged it yesterday. I disconnected it and went into the camper - no power at all. I flipped a couple of the breakers on the converter (although they were not tripped) and lights come on for a few seconds then go off. So I flip the breakers again, same thing happens. So it doesn't appear that the converter is doing what it's supposed to.
What I was trying to say is that lastnight everything worked fine. We had problems at the end of the season last year but a couple of weeks ago my kids had a backyard campout and the furnace and lights worked like a charm with no issues. Then I hook it up in the driveway with no issues lastnight. The ONLY thing I can see that was different tonight was the fact that I flipped the fridge on shortly before the issues cropped up again. I turned it off and still have the problems though.
Thanks for all the advice - keep it coming.
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thatguy1967
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10/20/11 08:21pm |
Tech Issues
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Electrical Issue - Help! - camping tomorrow night!
Hey guys, this forum has never let me down. Let me preface this by saying when it comes to electrical matters, I'm as green as they come so bear with me.
I have a hybrid travel trailer with a WFCO Model #8955 converter. Started having some strange issues on our last couple of trips last year and didn't address them. Getting ready to take our first trip of the year this weekend and guess what...yes, the issues didn't magically disappear while the camper was parked in the backyard.
Basically, I am plugging the camper into a standard 120V outlet at home using an adapter. Running one or two lights and the furnace - at first everything seems fine. Lights are bright and the furnace blower is running at normal speed. Then without warning, the lights dim and the furnace blower drops to about half speed. There are three sets of breakers on the converter and if I reset those, everything goes back to normal for about 10 seconds then drops power again.
Now lastnight after I had set the camper up in the driveway, I connected the shore power without a battery (it was charging in the garage) and I had no issues. So I thought the battery might be the issue so I just disconnected it tonight...no change. Still had the lights dimming and furnace blower slowing.
Anyone have any clues where I should start troubleshooting?
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thatguy1967
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10/20/11 07:37pm |
Tech Issues
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