cannesdo
Presently in Mesa, AZ
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My inverter fried in December and my rig has been on life support (a battery charger) since then (I'm broke). It's a little Husky 10 amp thing which worked fine all this time. I bypassed the inverter so I could get the interior power back, back in Dec.
It's been warm enough this week that I haven't had the furnace running at all, and very little the week before. I doubt I'll use it much at all anymore But about a week ago a few strange things started happening:
1) The hair dryer would turn off while I was using it. It acted like it was overheating as it would start up again not long after. Sometimes it would blink out for a few seconds then start again, then die and I'd have to turn it off and rest it for 30 sec or so before starting again. Even then it would only run for 20 sec or so then turn off again.
2) The refrigerator light got dim, then died. Could just be a coincidence? Took out the bulb? (looks like a fuse -- filament isn't broken) ?
3) The 12v lights were slow to light, and dim at times. Ok so batteries are near dead, aren't getting charged.
4) The natur. gas detector, which I didn't think worked at all for two years -- never made a peep, test button produces no sound, and it never sounded, even when I did have gas in the rig -- started chirping 3 times and the light flashing while it chirped, every so often. I realize it was often when I had just turned on a light -- 110v or 12v. (The 110v outlet that caused it is on the same circuit as the outdoor outlet that powers the charger.)
5) I realized that when I reset the battery charger outside it wasn't making the charging sound it normally does and it keep defaulting to FO5 which is "overheating". When I plug it in and start charging, it doesn't make a sound but shows the battery charging really fast. The charger automatically drops it's level of charging once the batteries are charged to a certain level so it's like it does that in just a few minutes, overheats and shuts off.
Did I get a power surge at some point and fry the charger? I unplugged it as suggested, for 30 min. then tried again, and the furnace ran for 10 min (silently), then stopped and as it stopped the nat. gas detector chirped. Or could it be just a damaged/dead charger? And when it's plugged in and in "fault" the whole circuit is disrupted so the blow dryer (also on that circuit) doesn't work right? I've reset the switches a few times now. It doesn't seem to make any difference. The 110v lights work fine.
Or did my batteries freeze? It's been in the low 30's and down into the 20's at night last week and I didn't have the furnace running a lot of that time because electric heat was enough, even at night. If they froze, are they ruined? I don't think this is it. If this was the case though, why wouldn't the blow dryer work like it used to? The detector chirped tonight while I was using the blender too. That shouldn't require batteries.
And if it was a big surge, why would the blow-dryer, unplugged when I'm not using it, fry? It seems that the charger is malfunctioning and drawing too much power and overloading the circuit -- yes? I think when the blow-dryer wasn't working, the charger outside was in "fault" mode.
I'll try the charger on the truck tomorrow and see if it works there.
I just plugged a small bathroom heater that I normally use in the basement into the hair dryer outlet and it ran for 15 min. with no problem. Might take less juice than the dryer.
Very confused. Something is wrong. I really need to get that inverter fixed.
Update: Couldn't wait. Put the charger on the truck battery and it doesn't make any noise there now either. The readout works and looks like it's doing what it should, but no "reving" sound and it "charges" much too fast. Could the charger have frozen? Maybe taking that out of the circuit will allow the blow-dryer to work normally. I did try the blow dryer in the living room tonight and it seemed to work fine for several minutes without shutting off.
Thanks,
j.
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Pickle2
Riva, Maryland,
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Joined: 09/24/2003
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The hair dryer is 110vac right? So I think what is going on is that whatever 110 source your rig is plugged into (which would supply your rig and charger) was delivering something far less than 110; perhaps 90 or lower. This brownout would be sufficient to fry the inerds of just about everything including your fridge and charger.
Pickle at Pickldom.
Wife, Deb; Daughters: Brenna(13), Alysson(13)
Dog: Chocolate Chip (English Springer Spaniel) "Okay, in or out, but don't keep pawing at the door!"
03' Dodge, 2500, Long Bed, 4x4, HO Cummins Diesel.
2004 29BHBP Wildcat by Forest River.
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JFG
TN
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What amp shore power are you connected to?
Fred
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cannesdo
Presently in Mesa, AZ
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I'm hooked up to 50 amp. No problems with the hookup, or current, for 5 months. Fridge is working, just not the light bulb. An oil heater was connected. Thats fine too.
Hair dryer is 110 and tried that last night in the living room and it seemed to work ok.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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Check the water level in the battery and get a new 10 amp automatic charger.
A new converter is only $120 to $200, what model do you have?
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
Send a PM if I missed something
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cannesdo
Presently in Mesa, AZ
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smkettner wrote:Check the water level in the battery and get a new 10 amp automatic charger.
A new converter is only $120 to $200, what model do you have?
Ok, will check the water level.
It tried going the converter route and I had a "combi" converter/inverter unit in there before and the "wires" going into that are way too big to fit into your average converter. I really need to replace it with the same unit, repaired, or with a refurbished unit ($350 vs $550). Have to send it to Oregon to have it looked at.
I shouldn't need the furnace any more this spring so that's not much of a concern.
Would a surge protector help protect the new battery charger? Against low voltage (brownout) too?
Could running the blow dryer while the charger was running, have caused the "brownout", caused the charger to fail? They're on the same circuit. I'm guessing that's what happened, as they were both involved. I think the fridge bulb was just a fluke. Haven't replaced that since I've had the rig (2 years).
J.
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cannesdo
Presently in Mesa, AZ
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CRAP! My fridge is dead! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....
Power surge? Will I be able to run it on gas? It's not hooked up to the gas right now but I'll hook it up today to see.
j.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Fridge may need 12 volt power to work properly.
You should easily be able to add a deck mount converter and leave the inverter/charger in place. You just connect the 120 volt side to a breaker and the 12 volt side to the distribution panel. You certainly do not need an inverter as long as you are plugged in.
35 amp WFCO $117.50
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riddellr
New Baden, IL, USA
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The fridge may be fine. I suspect that you do not have 12 volts to power it at this time. The light in the fridge is 12 volts and all the fridge circuitry runs on 12 volts. Without the 12 volts, the fridge will not work on gas or electric. Check your battery voltage, I suspect the 10 amp charger gave up from overuse/overload and now your batteries are dead again. Good Luck.
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sirdrakejr
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Moved from 5th wheels to tech issues.
Frank
2004 Dodge 1T SRW CTD long bed with 19.5" Ricksons & load range "G" tires, Stable loads & Timbren rubber springs, 2011 Palomino Maverick 1000SLLB
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