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Topic ClosedConverter Not Charging Battery
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Converter Not Charging Battery
    Posted: 23 Jul 2019 at 4:30pm
Originally posted by podwerkz

You can do all of that, OR you can do this one thing:

While on shore power, set the fridge to DC (battery mode)...set it for the coldest setting.

Within a minute (or as little as a couple of seconds) the converter fan should activate letting you know the charger is operating. If, after say, 20 minutes, the fan has not come on, and your battery monitor lights are showing less than full, it's certainly time to investigate further.

Weeel, you could attempt to shortcut the process that way but if the battery is fully charged to start with then the WFCO fan may well not come on for some time. Mine didn't when I tested this, even after 15 minutes. The fridge pulls about 10A, about 7 of which was coming from the WFCO and 3 from the battery. It would have taken significantly longer to get the battery voltage down to a level where the WFCO went into absorption mode and the fan turned on.   I had no solar connected.  

So, moral of the story is: avoid shortcuts in troubleshooting lest you wind up heading down the wrong path  and have to backtrack. Much better to run a definitive "no shortcuts" test of the WFCO, disconnect the battery entirely and see if the WFCO will run the trailer 12V loads. Takes just a minute or two  to do that. 
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mcarter View Drop Down
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Posts: 3419 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jul 2019 at 4:38pm
+1
Mike Carter
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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jul 2019 at 6:30pm
As I stated, if the fan does NOT come on, further investigation is needed (such as voltage checks, disconnect battery etc).

I did not state that this is the entire diagnostic procedure. It is not a shortcut, it is a first step, like the first go/no-go step in a diagnostic flow chart.

If the fan DOES come on, we can start with the assumption the converter is probably working...and then ask questions of the OP as to why he suspects the converter is not working, and why a new battery was installed.
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jul 2019 at 5:55am
Sure, there are always multiple ways to work through a troubleshooting problem. But some ways are more straightforward, definitive, and less confusing than others. 

By saying that the converter fan should activate why you turn on the fridge, letting you know the charger is operating, implies that something is wrong if it doesn't, but in fact the opposite is true when you have a healthy fully charged battery.

And why wait 20 minutes to start the troubleshooting process when taking a minute to disconnect the battery and solar will tell you right away if the charger works or not? 
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
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