Voltage Charge problem
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
Forum Discription: Perplexed/need help with a problem - ask here
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=15633
Printed Date: 13 May 2024 at 9:22am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Voltage Charge problem
Posted By: Marvin
Subject: Voltage Charge problem
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2023 at 7:08pm
|
I installed a new WFCO Power Converter Panel
WF-8735 AD for my new Lithium battery that I relocated under the front Dinning
seat. I only had 4 wires to hook up 3 Hot and 1 Ground. The
hookup all went well. Short story, I'm only getting 4.64 Vdc to battery, everything else is getting 13.4 volts. Ran extensive testing... appears to be in cable to battery. There are the two main cables to the battery... the biggest one is connected to the RV Power Supply. I discovered these 2 connectors/box underneath the trailer (see Photo). What are they and could they be the problem? When I think about it... I always questioned if the car and shore power was charging the battery fully on our trip (traveling or overnight) on the old standard lead acid Battery with the old RV Power supply. Any ideas appreciated.
------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Replies:
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2023 at 9:38pm
|
3 hot and one ground? That does not pass the sense check. On the AC side, you would have hot (black), neutral (white), and ground (bare). On the DC side, you would have positive (black), negative (white), and ground (green) You can't have 3 hot and one ground. Please check your wiring. See figure 2 in your manual. I am not saying that the cable to the battery isn't the problem, but make sure the converter is properly wired. Check the reverse polarity protection fuses also. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2023 at 11:47pm
|
Let me clarify that. By "Hot" I meant hooked up to the Battery "+" terminal. I'm talking DC. There are 3 "+" wires hooked up to the Battery. one for the electric tongue jack (which works with and W/O Shore power), one goes to the RV Power converter, and one is unknown. There is one wire going to the Battery Negative (Ground). And yes I can have 3 or more hot from the battery as they in this case are tied to "one" common ground. I'm very well aware of AC and DC. As I stated in my Post the AC power converter checks out fine... the problem is in the connection wire from the AV Power Converter to the Battery. The wire is good... but I question those 2 little box things about 3/8" high the wires are connected to. They might be Diodes or something I don't know... But something is dropping the DC voltage to 4.64 VDC and I question if the little boxes are the problem. Once I know what they are I can safely test and/or replace them. Bottom line: I ran very extensive tests and trouble shooting from the Factory Manual, and my own extensive Electronic knowledge from one of many past lives. The RV Power Supply is putting out the speck voltage... but something cuts it way down by the time it gets to the battery 10" away. Those little what ever they are gismos are in the line and are now the prime suspect.
------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 6:44am
|
Okay. your original post was unclear. You said you installed a new panel and had only 4 wires to hook up. You did not say that it was to the battery. Have you checked the wire from the converter to the connector you pictured? What was the voltage there? Also, the picture makes me wonder about the connection on the lower left. The angle of the red wire there looks like it may be only hanging on by a few strands. If so, then that is likely the issue. It is mostly hidden by the black wires running in front of it so that is something to check. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 9:21am
|
Sorry for confusing I meant to add "from the battery". Good call, but all wires going to the 2 connectors are very securely fastened. I'm also very concerned about the Corrosion on those connectors and exposed wires. I might just replace and move them inside as they are only a foot from where the regular battery wires now enter their new location, providing I can replace them. Monday I plan to contact Hood River and see what I can find out.
------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: SC for Huskers
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 9:25am
|
Marv, It is sort of hard to see the item, or items, you are looking at but if I had to guess, they are In Line fuses or ckt breakers. If so, what is the V drop across them?  ------------- Happy Traveling, Tom 2017 172pod 2011 F150 STX |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 9:30am
|
Thanks Tom... I'll try to get back under there today and find out. What would the 3 pole switch be for? Have you ever had them go bad?
------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 12:22pm
|
Stephan & Tom... I want to thank you for jumping in here
with your ideas. Update: The so called under carriage Circuit Breakers or whatever they are... each lug terminal reads 13.1 VDC. NOTE Reading was taken at the lug itself... not the wire connector (trying to eliminate the Connection being the problem). I also
found out from a electrical buddy of mine that a charger only puts out about
4.6 VDC when NOT Charging the battery. The only
way to real test a charging battery is to test it with the charger running
(should be 13.4+ Volts and then turn the charger off (should be about 12.5
volts. Problem: I get no
change in readings from the battery charging or not. I get no
RV battery power to run lights etc. when shore power is unhooked. Can you see anything I have missed? At this point I question if the WFCO Power Converter see's the battery (It does have a sensor to tell what battery I have installed). Tomorrow I'll be contacting WFCO. ------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 12:32pm
|
Tom, Just FYI. No voltage drop and there are 3 of them, but no wire on the end of one of them.------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 2:13pm
|
Look on the WFCO site for the troubleshooting guide for your converter. I think you have the tools to do the testing. That will just tell you what to check to determine if the converter is working properly. If you have no RV power from the battery when the AC shore power is disconnected, that could indicate a problem with the battery, the wiring, or the reverse polarity protection fuses. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 2:42pm
|
Steven... Good idea... you never know, but that was the first thing I did. Yes I have all the tools, but sometimes I get so far in the forest I cant see the trees... and going back to your statement... "you wondered about the connection on the lower left. The angle of the red wire there looks like it may be only hanging on by a few strands". It isn't, its solid... but that connector/connection must be bad... it is the only thing left, the wire itself is copper stranded and not pinched or damaged anywhere. I'll cut off 6" or so and replace that end connector tomorrow and see what happens. Fortunately I have about 2 feet extra to play with that was left over from the original longer tongue location. ------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: Colt
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 3:19pm
|
My electric tongue jack has one positive and one negative to the battery. The RV has another + and -. That's it. I've added at 12v SAE connector and a solar panel and controller that each add 2 wires. I recently had the converter replaced with a 55A auto detecting converter, maybe the same one you have and all is well. I can't imagine why you have so many + wires and only 1 - wire when mine has the same number of each. ------------- John '16 R-Pod 180 |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 3:36pm
|
[QUOTE=Marvin Problem:
I get no
change in readings from the battery charging or not. I get no
RV battery power to run lights etc. when shore power is unhooked. Can you see anything I have missed? I had this issue a number of years ago on a 177. Battery read 12.58v (almost fully charged) yet the lights were barely dim. In that case the culprit was a badly corroded ground cable, it was fine on the battery end, not on the other where it was connected to the pods frame. Ended up cutting off a few inches on the culprit side, to where the wire was shiny, rehooked everything back up and presto, everything worked fine. ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 4:21pm
|
Colt... That's interesting. I have no idea about the 3rd wire either, unless it comes from the Tow vehicle. I'll have to ck that out. ------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 4:29pm
|
Jato, Duh.... Never thought of that possibility. Easy enough to test. Many thanks. MN  ------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 5:04pm
|
As for the jack, it may only have one wire (positive). The negative is grounded by the bolts attaching the jack to the frame. The two wires that were on my RP179 before I added the jack were the battery and solar connections. There were two on the positive and two on the negative terminals. The jack added a third wire to the positive side. I agree with checking the quality of your ground connection where the battery cable attaches to the frame. The wires from the 7-way connector do not connect directly to the battery. The positive goes to one of those posts in your picture. The negative should be to the frame. I don't have that to check. The new Grey Wolf has an actual junction box underneath. I would need to remove the cover to see how things are connected there. The added thing is the solar panels. I need to figure out the wiring on that also. I intend to replace the PWM solar controller with a Renogy MPPT controller with dual-input so I can also run the vehicle power through it as it also serves as a DC to DC charger. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 5:41pm
|
Steven, you said a mouth full. Yes... that third wire would be from the built in Solar ready plug... which I won't be using. I'll run my own wires from the roof mounted panels. Love your idea of running vehicle power through the Renogy MPPT controller with dual-input Solar Charger (my next project). I plan to put 1-100 Watt panel at each end of the top, hook them in series (24 volts works better than running 12V... less voltage loss), and run the cable down the back side of the slide-out flange and then TBD... may go underneath if I can... sometimes there is a round opening in the middle of the frame to the front. Home Depot and others have enclosed channeling for wires with sticky on one side. As you probably know... the Solar panels go to the Solar controller, and the controller goes directly to the Battery or so I have been told by a solar expert. Spend money... get good panels, some drop voltage to less than 25% if you so much put the shade of your hand over it. Also... if your running more than one panel your suppose to add a diode so the shade affects only affects that one panel. I haven't got that far yet and am waiting for my solar expert to get back from his vacation to help me do that right. The thing is... I'm in the Great NW and we have mountains with lots of forest with very tall giants that we love to camp in. At least we usually have shade. LOL...!!! We can't win... but we have fun trying.
------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 6:11pm
|
Marv, I hear ya. Shade is an issue in northern Michigan as well due to our proximity to the great lakes. Not uncommon during fall - winter - early spring to go a couple weeks without seeing the sun, it decides to 'hibernate' just like a lot of the animals around here. Not good for those who suffer from SAD, but things are looking better, snow is melting and temps got all the way up to +2 C today! ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 6:44pm
 Exactly! If it isn't fun, why do it?------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2023 at 7:08pm
|
Only a couple of weeks with no sun... you lucky dogs... before the weather went wacky on us here in western WA due to climate change, we only got about 6 weeks of full sun a year... usually all at once. Oh well.. the solar Panels will make nice conversation pieces around the camp fire.     ------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 23 Mar 2023 at 10:53am
|
UPDATE: Problem Solved... Must read: It was what appeared to be a good #6 fuse. Change Fuse... Everything works. Realize: - #6 fuse was for slide out & Battery. - Slide out worked on shore power that went through #6 fuse. (Hum and double & triple Hummmmm). - #6 Fault Indicator light... Did not go off. (Hum). - I got 12VDC reading on both side of the Fuse on Shore power. But battery may have been connected... I can't remember after hundreds of tests in 4 days. The tipoff came with shore power off, when I could read the battery voltage on one side and not the other. If and when WFCO support finally returns my phone call from 3 days ago I will point out the Fuse Fault indicator Fault. Lesson learned... trust nothing... especially the simple things, and in this case a Faulty Indicator light. But that still doesn't explain why the Slide out still worked. Thanks everyone for jumping in here.
------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 23 Mar 2023 at 12:20pm
|
That was a head scratcher! Goes to show that one can't assume fuses are good. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: ace
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2023 at 10:25am
| Does anyone have a print out or picture of the order of the fuses for the converter? |
Posted By: SC for Huskers
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2023 at 11:45am
|
Ace, I can get one pretty quickly if it is for a 2017 R172. My guess is every year and model are different. ------------- Happy Traveling, Tom 2017 172pod 2011 F150 STX |
Posted By: SC for Huskers
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2023 at 12:52pm
|
Ace, This is what I have. 1. 10A MP 2. 15 Rear Lights 3. 15 App 4. 15 Bath 5. 15 Lights 6. 7.5 Furnace 7. 15 Refer 8. 15 Refer Element ------------- Happy Traveling, Tom 2017 172pod 2011 F150 STX |
Posted By: hank*pod
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2023 at 10:58pm
|
My 2017 (2016 spec) 179: 1. Water pump 10 amp 2. Radio / antenna amp 15 amp 3. "Appliance" 15 amp 4. Bathroom 15 amp 5. Lights 15 amp 6. Lights 15 amp 7. Lights 15 amp 8. Furnace 10 amp 9-11 are unused.
|
Posted By: Marvin
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2023 at 11:32pm
2019 RP178
 ------------- Marv 2019 RP178 Highly Modified 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Turbo Charger |