Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks: Batter level additional followup...

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Batter level additional followup...

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Topic: Batter level additional followup...

Posted By: JET
Subject: Batter level additional followup...
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 6:50pm

Since I posted my previous post on my battery level question I got out my voltmeter and once again checked the readings on the two 6v GC batteries. They have been plugged into the house AC for 24 hours or longer and they read 11.9v to 12.0 v whether I have the AC cord connected to the house or not. Connected and disconnected to the house reads exactly the same. I can 100% verify that I am indeed getting electrical to the trailer when connected as I have a microwave light on and the TV works proving I am getting AC power to the trailer. It simply does not change any of the battery reading and is not charging the batteries when plugged in.

So I then decided to back the TV up to the trailer and hook the electrical up to the TV. My voltmeter immediately showed a reading of 12.5 hooked up to the TV, so the DC charging is working.

My question is...

1) I had asked my dealer shortly after I took delivery to check my battery/charging operation because my monitor would show low levels of charge (before I bought a voltmeter)and they didn't find a problem (or didn't check) . It seems to me that the batteries have gone way beyond the lowest desired level and probably when I drove got charged higher again, then probably down to a very undesirable level again as I did my trip.

Should I demand new batteries from my service department assuming that my batteries have been compromised with the lack of being fully charged (getting down to a 11.9 volt reading) as a result of the charging problem on the AC electrical hookup?

Replies:

Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:04pm

Don't give up yet. One discharge to 11.9 is not the end of the world. However it does seem your converter is not charging. There are two high current fuses, maybe 40A plus that protect against reversal of the battery. They will blow in an instant if the battery is ever connected backwards: like at the dealer, etc. Check them and make sure you have the battery properly connected. The TV charging line does not go through these fuses and neither do any of the 12V appliances, only the converter/charger.

-------------
Charlie
Northern Colorado
OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD
PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD

Posted By: JET
Date Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 11:17am

Originally posted by CharlieM

Don't give up yet. One discharge to 11.9 is not the end of the world. However it does seem your converter is not charging. There are two high current fuses, maybe 40A plus that protect against reversal of the battery. They will blow in an instant if the battery is ever connected backwards: like at the dealer, etc. Check them and make sure you have the battery properly connected. The TV charging line does not go through these fuses and neither do any of the 12V appliances, only the converter/charger.

Thanks for your reply. Your suggestion of checking the 40a fuses solved my problem. Once I pulled out the two 40a fuses to inspect them I discovered that one of them was inserted where one of the male prongs was not correctly in the female receptacle. Once I re-inserted it correctly I heard a fan noise that I hadn't heard before (coming from the breaker box) and I then realized that one of the 40a fuses must not have been inserted correctly. I then checked the batteries with the voltmeter and verified that they were now being charged. I guess now all I have to worry about is what damage I did to the batteries. I am at fault for the fuse being inserted improperly as I had days earlier had it out inspecting it for another reason and evidently inserted it incorrectly on the trip we were on last week. So the fuse was probably not in correctly for a full week or so. So the batteries were being depleted when we were at campgrounds for for or 5 nights then being charged by the TV when we were driving to the next campground, so it is hard to say where the battery levels were at as I didn't check the batteries at that time not suspecting anything wrong until the light monitor in the trailer started showing low levels while hooked up to AC power. This morning the voltmeter showed the battery level reading 12.7 volts after charging about 14 hours or so.

Posted By: JET
Date Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 1:39pm

Oops...I posted my last message too soon. I assumed that I had found my problem when I pulled out the 40a fuse and reinserted it because I heard the fan start up and the voltmeter showed the system was now charging, but an hour later I went out and rechecked the battery readings with the voltmeter and they are back down to 12.0 and the system is not charging again, so the fuse assumption was wrong. Also while I was on the floor of the trailer looking at the fuses I noticed red lights flashing under the inside of the slideout. It is the slideout synch computer flashing 9 red flashes then 1 green flash. I am hopeful that this flashing is an error code because the battery level is low and not an additional problem.

Any ideas?

Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 3:04pm

The parallel 40A fuses are a poor design electrically but it's cheap (my soapbox). If the first fuse blows or is incorrectly inserted it almost guarantees the second will blow. If you did have the first fuse incorrectly inserted it is possible the second fuse blew and is therefore bad. When you reinserted the first fuse it might have lasted for a time, then blew. It all depends on the battery SOC and the current being fed to it at the time. I would remove both fuses, check them with an ohmmeter, and reinsert them carefully. Then if you still see no charging it would point to a defective converter.

-------------
Charlie
Northern Colorado
OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD
PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD

Posted By: JET
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2017 at 10:47am

Thanks for your answer. I took my trailer to the selling dealer and he has diagnosed a bad converter and have ordered it.