Converter?

On my last campimg trip, my voltage started to drop and my A/C would not run also my lights started to dim. Thinking my converter went out, I hooked up a battery charger to the battery and it got me through the weekend. The issue that I have is when I disconnect the charger, everything continues to run for about an hour or so. Does this sound like the converter or a weak battery?

First, Welcome.

Second, have the battery load tested

Third, check the converter output voltage when you are plugged in. It should be around 13.4 volts or so.

sounds exactly like the converter has fried. The hour or so is just how long the battery is holding you over

Best Converter

This is where I got my replacement.

Regards,
Keith

Thanks!!!

I also ordered a replacement from bestconverter.com. I initially ordered the PDI that was a direct plug and play replacement. After not showing up for a week I called and the guy said that they had billed my card the day they ran out and that it would take awhile to get more. I was in a hurry and he told me the Xantrex XADC60 was a better converter and that he would throw in a charger wizard and ship immediately for the same price. So I did it. The Xantrex requires mods to the housing which seem easy enough at firts but are tediuos and time consuming. I had a couple of questions during install. When you call you get one guy and he seems to know his stuff.
If I to do it again I would go with the PDI or another plug and play unit.

Just curious ... since the converter is such a vital part of the camper, do any of you keep a replacement on hand? I've been thinking about putting one under the couch, just in case.

I don't. I dry camp too much and depend on the solar charger. I could get away without the converter till I got home in my case.

I would carry a battery charger on board just in case.

I have a battery charger hard wired to the batteries through a battery kill switch. Position one-converter, position two-battery charger and then position off if desired. Covers all the bases. In case you are wondering, I use position two- battery charger when I want to charge my batteries as fast as possible when on generator to keep the running time down. It charges a lot faster than the converter does.

get idea maxum1989 !!! i especially like the idea of a faster charge time when on generator. i see another project in my very near future ...

Joe

This sounds like what happened to us. After it went to low voltage the dvd/cd/stereo quit working also. The fuses test good. Could it have fried the dvd player?

DH was thinking there is a short somewhere, maybe it is just the converter. The battery will also die after sitting for a week or so. I read here that maybe disconnecting the battery before storing should help.

It is a 2009 32QBBS. We bought it out of Michigan and had it delivered to Illinois. I'm not finding any dealers wanting to do the warranty work. I understand -but all that does is justify the reasons I didn't want to deal with them to begin with. Great service would help bring me there to purchase the next time. I got an appointment for the off season. They tried to push me off until December but I got them to schedule one end of September. If there is anything my DH can try in the meantime, we would gladly do that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

After doing some research online we have decided to replace the converter ourselves. We now have the 7100 series. Any suggestions on what to replace it with.

The concertone is the zx75. I am going to have the dealer send us a new one since this seems to be a common problem.

Is there a recommended battery charger for 5th wheel CAT's?

I went to an auto parts store and purchase a battery charger that they sell. It has switch for 6V or 12V. I put it on the 12 and keep it plug in all the time until I got my converter replace. It seems like the factory got a lot of bad converters. Sears also selll battery chargers and they are good.

Where do you test the 12 volt ( 13.4 ) out of the converter?

There should be two heavy gauge wires (one ground and one 12V) that go back to the battery bank. you could test them at either end. It may be easier to find them at the batteries. Just make sure you remove them from the battery bank first so you can isolate the circuit for measuring the output voltage.

Thank you, I took the cover off and no 12 volt, ordered a new main board should be here Wed.

When we first purchased our Wildcat in 2005, we had a problem where the landing gear would stop working sometimes and everything would appear dead 12VDC wise (as long as we were not plugged in). I initially replaced the battery but continued to have this problem. I ended up replacing the 12VDC board that has all the fuses on it (there was an internal cracked trace on the board that was intermittent. This crack when open would prevent the battery from being connected to the converter, thus no 12VDC and no battery charging. The board was $35 shipped to my house and it fixed the problem.

I later added a 2 way battery switch and purchased an XPS marine battery charger (see Bass Pro Shops). This charger was meant to be connected long-term to the battery and was a progressive charger (would not boil the batteries). I could switch between the converter (needed when towing or for 12VDC in the camper when not connected to 120V) or the charger (if camper was plugged in it would charge the batteries and the converter would supply 12VDC for every thing else except the slides or landing gear - these needed the battery because of their current draw).

This worked very well for us and my battery is still going strong.

cooksvillewildcat wrote:When we first purchased our Wildcat in 2005, we had a problem where the landing gear would stop working sometimes and everything would appear dead 12VDC wise (as long as we were not plugged in). I initially replaced the battery but continued to have this problem. I ended up replacing the 12VDC board that has all the fuses on it (there was an internal cracked trace on the board that was intermittent. This crack when open would prevent the battery from being connected to the converter, thus no 12VDC and no battery charging. The board was $35 shipped to my house and it fixed the problem.

I later added a 2 way battery switch and purchased an XPS marine battery charger (see Bass Pro Shops). This charger was meant to be connected long-term to the battery and was a progressive charger (would not boil the batteries). I could switch between the converter (needed when towing or for 12VDC in the camper when not connected to 120V) or the charger (if camper was plugged in it would charge the batteries and the converter would supply 12VDC for every thing else except the slides or landing gear - these needed the battery because of their current draw).

This worked very well for us and my battery is still going strong.

You have my interest piqued... right now I'm having issues with my hydraulic system. For the record, my DC converter is the stock one supplied with the WC, it went out and was replaced under warranty with a like model. I do not have the model number handy. On battery alone, I have almost no operation of my landing gear as you put it. Plug her in, and my slide out and gear work just fine. You and many speak of "boiling" the battery and I assume this is because of overcharging. Am I hurting the battery with this?

What you say here in using a marine battery charger is intriguing. So then when your unit is stored, your battery is disconnected or the only source of power to it, is battery charger? Do you run anything while stored? For me, when plugged in I keep the fridge going almost all the time so I know that much is working out of the barn.

Thanks for this post...

David

cooksvillewildcat wrote:I later added a 2 way battery switch and purchased an XPS marine battery charger (see Bass Pro Shops). This charger was meant to be connected long-term to the battery and was a progressive charger (would not boil the batteries). I could switch between the converter (needed when towing or for 12VDC in the camper when not connected to 120V) or the charger (if camper was plugged in it would charge the batteries and the converter would supply 12VDC for every thing else except the slides or landing gear - these needed the battery because of their current draw).

This worked very well for us and my battery is still going strong.

I am interested in keeping my batteries fully charged with a charger possibly. I have 160W (2x 80W) solar panels but they don't seem to keep the batteries fully charged up, they hover around 12.8 volts with only about 2 amps charging on a good day (max is 9 amps). My previous 5ver had a single 160W solar panel which kept the same batteries fully charged no problem. I am wondering if another charger, seperate from the converter, would keep my AGM batteries up around the 14.4V they should be at? I was looking at the Bass Pro Shops that you mentioned (http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_74190____SearchResults). Are one of these models the one you had?

Thanks, oh and by the way, I looked up your new Open Range 5th wheel and I must say WOW. Crazy nice!! Never seen a glass sink like that in an RV either!!

Cory,

We had the 5 amp version (older one like in your above link) - worked great.

Our Open Range has been great so far - I have yet to find a problem except for a defective circuit breaker that I replaced for $3.50. It was for the outlet to an optional W/D that we do not have.

With our Wildcat I could have the XPS charger maintain the battery while the convertor powered the camper. I had a 'both' position on my switch that could have been used if the convertor had failed assuming the battery was good and the convertor was disconnected.