voltage Issues

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pagraham

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2017
Posts
17
Howdy Folks
I have a 2010 Carriage Cameo F35SB3, the last couple of trips were 3 days each.
The fiver stays plugged in at the house and when we arrive at camp, first thing I do is plug it in, then auto level the rig, it works as it should.
When breaking camp, the bigfoot auto leveling system doesn't want to retract the rear legs and it acts like it has low voltage.
The legs run up a bit, then stop and  start clicking, I can let it sit a few minutes and it will run in a little more then starts clicking again, it takes a while to break camp because of this.
This last weekend, when we arrived, it was cold so we ran the furnace a bit.
After a couple of days in camp, running light fixtures throughout, I went to start the a/c and the controls just beeped at regular intervals and the a/c would not start (this is a new Coleman with Carrier controls).
Turn off all light fixtures they seemed dimmer than usual, and after a while, the a/c started working again.
When we got home, the rear legs would not drop, so disconnected both batteries, fully charged each one individually, hooked everything back up and it auto leveled as it should.
Also the front and rear buttons flashed continually, looked it up in the bigfoot manual and that is a indication of low voltage.
The rig has an Inteli-Power PD9260C Charge Wizard and 2 new Super Start Marine deep cycle batteries with 425 CCA.
I thought that the charger would keep up with any load placed on the 12v system, ramping up as needed but it seems as though I am draining the batteries as we camp.
I did visit the Inteli-Power website and followed the trouble shooting guide, it appears that the unit works, just can't verify if it is ramping up the charge to meet the load.
Or maybe I just need better batteries.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Paul
 
Have you checked the battery water level. What voltages are you seeing.
 
Are the batteries the originals?

While plugged into shore power, take a voltage reading at the battery terminal. Then disconnect the negative cable and take another set of voltage readings at the battery posts.

Sounds like the batteries won't hold a charge.  Take them out and take them to a auto parts store and have them checked.
 
I agree with the bad batterty. At 8 years old it's possible (normal life is 7-10)  I would have them checked by a battery store and if they are shot replace with a pair of GC-2 Golf Car batteries IN SERIES (the current batteries are in parallel)  Also.. Check your converter to insure proper output voltages while at it but I do not suspect the 9260 at this time. 
 
Thanks for the replys.
The batteries are new and charged well.
I spoke to Inteli-Power tech support, they believe the auto-resetable breaker is opening intermittently not allowing the charger to keep up.
I'm going to replace it with a manual reset 12v 80a breaker
 
I'm not sure that it's solved yet, I'm going to try and duplicate the problem again this weekend and take voltage readings at the battery and both sides of the auto reset breaker.
I wonder if the charging circuit from the truck goes through the same auto rest breaker.
Do yall know?
Thanks
Paul
 
I turned on all living room  and bedroom fixtures, that's 14 I think, left them on all day.
Late in the day, I ran the rear legs up, raised the nose then set into auto level about 3 times before it started acting up.
Then took some more readings.
120.4 vac at the charger wall outlet
14.4 vdc at positive lug on charger with load wires disconnected.
6.9vdc at positive on charger with light fixture load connected to charger and battery disconnected, this makes me think its the charger because I would think the charger would be able to carry 14 light fixtures.
11 vdc at positive on charger with everything hooked up normal state and plugged into shore power.
11.6 vdc at the battery with everything hooked up normal state and plugged into shore power
10.6 at the battery while running 2 bigfoot cylinders, plugged into shore power.
What do yall think?
Thanks
Paul

Also took the batteries to auto parts and they checked out as good.
 
It could also be the wire from the charger to the battery or DC buss. Check and see if all connections are tight, all splices are tight and if there is any corrosion at any of the connections. Loose, frayed or bad splices will show applied voltage but can not carry the load, resulting in a voltage drop. A sure test of the charger would be to disconnect the output wire that is going to the buss. Connect a load directly to the charger and monitor the voltage. If voltage is steady or only drops a little the charger is good. Let us know what you find.
 
Spoke to Dennis with Progressive Dynamics today, he recommended that I disconnect the negative wire from the battery, then observe the charger output voltage and start turning on light switches one at a time.
Did that, and every additional switch that was turned on just dropped the voltage more and more.
He said if that happens, the inverter is bad, get a new charger.
He recommended Leisure Time Distributing @ 517-554-1586.
They have the PD9260C for $189. not a bad price.
I believe the problem has been identified.
I'll be ordering one right after Christmas.
Thanks guys
Paul
 
I just installed a new PD9260C a couple weeks ago.  Great converter!

Your light test shows the old converter is putting out some power - it can handle a couple lights -  but can not provide the amps needed for simple chores like multiple lights (light load  ;D) and certainly incapable of keeping a battery charged!
 
I have a 2005 Cameo Carriage, and i know if I have a lot of things on and drawing power that the lights start blinking in the trailer. I guess it has a limit as to how many things can be powered up and running.


Bill
 
Bill
I'd check everything for loose connections first.
Does everything in the trailer start blinking or is it fixtures on one switch?
 
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