Converter failing or ?

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garyb1st

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Not sure if the old converter is finally failing or if I have a different problem. The house batteries were discharging while the motorhome was plugged into the homes 110 power. I noticed this the other day and think they were discharging because the bcc switches were turned off. Turned the switches on and the batteries charged up over the next few hours. Now it's doing it again and the bcc switches are turned on.

So can the converter fail in stages? Work and then not work for a while. It's an old WFCO circa 2004.

If the problem is with the bcc, is there a way to check that?
 
not sure of a way to test the bcc. it may be best to start at the converter. pull it and open it up. carefully vacuum it out and inspect it. make sure the cooling fan is spinning freely and works. look for any signs of excessive heat.

what exactly is the bcc responsible for ?
 
What model converter is it? I just had to replace my inverter/charger because (I suspect) it was discharging the batteries and finally stopped working at all. A shop told me that all 6 of my batteries were bad. I did not agree and I was right.

When you say BCC are you talking about the battery disconnect switches?
 
BCC Battery control center as Muddy mentions are switches to turn off the power to the engine and house batteries. I think they're also referred to as salesmens switches. I turn them off at night when boondocking to keep the batteries from discharging. However when we're home and connected to our 110 power I leave them on and they will charge the batteries.
 
You might want to check the circuit breakers just in case the CONV one tripped.
On my Class A the converter was a Plug in model. and occasionally I had to plug it back in.
 
That convertor is around 20 years old. I’d be looking for a new more up to date converter with the latest technology
 
That’s how ours died. We saw float voltage intermittently, and then no output.
 
Not sure there's a connection but it worked fine until I turned on the Onan generator and used it to power the air compressor. Had to inflate a tire and our homes 100 amp service can't handle the additional load. Old house, limited amps.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'll check the circuit breakers in the motorhome.

Not sure I can reach the plug but I'll try to pull and reconnect.

The old WFCO is barely able to charge our lithium house batteries to 80%. Been hoping converter technology would catch up to the age of lithium batteries and I'd find one that will fully charge the house batteries and not fry the starter battery. So far the only one that will do both is the Progressive Dynamics Switch. Only problem, it doesn't switch automatically. For someone like me, who spends hours trying to find my eyeglasses, that's a problem.
 
my suggestion would be to use a charger specifically for the lithium. find a suitable means of charging for the chassis battery. there are some chargers that trickle house battery voltage to chassis battery. not sure if they work comfortably with a lithium charge personality. couple other options is a small solar panel to keep the chassis happy or a small compact charger specifically for it.

i would tend to think that your current converter may be getting a little stressed charging lithiums.
 
garyb1st, whereabouts are you located? I'm near the LA port and if you are close enough I may find some time to give you a hand testing it.
 
Henry J Fate said:
I would tend to think that your current converter may be getting a little stressed charging lithiums.
Click to expand...
That's very likely. Our battery monitor has indicated up to 20 amps going in. But that's unusual and not for long before dropping down. Most of the time, it's more like 5 - 7 even when the batteries are low. When I start the engine, I'll see 40 to 50 amps going in for a few minutes before it drops down to the 20 amp range. The engine alternator will fully charge the batteries in a few hours.
 
Pedro Dog said:
garyb1st, whereabouts are you located? I'm near the LA port and if you are close enough I may find some time to give you a hand testing it.
Click to expand...
Pedro Dog, thanks for the offer. I'll keep that in mind. We're in the San Fernando Valley. Not far as the crow flies but if memory serves, it's a long trek via the Harbor or San Diego Frwy. I lived in the PV Peninsula back in the 70's and spent many hours commuting to the Mid-Wilshire area.
 
So far I've unplugged and plugged in the converter. No change. I removed a 2 ft long 15 amp extension cord and plugged the converter directly into the same receptacle. No change. I change out the extension cord from the RV to the house. No change. Tried a different receptacle in the garage. No change. None of the circuit breakers were off.

It's currently charging at a rate of 5 to 6 amps. However it's been doing that on and off throughout the day. Other times the battery monitor indicates a minimal discharge while plugged in. Can't imagine why that would occur when connected to the 110v power.

BCC seems to be working as designed.

The batteries are more than 80% charged so it's possible the converter considers them fully charged. If that's the case it will not take much of a charge. That said, what strikes me as odd is once or twice the battery monitor indicated the batteries were discharging when I turn on a light. That was while plugged into the 110. That shouldn't happen and makes me think converter is dying.

So it looks like a new converter is in my future. Only question is which one and can I do it without removing the refrigerator. Fleetwood managed to cram several heat ducts in the small space. One goes over the converter and the wiring looks like it was done by a blind electrician.
 
garyb1st said:
Not sure there's a connection but it worked fine until I turned on the Onan generator and used it to power the air compressor. Had to inflate a tire and our homes 100 amp service can't handle the additional load. Old house, limited amps.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'll check the circuit breakers in the motorhome.

Not sure I can reach the plug but I'll try to pull and reconnect.

The old WFCO is barely able to charge our lithium house batteries to 80%. Been hoping converter technology would catch up to the age of lithium batteries and I'd find one that will fully charge the house batteries and not fry the starter battery. So far the only one that will do both is the Progressive Dynamics Switch. Only problem, it doesn't switch automatically. For someone like me, who spends hours trying to find my eyeglasses, that's a problem.
Click to expand...
I suspect you stated the problem; 20-yr old chargers do not have a charging function for Lithium batteries. Now charger is toast.
 
Converter has been charging at a rate of almost 10 amps for several hours. I think the reason it was not charging previously was because the converter was seeing the batteries as fully charged. That only happens after a long drive. So when we returned from our last trip they were at 100%. That was almost two months ago. However during that time, they only discharged very little.

To test my theory, I turned on our 12 volt refrigerator yesterday. I wanted to draw down the batteries. The refrigerator draws maybe 30 to 40 amps over night in our unseasonably cool So Cal area. I wanted to discharge the batteries to a point where, if the converter was working, it would begin charging again. It did. Our external battery monitor indicated the batteries were about 54% charged. However the battery monitors, a set of lights on the actual batteries, were showing they were between 60 to 80% charged. That tells me our cheap knockoff Chinese battery monitor is either failing or needs to be reset. However, I'm pretty sure old WFCO is still working. So as the old saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
Just an update. After 4 days on the road, the batteries are always at 100% in the morning. That tells me the 15amp service at the house, which is not a dedicated outlet, wasn't able to manage the draw when our fridge was turned on. Normally when parked at the house it's turned off.
 
garyb1st said:
That tells me our cheap knockoff Chinese battery monitor is either failing or needs to be reset.
Click to expand...
All shunt monitors need to be reset regularly, especially with wet cell batteries. Not so much with LiFepo batteries.

Before every trip, I reset my monitor. I charge the batteries to 100% and reset the monitor to 100%.
 
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