Good morning,
I have an electrical gremlin in my 2008 Winnebago 26p class A motor home. It has the workhorse 8.1L motor and chassis. The problem has come about several times while camping. I'll be on shore power, and sometimes it appears the batteries are dead. The lights dim, sometimes the gas detector alarm goes red and beeps, and the levels indicator shows no charge in the batteries. Then after awhile, everything is back to normal... I've considered an accidental switching off of the battery disconnect, but whether on or off this makes no difference. I'm presuming there is some problem with the inverter/converter? I don't think it is an inverter - I think this MH has a converter that converts 110 to 12v, and maybe its not working, (nor is it recharging the batteries) so once the batteries die, I get the dead battery indications. For example, on the last two night camping trips, on the first night, by bedtime the batteries were dead, the alarm was red and blipping, then by morning all was back to normal, and batteries levels indicated full charge. On the second trip, first night was fine, then second night the lights dimmed, batteries indicated dead, and this time they did not recover overnight. Trip was over so I drove an hour home, and batteries were charged, but I presume via the motors alternator. I've not heard the cooling fan come on since being home, so the converter may now be done.
My mystery is that I can have no problems, sometimes for days while on shore power, (and I never had an issue while full timing as a Florida snowbird this winter) then the batteries go dead. Then suddenly, the batteries will be fully charged and it's as if there was never a problem. There is a cooling fan that when running, indicates to me the converter is working or charging.
So... is this as simple as some loose connection, or does it mean I need to replace the converter that may be working intermittently, or is there a relay or some switch that turns on the converter when the batteries reach a point of low charge? Also, it there any way I can test any of these? I have a multimeter, but just need more intel on how this thing works and what troubleshooting I could do here at home?
I'm hoping the collective wisdom of this group may have suggestions or experience with this issue. I'm also hoping it is a resolvable issue for me at home and I can avoid $110/hour labor fees from the "rv professionals." TIA for patience with the long post and for any thoughts on my issue. - Clem
I have an electrical gremlin in my 2008 Winnebago 26p class A motor home. It has the workhorse 8.1L motor and chassis. The problem has come about several times while camping. I'll be on shore power, and sometimes it appears the batteries are dead. The lights dim, sometimes the gas detector alarm goes red and beeps, and the levels indicator shows no charge in the batteries. Then after awhile, everything is back to normal... I've considered an accidental switching off of the battery disconnect, but whether on or off this makes no difference. I'm presuming there is some problem with the inverter/converter? I don't think it is an inverter - I think this MH has a converter that converts 110 to 12v, and maybe its not working, (nor is it recharging the batteries) so once the batteries die, I get the dead battery indications. For example, on the last two night camping trips, on the first night, by bedtime the batteries were dead, the alarm was red and blipping, then by morning all was back to normal, and batteries levels indicated full charge. On the second trip, first night was fine, then second night the lights dimmed, batteries indicated dead, and this time they did not recover overnight. Trip was over so I drove an hour home, and batteries were charged, but I presume via the motors alternator. I've not heard the cooling fan come on since being home, so the converter may now be done.
My mystery is that I can have no problems, sometimes for days while on shore power, (and I never had an issue while full timing as a Florida snowbird this winter) then the batteries go dead. Then suddenly, the batteries will be fully charged and it's as if there was never a problem. There is a cooling fan that when running, indicates to me the converter is working or charging.
So... is this as simple as some loose connection, or does it mean I need to replace the converter that may be working intermittently, or is there a relay or some switch that turns on the converter when the batteries reach a point of low charge? Also, it there any way I can test any of these? I have a multimeter, but just need more intel on how this thing works and what troubleshooting I could do here at home?
I'm hoping the collective wisdom of this group may have suggestions or experience with this issue. I'm also hoping it is a resolvable issue for me at home and I can avoid $110/hour labor fees from the "rv professionals." TIA for patience with the long post and for any thoughts on my issue. - Clem