Low Voltage DC Voltage

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Tin man

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Feb 20, 2011
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Long island NY
I have messages on my SPS  CHGR COND. MODE  10.5 Volt 0 Amp    Charger on low voltage check battery...House battery 10.4 - 8.6 on low end  Inverter off.

The message on refrigerator is low dc

I have new batteries installed this summer.  I was on site for 5 days and discovered the power box was only on one leg. 50AMP.  Ran heater. The breaker was fixed and now I have low batteries. What does chge cond mode mean?

Any suggestions.

Jim Wecht

edit by staff - changed message icon to topic solved
 
Dunno, but obviously the batteries are not getting charged.


According to the Dimensions charger manual, CHRG COND MODE means the charger is in battery conditioning mode. Nothing wrong with that - it happens automatically - but it should still be applying voltage and amps to the batteries. Clearly that is not happening.  First thing is to make sure the SPS is actually receiving power from the load center. There should be a circuit breaker there labeled to read something like converter/charger or inverter. Probably a 30A breaker.


https://www.rvtechlibrary.com/electrical/dimensions_owners.pdf
 
Gary:

I reset all the breakers. I agree am not getting a charge. If I am not enough to get the batteries over 10.7.

I am waiting for service tech. Fridge flashes lo dc. Will it hurt the fridge to let it run? On lo dc?

Jim
 
Tin man said:
I am waiting for service tech. Fridge flashes lo dc. Will it hurt the fridge to let it run? On lo dc?

It won't hurt anything, but there's a good chance the control board has shut down the refrigerator.

Tin man said:
I was on site for 5 days and discovered the power box was only on one leg. 50AMP.

Are you talking about the park's 50 amp outlet?  If so, it might not be energizing the side of the breaker panel that feeds the converter.

Can you use a 50-30 amp pigtail and plug into a 30 amp outlet?  This will ensure both sides of your 50 amp panel are receiving voltage and may let the converter resume working.
 
The park replaced the 50amp breaker. Still no charge checked all breakers inside coach. GFI included. When I run engine full charge from ALT. Run generator no charge.

Bringing up batteries via eng. alt. 

 
The fridge probably isn't running if it shows the Lo DC code. Whether gas or electric mode. If the DC voltage is too low, the circuit board shuts down. If it hasn't shut down, then no harm to the fridge. No promises about what happens to the food, though.
 
Voltage at breaker, voltage into converter, low voltage out of converter. Possibly stuck in cond. mode. Tech was told that possibly drain power out of converter with light bulb and converter possibly will reset itself in 24 hours. As for now I have a battery charger hooked up too house batteries.

New converter about $1900
 
Tin man said:
New converter about $1900

OUCH!!! Did you do an Internet search for the make and model. You may find a replacement for a lower price. I think it is a fairly easy DIY. Check http://www.bestconverter.com/

 
The Dimensions SPS would be worth repairing if parts can be found, but few RV techs want to deal with it.  Usually end up either going to the shop or mailing the unit to them and waiting for return. Sometimes easiest to buy the new one and install, then send the old one off for repair. Either sell the refurbished one to recover some bucks or keep for a spare.

Service locator for Dimensions/Magnum models:
https://www.magnum-dimensions.com/distributor-locator
 
If you want to use the RV while the Dimensions is in the shop and you can live without the inverter portion for a while, get a Progressive Dynamics converter to take it's place.  Then sell it when you get the Dimensions back.

Or leave it in place.  Iif you're ever going to stay where there's limited electricity (15 or 20 amps) you can use an orange extension cord to connect the PD to electricity and run the rig off of the Dimensions inverter.  The PD will keep the batteries charged and you can run high wattage devices like the microwave, coffeemaker, a hairdryer, etc. for reasonable amounts of time.

The extra power will come from the batteries and you'll never trip the shore breaker.
 
A friend with a 2004 Journey found out that they wouldn't repair the existing one and would only sell a replacement for $1700. The year before they would repair it for $500.
 
The Dimensions charger/inverter (I call it Dimented) was built to a price point for Winnebago and it's not pure sine wave in the inverter mode. When my coach was brand new I replaced the Dimented with a Xantrex RS200. then a few years later it croaked and I replaced it with a Magnum PSW inverter/charger.

The prudent thing to do is just replace it and pitch in the dumpster. Magnum has some less expensive models than their PSW models and Xantrex is another quality brand.
 
Be aware that Magnum & Dimensions are the same company and the various products may be similar or share internal components.

Typically when the inverter/charger is changed to a different model or brand, the remote display panel must also be replaced, increasing both the expense and the hassle.  There don't seem to be any industry standards for the remote panel interface, so each new product goes its own way.
 
Xantrex uses a regular Ethernet RJ45 for their remote panel, Magnum uses I think an RJ11 (I built a converter from RJ45 to RJ11 when I replaced the Xantrex with the Magnum), Dimensions used a non-Ethernet RJ45 cable to their remote panel.
 
To all thanks for the suggestions. Your support is greatly appreciated.  I am waiting for the tech. To come back.  As now I?m running a charger to the house battery?s, to keep 12 volts. The company says they do not rebuild them anymore.  They told the tech the box might reset itself by draining the power from box, disconnect batteries, and wait 24 hrs. I think I?ll go the way John recommend?s. I?m hopping the box resets.

I will keep you all updated.hope I have news tomorrow

Jim
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Be aware that Magnum & Dimensions are the same company and the various products may be similar or share internal components.

Typically when the inverter/charger is changed to a different model or brand, the remote display panel must also be replaced, increasing both the expense and the hassle.  There don't seem to be any industry standards for the remote panel interface, so each new product goes its own way.
They are the same company NOW, but Magnum and Dimensions products are NOT the same. As for repairing a circa. 2004 Dimensions, they used to have a flat ~$400 repair fee. IF thats gone away, I would not fix it, but replace it ONLY with a Magnum 2012 series device.

As for the OPs problem, its time to break a meter out and look at, among other things, the stand-alone voltage. If its too low its possible the chanrger simply wont enguage. Simply removing one leg of the service isn't going to damage anything. There may be another issue separate to the missing leg.
 
UPDATE:

Looks like good news. We have been traveling with friends for the last few weeks, and the tech. Who was working on the coach, said he was able to reset the inverter. The charger is working again. We will not be back for another few days so I will not be able to see if all is well till next Friday. Beats paying $1900.00 for a new converter.

Jim
 
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