Battery charger/ power supply not working. - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

bugman · 07-30-2011, 05:41 PM

So I went camping this week ( full hook up ) and noticed my lights growing dimmer after 2 days. I checked all fuses and wires. All were OK. I got another battery and used lights sparingly to finish the trip.
When I got home I checked the output with a meter and found the same reading 12.2v with the charger plugged in or not plugged in. I do have 110v going into the charger but it seems to be not working at all. It makes no sound when plugged in and it never gets warm. I have had this camper for a year and camped 7 times witout a problem. Have I missed something or does anyone have any suggestions for me. Any help would be appreciated.

98 towlite - powersource battery charger/ power supply.

Dave

RichR · 07-30-2011, 06:49 PM

If the converter/charger is working you should be getting over 13 volts at the battery when charging. 12.2 volts is too low and shouldn't go below about 12.5 volts. I don't know, but there could be a fuse in line that is bad. Check for a circuit breaker in the battery compartment. There actually should be two of them. One is hooked between that battery and the lift pump and the other is between the battery and the convertor. Some had reset buttons on them, others have automatic/thermal reset. It looks like a little metal box with terminals.

JackandJanet · 07-30-2011, 06:58 PM

It's obvious from the voltage reading that your converter is not charging the battery. If you can't find a "simple" cause, like a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker, they can be bought at places like Camping World, and they aren't TOO expensive as I recall.

- Jack

RichR · 07-30-2011, 07:55 PM

Thinking about it some more, when you are plugged in to shore power, you should have at least 12.6 volts and fully bright lights regardless of the battery charge level. Am I correct on that? I would agree on the bad converter. Have it checked out before jumping for a new one. Just a simple voltage check for both unplugged and plugged in modes.

JackandJanet · 07-31-2011, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

Thinking about it some more, when you are plugged in to shore power, you should have at least 12.6 volts and fully bright lights regardless of the battery charge level. Am I correct on that? I would agree on the bad converter. Have it checked out before jumping for a new one. Just a simple voltage check for both unplugged and plugged in modes.

I think, Rich, that when the converter is in "float" mode (if the battery is fully charged), you're going to see around 13 Volts across the battery terminals. A fully charged, disconnected battery, with the surface charge worn off will normally have a no-load voltage of 12.7 V.

Now, if you have a bad (shorted) cell in the battery, it will never reach 12 Volts, even if you apply charging current across it.

- Jack

RichR · 07-31-2011, 01:03 PM

Jack,

I would have to agree with you on that. Another thought, don't check the battery voltage immediately after removing the charge. Let it sit for a few hours and let it settle back to its normal surface charge state. I don't mean to repeat you Jack on that, but people tend to forget about that.

JackandJanet · 07-31-2011, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

Jack,

I would have to agree with you on that. Another thought, don't check the battery voltage immediately after removing the charge. Let it sit for a few hours and let it settle back to its normal surface charge state. I don't mean to repeat you Jack on that, but people tend to forget about that.

They forget about it all the time, so it always bears repeating. I'm glad you did.

- Jack

bugman · 07-31-2011, 03:23 PM

Well, today I disconnected the battery and checked the voltage at the posts on the charger. I got .2v when plugged in and unplugged. I'm thinking I better start pricing a new charger. We have alot of thunderstorms here every week. I was wondering if a lightning strike could cause this problem without affecting anything else in the camper.
Dave

RichR · 07-31-2011, 08:04 PM

Lightning could do some damage no doubt. The charger is built in with the converter but is normally a separate section, so it could go bad and not effect the converter. If you get a new converter, get one with a good charger that will charge the battery up and then switch to maintain mode. Some have an extra module like Intellipower with Charge Wizard module.

kb1clx · 12-09-2014, 12:59 PM

there is a circuit breaker type device "inside the power converter " this may have gone bad as mine did I replaced it with a regular fuse holder.. then it worked but it was puting out 17.7 volts so I ran that low voltage into a solar charge controller as I know they can handle that input voltage then connected battery to solar charge controller. Seems fine now Solar controller was $10..