battery or power converter? - Page 2

nylyon · 05-08-2014, 06:11 PM

Oh, and you can test the negative terminal to frame ground, should be zero. If you get voltage that's a problem.

snapper388 · 05-08-2014, 07:35 PM

have your battery tested if you have a shorted battery the battery could be your problem.

Jset · 05-09-2014, 12:09 PM

I checked the continuity of the pos(white wire) to the trailer frame and they are definitely connected. so, I'm going to replace the fuse holder and fuse. Then switch the wires around. And that should fix the problem. The fuse holder says 30 max and the converter says 30 amp fuse max. There are 1 and feels like there is another fuse behind it to make the total 2 fuses on the bottom side of the converter. I got a fuse tester today and will see if those are good after I hook everything up. They are really hard to get to, so I don't think I can pull them out, but I will try to before hand.

nylyon · 05-09-2014, 04:02 PM

It should work much better when you're done. Don't forget to check the tow vehicle if you had connected, chances are that it blew the fuse on the truck too.

RoyBraddy · 05-10-2014, 07:04 AM

I think it is time for you to do some physical wire tracing. You have lots of different info being thrown at you here.

The best way to solve your battery wiring problem is to look on the battery case and find the printed word 'NEG' or the printed symbol '-'. This NEGATIVE battery terminal has to go to the trailer FRAME GROUND no matter what color of battery cable is being used.. Physically hand trace the WHITE BATTERY TERMINAL CABLE and make sure this is the one going to the trailer frame ground. Someone may have used a BLACK COLOR CABLE like the automotive Battery world uses.

In the RV BATTERY WORLD this should be be a WHITE cable but may have gotten mixed up with the AUTOMOTIVE Battery world wiring. In the RV BATTERY WORLD the wire colors should be BLACK for hot (+12VDC) and WHITE for negative (-12VDC) or frame ground.

I think I see where you have actually crossed the wiring and have the WHITE WIRE going to the POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL. This will immediately blow your in-line fuse next to the battery as well as maybe blow two fuses in the 12VDC Power Distribution Panel labeled 'REVERSE POLARITY'

Your in-line battery fuse should be rated at the DC CURRENT level of your on-board converter. This fuse is installed to protect your wiring in case you accidentally hook it up in reverse. The fuse did what it is suppose to do 'MELT'...

Having your BATTERY DISCONNECT SWITCH in the NEGATIVE LEADS is fine. Mine however is installed in the POSITIVE LEADS but that is because I am using BLUE SEA 4-position BATTERY SWITCHES to select which battery is being used in my set-up.

It is also noteworthy that just about all of these problems folks report having usually occurs right after some battery work has been done and had to be disconnected for whatever reason. It is so easy to to get the cables reversed as in the RV WORLD the battery terminals are the same type of connections. Then the OLD MECHANIC juices kick-in where all your life you have always used RED for positive (+12VDC) and BLACK for negative (-12VDC). So guess where the BLACK COLOR CABLES always end up going hehe...

Reversing the battery cables has happened to all of us including myself... Just takes one little bitty spark and the damage is already done.

By the way the invention of the CELL PHONE CAMERAS works wonders in this area. Always take a before and after photo when disconnecting things...

Roy Ken

Malcolmxpi · 05-10-2014, 09:24 AM

Where exactly is the converter located? Is it behind the electrical panel?

wwsmith111 · 05-10-2014, 04:25 PM

Disconnect the negative battery cable and measure the battery and the voltage on the cables with the battery not connected separately. If the battery is dead it could be putting a short or near short on the converter. If you get a good reading on the cables, say 13.6 or higher with the battery disconnected, then maybe the issue is just a bad battery.

Jset · 05-10-2014, 04:59 PM

The converter is on the other side of the fuse panel under the bed on my model.

The battery was connected wrong.
I don't understand how it got that way though because I don't remember taking the pos wire off the battery at all. But I guess I had to of without even thinking about it, because it worked great before I put the disconnect on. I didn't even have a reason to take it off. oh well, what is done is done. I've fixed it all except for a huge wire screw cap that connects the fuse to the 3 wires that are coming from the trailer. When I unwrapped the electrical tape I noticed it was cracked and rusted out. So I have to get another one of those. They are kinda hard to find though. I found them on amazon but it is for a box of 50. Wal-mart only caries them online, the local hardware store doesn't have them, and napa doesn't have them either. I was looking for something to substitute it for. Something better that would hold up to water, but I didn't find anything. Oh well, I guess I have to wait till wednesday for it to get mailed out here.

Thank you guys for all the help! It is much appreciated!

nylyon · 05-11-2014, 10:34 AM

Glad it's working for you. For future reference (although you'll probably not forget) label the wires, or stick a piece of paper enclosed in a Zip-Lock in the battery box indicating how the battery gets connected. Anytime I do any special wiring I put in a "reminder" note for when I forget, or for the next guy who comes along wondering what I was thinking!

Jset · 05-12-2014, 06:45 PM

so, after I hooked it all up I left it charging for a night. Well I came back today and noticed the fuse had blown again. this time it went the normal way, so I didn't have to replace any wiring (thankfully!) I know I have it hooked up right. So, I googled the problem. Turns out that if you try to charge a dead battery with the pos on the neg terminals then the polarity of the battery switches. Thus making the pos neg and the neg pos. sounded strange to me so I had to test it out. and I hooked up my multimeter to it and sure enough when the pos probe is on the neg term of the battery and the neg probe is on the pos term of the battery; the voltage is negative and visa versa it reads positive. So, This entire fiasco cost me some wiring, fuses, and a battery. but the battery is the one that came with the trailer so i'm not sad to see it go. Interesting learning experience though.

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