Indoor lights are dim when plugged into a 30 amp

[bearcatfan50]

All of my lights are very dim when plugged into a 30 amp. My A/C, Microwave and Radio are all working fine. Very confused. Checked all circuits breakers and they were fine. Going now to replace all fuses. Any help would be awesome.

[bearcatfan50]

My Frige is also not working.

[Grumpy]

Have to ask the obvious. Do you have the battery installed? The converter uses the battery as part of it's "circuitry" so it is not going to full output. Converter could also be going bad.

[bearcatfan50]

Yes my battery is hooked up. I'm going to replace the battery today. Thanks Grumpy for your reply. Any recommendation on a good battery?

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by bearcatfan50

Yes my battery is hooked up. I'm going to replace the battery today. Thanks Grumpy for your reply. Any recommendation on a good battery?

Interstate has a good track record. If you converter can handle it I personally would spend the extra money on an AGM since they are maintenance free. You can get one at a good price at Sams or Wal-Mart.

[Ela1948]

You could have a virtually dead battery and the lights should not be effected when hooked up to shore power. My first focus would be the ground wires to the frame. It sounds like there is a poor connection somewhere in your DC system.

[RoyBraddy]

The symptoms here tells you the system is probably running off your battery and the converter/charger is NOT putting out 13.6VDC. Your 12VDC Power distribution Panel runs from both SHORE POWER through the Converter/Charger and the connected BATTERY at the same time.

I would definitely measure the DC OUTPUT VOLTAGE coming off the CONVERTER/CHARGER unit and make sure it is putting out 13.6VDC when plugged into the SHORE POWER. It could be two fuses on the FUSE PANEL that are off-set labeled REVERSE POLARITY may be blown.

What alot of folks do is measure the DC VOLTAGE at the battery terminals with SHORE POWER turned off and you will read 12.6-7VDC if the batteries are fully charged. If you read less than 12.0VDC then the battery is discharged. Then turn on SHORE POWER and the DC VOLTAGE at the battery terminals should jump up to 13.6VDC telling you all things are GO and all fuses/connections between the Converter/Charger and the Battery are good.

Roy Ken...

[VicS1950]

Does your RV normally connect to a 240 volt 50 amp service?

If yes, it sounds to me like whatever adapter you are using from 30 amp 120 volts to your 50 amp plug may not be feeding both legs of your 240 volt RV panel (Lights dim = no inverter power. Refrig not working is on same leg.).

A quick check would be to borrow a known working adapter and plug in with that. If it cures your problem then it is likely the adapter you are using.

http://www.myrv.us/Imgs/PDF/50-amp%20Service.pdf

Added:

A diagram thanks to RoyBraddy.




There is more info posted by him here.

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f5...tml#post299157

Another possibility is that your inverter and refrigerator share a common 120 volt breaker/circuit or even a common neutral wire which may have problems.


vic

[VicS1950]

Correction to my previous posting. "Inverter" should have been "Converter/charger" in two places. I was composing before the coffee had kicked in. vic

Originally Posted by VicS1950

Does your RV normally connect to a 240 volt 50 amp service?

If yes, it sounds to me like whatever adapter you are using from 30 amp 120 volts to your 50 amp plug may not be feeding both legs of your 240 volt RV panel (Lights dim = no converter/charger power. Refrig not working is on the same 120 vac leg.).

A quick check would be to borrow a known working adapter and plug in with that. If it cures your problem then it is likely the 30 to 50 amp adapter that you are using.

http://www.myrv.us/Imgs/PDF/50-amp%20Service.pdf

Added:

A diagram thanks to RoyBraddy.


Attachment 18019

There is more info posted by him here.

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f5...tml#post299157

Another possibility is that your converter/charger and refrigerator share a common 120 volt breaker/circuit or even a common neutral wire which may have problems, but that trouble should remain whether on 30 amp or 50 amp service.


vic

[bearcatfan50]

Thanks for the help guys

[us71na]

Check the fuse. I had problems with my interior lights being dim and found that the blades on the fuse were corroded. Cleaning them with Scotchbrite solved the problem and was far less costly than a new battery. Before buying a new battery have it charged by a stand alone charger and checked.

[Brownie]

I may be all wet on this one, but I'll toss in my thoughts, none the less.

Is it possible that you reversed the polarity when you hooked up the battery? Since the lights work on the 12V D.C. service (even when connected to 120V A.C.), the lights would work regardless of polarity when running off the battery. But when you plug into A.C., now your battery is being charged by the converter. If polarity is reversed, the converter wouldn't recharge the battery, and the lights would dim. The 120V A.C. items - like your outlets, television, microwave - would work fine. I'm certainly no electrical authority, so I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me. But it might be worth checking to make sure your black is connected to the + battery terminal, and the white is connected to the - terminal (like in your House, not like in your car/truck).

My apologies to the electronic gurus if I'm all wet here. I do know that electricity & "all wet" are NOT a good combination!

[DirtyBurger2.0]

Originally Posted by bearcatfan50

All of my lights are very dim when plugged into a 30 amp. My A/C, Microwave and Radio are all working fine. Very confused. Checked all circuits breakers and they were fine. Going now to replace all fuses. Any help would be awesome.

I had a similar issue with my '14 JayFlight 26BH. My lights went dim while we were camping for a week. I still had warranty coverage and I talked to a service tech and he supposed it was grounding. He told me to run a charger on the battery for the rest of the week. I took it in and sure enough, from the wire from inverter to the chassis, there was a screw broke off.

[Ricktoney]

Y are my camper light blink bright and dim and now they are really dim and flicking. Really fast

[Ricktoney]

Originally Posted by Ricktoney

Y are my camper light blink bright and dim and now they are really dim and flicking. Really fast

and how do I fix it it just started 2 mouths ago but now my all my light are dim it's plug in to 120 v