Odd power issues

[jdunn]

I have a 2015 Greyhawk, I'm boondocking at my property and here is the weird things going on with my power. When I run off the batteries (2 6v deep cycle in series, paralleled to my house 12v) or even when I was just running off the house 12v - the microwave, fridge and outlets won't come on. When I fire up the generator everything is fine. Since everything works when the generator is running I'm sure my fuses are okay. I don't know what to check/fix. Any ideas?

[Higgy]

I might be stating the obvious here but the microwave, fridge and outlets wont work on anything but 110 power. Thats why they are working when you run the generator.
Unless you have an inverter but it would need to be a beast of an inverter to run that kind of power requirement and i havnt seen one like that for a trailer that i know of.
The fridge will work on propane though. Just have to flip the switch.

[bedrck46]

battery voltage is 12 volts dc
The microwave, fridge and outlets require 110 volts ac which is what the generator provides


seems like everything is working as designed

[Jagiven]

Depending on the frig, unless you have a residential frig, it will have a propane option, that uses 12v DC for the control board. Often, you need to run the gas stove for a short moment to purge the gas line, before switching over to gas. The frig uses very little gas, and often will timeout on startup, if you do not purge the line first.

As for outlets and the microwave, they are 120 v AC, you need a power converter to go from 12V DC to 120 V AC. you might have a small one on board to run a few items, such as a tv or a residential frig.

[Mustang65]

[QUOTE=jdunn;517462]When I run off the batteries (2 6v deep cycle in series, paralleled to my house 12v) QUOTE]

WELCOME TO JOF!!!

The members here are GREAT!!! There is a lot of GREAT information to be found here. I am sure that you will have information and pictures to share with us... so please do!!

I would recommend that you remove the connection between your different batteries. Granted, the outputs are 12 volts, they are VERY different internally. Would you connect "D" batteries in parallel with "AAA" batteries? The cells of a 12Volt battery are very different than a 6 volt battery. Here are a few reasons:
- They have different charging characteristics
- They have different discharging characteristics
- Their internal resistance is different
- Difference in Ah's between different batteries
- One of the 2 sets could be under-charged or over-charged
- Eventually one of the sets of batteries will take the lower voltage characteristics of the lesser battery(s)
- Over-charging can also boil over a battery and will shorten its life

If you already do not have one, you could purchase a battery selector/disconnect switch which will keep the different batteries separate. You could then use/charge the batteries separately.

A few things to remember... batteries should not be allowed to discharge below the 12.0Voltage (the battery 50% rule). Get your self a Digital Voltage Display, to monitor the battery voltage and allow you to switch to a your secondary battery bank or shut down your 12 volt system if both banks are at the 12.0 volt point.

The way you have them now, your batteries will not have a long life.

Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[Cirrob]

Originally Posted by jdunn

I have a 2015 Greyhawk, I'm boondocking at my property and here is the weird things going on with my power. When I run off the batteries (2 6v deep cycle in series, paralleled to my house 12v) or even when I was just running off the house 12v - the microwave, fridge and outlets won't come on. When I fire up the generator everything is fine. Since everything works when the generator is running I'm sure my fuses are okay. I don't know what to check/fix. Any ideas?

Doesnt shore power bypass the fuze up front on the Tongue? I think its the change fuze? ff that one is popped then The b9ttery is not being charged and may be dead which would explain why things only work on shore power

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

[sennister]

Originally Posted by Cirrob

Doesnt shore power bypass the fuze up front on the Tongue? I think its the change fuze? ff that one is popped then The b9ttery is not being charged and may be dead which would explain why things only work on shore power

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

The Greyhawk is a Class C Motorhome.

For the OP, I agree with others. If your RV is wired as it was from the factory, everything sounds fine though I would take that 12V house battery out of the mix and just go with the dual 6V in series.

[jdunn]

Thanks to all for your help. Of course I feel pretty dumb now not realizing the ac/dc thing. Seems every time I turn around I learn something new. As for the comment on the propane fridge - I did figure out (all on my own, thank you very much) that the reason it wouldn't pick up the load was due to my property being above 5500'.

[jdunn]

I'll take your advice and take the house battery out of the mix. I have a solar panel charging the batteries when we aren't there. We only get up there for a day or two each week.