2003 311 Converter bad
Still fairly new to camping and want to get some feedback.
My 2003 311 sits at a campground year round, last weekend I noticed the interior lights flickering and the furnace slowing down and speeding up.
I had just replaced the the 50' 30 amp extension cord that afternoon with #10 UV wire buried to the 30 amp electric supply.
I was thinking maybe I did something wrong with the wiring. I checked all my wiring and it was all good and correct, but still my lights would work fine for 15 minutes or so, then go very dim for about three minutes and brighten back up for about 8 minutes, then start the process over again.
I decided to start at the battery. I unhooked the battery and waited.... 8 minutes later, BOOM! all the 12 volt lights went out completely.
So my next step was to uncover the converter (Iota DLS45, original)
Under the fridge behind the fuse / circuit breaker box.
The converter was extremely hot, to the point that I could not leave my hand on it for more than several seconds. My understanding is that converters get warm, but this was ridiculous hot!
All power was off for about 10 minutes before I got the fuse / circuit breaker panel out of the way and was able to get to the converter, so even after 10 minutes of no power, the converter was still too hot to touch.
I waited a half hour until the converter was just warn and I turned the power back on. During this half hour I checked all of my grounds, neutrals, and hot wire connections; all were good and free of any burns or hot looking spots. (the darned chassis ground is up behind one of the water tanks, had to go by "feel" there.)
Anyway, I turned the power on and sat on the floor with the fuse / circuit breaker panel pulled and keeping my eye on the converter. It got very hot to the touch very quick and about 11 minutes later, all 12 volt power went out. After three minutes, the converter cooled enough and the 12 volt power came back on (battery still disconnected). All of this time the fan on the converter never came on to cool the unit.
That would lead me to believe that my converter is bad and needs replaced.
Would I be correct in this assumption?
I ordered a brand new Iota DLS45 from Amazon and I also got the IQ4 smart charge adapter for it. I figure sitting plugged in 24/7, I would rather have a trickle charge instead of the charger going full bore all the time.
So please let me know your thoughts....did I miss anything? Was my procedure carried out correctly by starting at the battery and going from there?
I'm just trying to make sure I am doing everything I can...
thanks for "listening" !
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