Question about voltage

[Docdor]

I have a 2021 Jayco 31rsts fifth wheel with the house size refrigerator. I set it up at campsite plugged into 50 amp breaker. With the lights on (all of them) I checked the control panel. For voltage ranges from 10.8 to 11.1 with fridge running. Is this normal? Thanks in advance

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by Docdor

I have a 2021 Jayco 31rsts fifth wheel with the house size refrigerator. I set it up at campsite plugged into 50 amp breaker. With the lights on (all of them) I checked the control panel. For voltage ranges from 10.8 to 11.1 with fridge running. Is this normal? Thanks in advance

No. batteries are dead. use a volt meter and see if the converter is on and running. The converter provides 12 volts for control circuits and charges the batteries. the fridge is 120 volts and 12.

[JimD]

Originally Posted by Docdor

I have a 2021 Jayco 31rsts fifth wheel with the house size refrigerator. I set it up at campsite plugged into 50 amp breaker. With the lights on (all of them) I checked the control panel. For voltage ranges from 10.8 to 11.1 with fridge running. Is this normal? Thanks in advance

Don't know your rig, fridge, or what panel is showing this low voltage level. The first thing you need to do is measure the voltage AT THE BATTERY. This will tell you if you really have a problem or not.

With the rig plugged in you should read mid 13s to mid 14s. This would indicate that the converter is supplying a charge to the battery. If you don't read this you have a converter problem.

If the battery reads like it should, the low voltage reading on your display is due to a "voltage drop" between the battery and the control panel. Voltage drop is the voltage loss that occurs in a circuit. In this case it is probably being dropped in the wiring, unless there is a poor connection somewhere.

With all the lights on you are pulling a number of amps. The more amps, the more voltage drop you will see. If you turn off all items your display will show closer to actual battery voltage.

To give you a real world example of voltage drop, I had the problem in my 12 volt power feed to my fridge. When the fridge was running I would measure 1 volt lower at the fridge compared to my supply voltage at the battery. This fridge would display a low voltage warning at times even though the battery was fine. I piggy backed wires from the fuse panel and the ground connection to the fridge which was basically increasing the size of the wires sending power to the fridge. Problem solved, voltage now normal.

So if it were me, being an electronic tech. I would take my voltmeter and measure the battery voltage and then the voltage at the fuse panel. If the fuse panel is way down you probably have a problem between the battery and fuse panel. This is a starting point.

Another example of erroneous voltage displays is my plug-in power display for my engine battery voltage. It sometimes reads a few tenths lower than the actual battery voltage.

Sorry for the long-winded response. When talking electricity it gets my electrons flowing.

[F350guy]

I have exactly the same issue with my Pinnacle. If I push the button which turns on all the lights my voltage drops below 12 and the warning triangle shows up on my BMPro panel. If I turn them off it jumps back to about 13. I bought a load tester to check my 2 6 volt batteries and they are fine so, as JimD said, it has to be else where. I'm thinking that is a lot of lights to have on at one time but I had assumed, I guess erroneously, that the converter would handle it. We keep it plugged to our 50 amp service in our rv garage all the time so keeping our batteries charged should not be an issue.

Maybe JimD can help here. Would adding 2 more 6 volt batteries be beneficial? If the issue is inadequate sized wiring probably not. Would a bigger and better converter help? Again, if it is the wiring probably not. I'm sure this has been going on since we bought the Pinnacle a year ago but I just hadn't noticed it. I'm not too concerned but I do need our fridge to work off the batteries for maybe 12 or so hours on some of our travel days.

To Cavie, I'm not trying to hijack your thread but I do hope you don't mind if I join in. Been meaning to ask about this but just hadn't gotten to it.

[Cavie]

F350 Guy, no problem, it's not my thread. I bought a load tester to check my 2 6 volt batteries and they are fine so JimD said, Can you show us a picture of the tester you bought? A Load tester or a voltmeter? Most folks do not buy a load tester without having an electrical background. I'm guessing your Pinnacle has LED lights so I can't join the voltage drop camp.

[F350guy]

I bought a tester from Harbor Freight. It is the Cen-Tech 100 amp, 6/12 volt battery load test for $19.99. It had better reviews than their $55 one. I know there are a lot better ones but I may never use it again so I was fine with 20 bucks. I'd take a picture of it for you but it's out in my rv garage and it is pouring rain right now.

I was assuming we had the same issue so if not, I apologize and ask those responding to give priority to your question.

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by F350guy

I bought a tester from Harbor Freight. It is the Cen-Tech 100 amp, 6/12 volt battery load test for $19.99. It had better reviews than their $55 one. I know there are a lot better ones but I may never use it again so I was fine with 20 bucks. I'd take a picture of it for you but it's out in my rv garage and it is pouring rain right now.

I was assuming we had the same issue so if not, I apologize and ask those responding to give priority to your question.

No need to apologize. I had no question I was giving my advice. The thread belongs to DOCDOR

[F350guy]

Originally Posted by Cavie

No need to apologize. I had no question I was giving my advice. The thread belongs to DOCDOR

Sometimes I'm inept, other times I'm incompetent. I didn't scroll up far enough to see that you were just responding, not the OP. To start all over, please respond to DOCDOR first. I promise I will do better next time, maybe.

[JimD]

Until a voltage test is taken at the battery, we will not know what is happening and how to proceed. I am assuming that the converter is wired directly to the battery through some heavy cables (8 gauge or so). If it is wired to the fuse panel then this complicates the issue.

If the battery is dropping low that is one problem. If it is normal but the voltage to the rig is low that is another problem.

Simple starting point test.

[Docdor]

This is what happens when you assume everything is on and working. I thought it odd this happened. We went home just after we seen that problem. As I was thinking about it I thought go back to basic. Long story short they were working on cable and turned off power and never turned it back on. Everything working fine now. I would like to thank all of you for the support.