# Power Issues



## Honez (Feb 18, 2014)

Even when I am plugged in to a land power source, I seem to be running off the battery. When the inverter kicks on, I get great power, but when it turns off, my lights dim.

Seems to cycle on and off about every two minutes.

Any ideas on what it could be?


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## Jewellfamily (Sep 25, 2010)

Your lights, fridge, and furnace, and electric igniters, all run off of 12 volt system all of the time, even plugged into shore power. The only things that actually run off of 120V AC are the air conditioner, microwave, TV, electric hot water heater option, outdoor kitchen fridge if equipped, and 120V outlets in the camper. My first guess would be that your battery is shot and things work ok while the converter is running and the charging circuit is supporting the load when charging, but the battery itself cant support a load. Hook a set of jumper cables from your vehicle battery to the camper battery (vehicle not running), or put your vehicle battery in it temporarily to test. If it acts normal, its the battery.

May be a good opportunity to upgrade to a dual 6v deep cycle battery system if you do a lot of no hookups type camping. its a popular upgrade and there are threads on this site about it.


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## Honez (Feb 18, 2014)

Jewellfamily said:


> Your lights, fridge, and furnace, and electric igniters, all run off of 12 volt system all of the time, even plugged into shore power. The only things that actually run off of 120V AC are the air conditioner, microwave, TV, electric hot water heater option, outdoor kitchen fridge if equipped, and 120V outlets in the camper. My first guess would be that your battery is shot and things work ok while the converter is running and the charging circuit is supporting the load when charging, but the battery itself cant support a load. Hook a set of jumper cables from your vehicle battery to the camper battery (vehicle not running), or put your vehicle battery in it temporarily to test. If it acts normal, its the battery.
> 
> May be a good opportunity to upgrade to a dual 6v deep cycle battery system if you do a lot of no hookups type camping. its a popular upgrade and there are threads on this site about it.


I only camp where we have hook ups. Sounds like I need a new battery.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

You do not have an inverter (inverts DC to AC) you have a converter (converts AC to DC).

The converter should not cycle if the load is constant, nor should the battery. As you add load the converter will increase the amperage to the battery to try and maintain the voltage. You should hear the converter cooling fan run when there is load on it.

Now to tell you what I think the issue is. It is the thermal auto reset breaker that is mounted next to the battery. When the breaker is tripped the converter manages just fine powering the lights. When the breaker cools off and closes it sees the battery is low and tries to charge it and the voltage gets pulled down, it will try to increase but may not be able to. This drives the current up and the breaker heats and trips and the cycle repeats.

You will need a volt meter for most of the tests.

First action would be to make sure the thermal breaker posts are clean and there is not too much rust on them. Measure the voltage post to post and it should read 0 volts, if it reads more than 0 then there is a high resistance in the breaker.

Measure the voltage at the battery, shore power off. On a fully charged battery it should be 12.6 vdc.

At this point both the breaker and the battery could be bad but you will know more once you check the conditions listed above.


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## Snow (Sep 27, 2011)

Also look up around the battery area and check the wiring and the 30amp fuse (circuit breaker) that is mounted on the tongue area ... If the wiring to that circuit breaker is bad (or the cb is damaged) it will cause power issues when running off the battery ... Just ask my neighbors last year when we were in Kentucky and the campground power went out ... Those propane detectors are real loud at 6am ...


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## Bob Landry (Apr 18, 2011)

When plugged into shore power, the battery is never used, as the converter provides 12V and the occasional trickle charge to the battery. When the converter drops out, the 12V system is running on a battery that is inadequately charged( because of a bad converter). Turn the battery off or disconnect it. If the lights do not come up to full brightness, the converter needs to be replaced.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Bob Landry said:


> When plugged into shore power, the battery is never used, as the converter provides 12V and the occasional trickle charge to the battery. When the converter drops out, the 12V system is running on a battery that is inadequately charged( because of a bad converter). Turn the battery off or disconnect it. If the lights do not come up to full brightness, the converter needs to be replaced.


This is not correct. Anytime the load on the DC system exceeds the output of the converter the battery should support the voltage/current requirement. An example is the slide, you should never run the slide with just the converter as it can not normally maintain the required voltage and current for the slide motor. When connected to shore power the converter does provide most of the required current and there should not be any visible/noticeable cycling.

Based on the cycling comment by the OP I still feel the issue is the auto reset thermal breaker but could also be due to a failing battery. Unlikely to be a converter issue.


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