house battery charging issue - converter working

[wuntunearlybko]

ok guys, i am having an issue i need some help. i will keep this as short as possible.



I just bought a 2017 30BQ. when we got it to my property i already had a proper 30amp plug to connect shoreline power and all was well. about a month later i towed the trailer to my primary residence and plugged it in to a 50amp plug i have setup for welder (no neutral). something about that plug was not good and i lost power. i ended up having to replace my power converter and my fridge heating element. i re-wired my welder plug for a proper 50amp with neutral wire connected. everything works great now.


now for my issue because i think its related. I have to keep my battery connected to a battery charger to keep it charged. i have tested power out of the converter and its registering about 14volts so its pushing power out. when i unplug the battery i lose all 12v in the trailer. i have tested and checked the 120v breakers and they all are working. i have tested and checked all of the ATC fuses multiple times and they are all working. i have tested and checked the two 12v automatic breakers at the tongue of the trailer and they seem to be good. i have cleaned all of the terminals on the breakers as well as on the house battery/connections.


TL;DR - house battery is not charging even though the converter is putting out power.


also, does anyone have any electrical diagrams for a 2017 Zinger 30BQ?


thanks all

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by wuntunearlybko

ok guys, i am having an issue i need some help. i will keep this as short as possible.



I just bought a 2017 30BQ. when we got it to my property i already had a proper 30amp plug to connect shoreline power and all was well. about a month later i towed the trailer to my primary residence and plugged it in to a 50amp plug i have setup for welder (no neutral). something about that plug was not good and i lost power. i ended up having to replace my power converter and my fridge heating element. i re-wired my welder plug for a proper 50amp with neutral wire connected. everything works great now.


now for my issue because i think its related. I have to keep my battery connected to a battery charger to keep it charged. i have tested power out of the converter and its registering about 14volts so its pushing power out. when i unplug the battery i lose all 12v in the trailer. i have tested and checked the 120v breakers and they all are working. i have tested and checked all of the ATC fuses multiple times and they are all working. i have tested and checked the two 12v automatic breakers at the tongue of the trailer and they seem to be good. i have cleaned all of the terminals on the breakers as well as on the house battery/connections.


TL;DR - house battery is not charging even though the converter is putting out power.


also, does anyone have any electrical diagrams for a 2017 Zinger 30BQ?


thanks all

So, is your trailer 30 amp or 50 amp?

Also, a 50 amp welder plug is not the same as a 50 amp RV plug. A few others have made that mistake with the same results--everything fried.
Is the receptacle you are now using wired properly for the RV?
You say there is power coming out of the converter. Have you traced the wires to the battery to see if it's getting there? Is there an inline fuse between them that might be burned?
Sorry I can't give you a solid answer for your problem, but plugging into a 220 volt welder plug can really create a ton of issues.
Maybe somebody that has experienced that same issue will chime in with what they ended up finding.

[dagst1]

You replaced your converter -- what brand/model did you use? Was it in the power center or a deck mount? There should be 2-40 amp fuses on the 12 volt distribution panel have you checked them? And as Lloyd asked is your camper 30 or 50 amp? I know it is a lot of questions but trying to better understand the situation to give a more accurate diagnosis.

[660catman]

I just went through a situation with a friend. He wired battery backwards but proceeded to plug camper into shore power. He had issues after that with 12v items not working up to par. When working the slide out the lights dimmed dramatically.
This is where I come in. I noticed battery was backwards and checked it. Totally dead and now bone dry. Checked converter fuses which were good. Tested converter which showed good. However same situation even with new battery.
Anyways long story short, unhook converter. Hook up a regular 15-20 amp battery charger to the camper wires that went into converter. If all works, it’s your converter even though it tested good.
And to boot, his short cord from 50 amp to 30 amp on the camper had a burnt terminal in it. We got a replacement before all the above. His was a deck mount WFCO 65 amp converter. The two 20 amp fuses were good too.

[wuntunearlybko]

i really appreciate the help... i am happy to answer any questions so keep'em coming.


The trailer is 30amp and yes i am humble enough to admit i made a mistake. As far as i can tell the only two things i fried was the converter and the fridge element, everything else we have tested and is working fine so i am hoping that was all. yes the connection i have now at my residence is the correct 4 prong (with neutral) 30amp connection and everything works properly, no further issues.



the converter is behind my electric panel and i bought an exact replica from ebay (used but good) and is a WFCO 55 Amp WF-9855. when i pulled mine out i could not get any indication it worked and in fact i can see inside where the capcitors blew. On the new one, i can plug it in, hear the fan kick on, and my multimeter shows about 14v.


i have checked all of the fuses in the dist center and they are all in working order.



i know the battery is connected correctly, and in fact never disconnected it until recently for testing purposes. i swapped in another known good deep cycle battery i have i use for trolling and get the same results so i am pretty confidant the house battery is still good.


so this is the weird part, at the main connection at the battery on the trailer side of the automatic breaker (assuming a direct line back to the dist panel) i am getting some weird voltages, its jumping around from 7v to 11v and will not settle down. but when i go inside and put my leads on the connection i get a solid 14v. is there something in between that could have gotten fried?

[wuntunearlybko]

Originally Posted by wuntunearlybko

but when i go inside and put my leads on the connection i get a solid 14v. is there something in between that could have gotten fried?

ok i just tested again and i was wrong, the voltages are jumping around even at the converter. i swear i was getting a solid 14v at the converter before put it in. looks like i just need to replace the converter with a new one.

[660catman]

Originally Posted by wuntunearlybko

ok i just tested again and i was wrong, the voltages are jumping around even at the converter. i swear i was getting a solid 14v at the converter before put it in. looks like i just need to replace the converter with a new one.

That’s exactly what happened when I was testing my friend’s. It was frustrating to say the least. It made no sense to the service guy at the RV place where we bought the cord. That’s when the owner piped in and told me about the battery charger test.
Usually if the fan comes on right away, it means battery is low or your drawing lots of power.

[660catman]

Do a thorough wiring check for melted areas before you buy a new converter.

[mark5w]

Not sure what the exact size convertor you need, but many
rvers like the Progressive Dynamics models.

https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Converte...xoCtHoQAvD_BwE

[coastn]

Progressive Dynamics appears to be the replacement brand of choice on the Grand Design Forum as well.

[Russb]

Originally Posted by wuntunearlybko

ok i just tested again and i was wrong, the voltages are jumping around even at the converter. i swear i was getting a solid 14v at the converter before put it in. looks like i just need to replace the converter with a new one.

I got good support when I contacted WFCO to help troubleshoot my converter.

[dagst1]

Just reading your post and am confused--- you have a 30 amp camper but a 4 prong plug? 30 amp should be 3 prong and 50 amp would be 4 prong. 30 amp- 1 hot/ 1 ground/ 1 neutral on a 50 amp 1 ground/ 1 neutral/ and 2 hot. You have a deck mount converter. Here is the manual -- https://wfcoelectronics.com/wp-conte...Manual-web.pdf . There are instillation and also troubleshooting sections that may help. The white wire would be the ground - and the black would be the + or hot wire to the 12 volt power side in the distribution center.
Just checking it is not wired backwards.

Your used converter may indeed be bad but double check the wiring before you condemn it.

[Yakherder]

While reading this I got completely befuddled but I think Dagst1 set me straight on what I thought was the way it should be.

Wuntun.... installed an Ebay WFCO 55 Amp WF-9855 in a trailer that is rated for 30Amp. I would think the converter should have been a 30amp from the manufacturer and would only be replaced with a 30.

But then I see from the link to the converters that they have them in various sizes 30, 35, 45, 50, 60. Then I was wondering can you upgrade from a 30amp to a 35 or a 45.

Think I'm overworking this one. Any RV I have seen so far is either 30 or 50 amp. Any park I have ever been in has 30 or 50 amp service so these other converters must be for other applications other than trailers.

Does that sound about right or am I still missing something.

[660catman]

Originally Posted by Yakherder

While reading this I got completely befuddled but I think Dagst1 set me straight on what I thought was the way it should be.

Wuntun.... installed an Ebay WFCO 55 Amp WF-9855 in a trailer that is rated for 30Amp. I would think the converter should have been a 30amp from the manufacturer and would only be replaced with a 30.

But then I see from the link to the converters that they have them in various sizes 30, 35, 45, 50, 60. Then I was wondering can you upgrade from a 30amp to a 35 or a 45.

Think I'm overworking this one. Any RV I have seen so far is either 30 or 50 amp. Any park I have ever been in has 30 or 50 amp service so these other converters must be for other applications other than trailers.

Does that sound about right or am I still missing something.

Whether your camper is 30 amp or 50 amp isn’t relevant as to what amperage the converter is. It’s the needs of the camper that determines this. Buying a 55 amp converter is overkill to replace a 30 amp one.

[Yakherder]

Thanks 660Catman. That sounds right.

[wuntunearlybko]

sorry for no updates but its been a busy time for us at work.


I took the suggestion all WFCO and they were very cool to work with. We ran through some troubleshooting and sure enough the converter i swapped in was bad. I ordered a new converter(exact same brand and model) and boom... 13.72v at the leads to the battery (fully disconnected from the battery). also my lights and slide work without the battery connected. I gambled and lost on used electronics, figures!


also, to clear it up my trailer is fully wired and ready for 50amp bc it is ready for a second AC unit in the back bedroom (not currently installed).

[660catman]

Good to hear all is good!

[Lloyd]

That's good to hear you have everything squared away.
Thanks for letting us know.

[dagst1]

Glad you got it fixed and thanks for letting us know. Happy camping!