Bad battery charger?

akaustin · 03-25-2022, 12:41 PM

I have a 2015 Maple Country 27 ft BH. have destroyed 3 batteries over three summers now. They work fine, at first, but over the summer they seem to hold a charge for shorter amounts of time and by October, when I pull the battery out for winter, the sides of the battery are bowed inwards. After a few months in the porch, they won’t take a charge anymore.
In anticipation of spring, I am going to need to check the charging system and maybe replace it. Does anyone know where the charger is located?

Thanks,
Andrew

**dagst1** · 03-25-2022, 04:00 PM

Take the screws out of the cover on your power center. That is where the 120 volt breakers and 12 volt fuses are. The converter should be located there in the bottom. If not look around that area for the converter as some are separate from the power center. It may be in a cabinet behind the power center.

One more thing -- can you check the water in your battery and if so how often do you check it. The converter has a built in charger to charge/maintain the battery.

akaustin · 03-25-2022, 06:46 PM

Is the converter also responsible for charging the battery? If so, is it possible to convert the shore power fine, but over charge the battery?

**dagst1** · 03-25-2022, 07:25 PM

Basically you have 2 systems.

1 Would be the shore power -- anything that runs on 120 volts -- AC- Microwave - the electric side of the water heater and the converter.

2 The 12 volt side -- your lights -- the controls for your AC - the water pump - the booster for your TV antenna The furnace blower. And several other things.

Now when you are not on shore power the battery is the source of 12 volts but when you plug-in the converter takes over and provides the 12 volt. It also will charge the battery. The charger side should have stages Bulk/Absorption/Float.

Bulk is if the battery is very low to charge it fast. Absorption is like a normal charge and float is to maintain/keep the battery topped up.

So yes you could have a converter that is still working the 12volt things but the charger side may be stuck in the bulk mode.

Do you know what brand converter you have? WFCO converters are used in a lot of different brands.

Hope this helps.

akaustin · 03-25-2022, 08:14 PM

Thank you. Excellent explanation and, yes, it seems like the converter is still stuck in bulk mode. I am not sure what type of converter it is, whatever Crossroads was using in 2015, I guess. I will check a little later in the spring. It is still full on winter where I live in northern Canada.
Is there a particular brand/model that you recommend for a replacement?

Miniozzy3 · 03-25-2022, 09:37 PM

Dump the factory converters.. Go with progressive dynamics.

https://www.amazon.ca/Progressive-Dy...%2C100&sr=8-17

45 amp model right there.

I run the 9200 series (70amp)in a ice fishing shack with 10 type 31 batteries (all used from semi tractors). 4 years on those batteries and it stays plugged in all summer without any issues. Never overcharges.

akaustin · 03-25-2022, 10:51 PM

Ha! Funny you should recommend that one. I was looking at a 60 amp version of the same one earlier tonight. How many amps would be suitable for an RV 12 volt?

AstronomyGuy · 03-27-2022, 02:54 PM

I have had to replace 3 batteries as well. I was going to replace the charger also. I decided to do away with that battery all together since I have installed solar panels and a 4800 watt hour Lithium Iron phosphate battery and a Victron inverter charger. I had people telling me that I still needed the 12 volt battery but so far I just run it off AC. I could run the 12 volt battery of the DC output on the victron but it's not close to the fuse panel so I decided not to.

tomkatbay · 03-28-2022, 03:23 PM

If a battery only lasts for a year it is likely mistreatment.

A 6 volt golf cart battery will easily last close to 10 years if treated correctly.

One needs a battery monitor. So we do not discharge the battery over 50%.

Then you have to check water level occasionally. We are in our rv about 14 weeks a year. My batteries have only used ounces of water in that time. Likely 12 ounces.

I have a level device in the battery fill holes that makes checking the battery level a 30 second thing.

The batteries are stored in the rv over the winter. Fully charged.

If you are not a battery abuser then possibly the converter is at fault.

My converter never registered over 13.7 volts charging. The converter only went into bulk mode once in 40 weeks. After about 12 hours it charges at 13.2.

I replaced my converter with one of the pd ones. With the dongle that allows me to charge at a full 14.5 volts if I want to.

Going to a larger converter requires changing the wire size to the battery. Only so much goes thru a little wire.

Wingerdinger · 03-28-2022, 03:24 PM

AstronomyGuy, let's clear up some confusion. A good deal of the devices in your RV run on 12 volts. Your lights, furnace, controls for the water heater, fridge, etc. You cannot do without 12 volts. The standard convertor/charger converts 110 volts AC to 12 volts DC to run the 12 volt devices and charge the house battery. The convertor depends on the house battery to handle higher load devices like the slideouts, and helps 'smooth' the DC to help out the convertor.
When you added solar, you also added a lithium battery. That battery REPLACES the original house battery, and the solar combined with a charge controller help charge that battery.

AstronomyGuy · 03-28-2022, 07:28 PM

No confusion here. Thanks though. My solar charger is on the other end of the camper. I cut the input to the fuse box and ran it back to the inverter charger and then there I ran it back to the fuse box.I didn't mess with the original DC circuit because if I ever buy a new camper it will be easy to restore it back to original. Having said that I may replace the DC inverter charger for the next guy just in case the inverter section goes bad.The fan always ran pretty loud and one day I noticed it not shutting down. I went outside and you could hear the the battery boiling. This was before I installed solar. So that charger is suspect.

Wingerdinger · 03-28-2022, 08:04 PM

An inverter inverts 12 volts to 110 volts AC.
A Convertor/charger ( the factory device) converts 110 volts AC (shore power) to 12 volts DC.
You shouldn't be using the charger from the factory, it sounds like it's bad, and it's not compatible with your Lithium batteries.

AstronomyGuy · 03-28-2022, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingerdinger

An inverter inverts 12 volts to 110 volts AC.
A Convertor/charger ( the factory device) converts 110 volts AC (shore power) to 12 volts DC.
You shouldn't be using the charger from the factory, it sounds like it's bad, and it's not compatible with your Lithium batteries.

Thanks. I'm not using the charger from the factory. That battery is gone. I misspoke calling it an inverter. The factory converter charger is not connected to any part of of my solar setup or the 200 AH 24 volt lithium batteries. I just send the AC to the factory AC panel from the 24 volt 3000 watt Victron inverter/charger . The DC circuit from the factory converter is testing normal and the fan doesn't come on any longer since I removed the lead acid battery and is working fine but I agree that the unit should be replaced. I am ordering one tomorrow.

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