Progressive Power Converter Not Providing Full Power?

bobowill

Member
The converter in my 2010 3055 Bighorn doesn't seem to put out full power. I noticed this when I was at home and plugged in that my interior DC lights would gradually go dim and my battery monitor would drop to the lowest reading. I checked all my circuit breakers and none of them were tripped. I did some troubleshooting and came up with the following reading.
With my converter hooked up and my batteries fully charged my voltage measurement at the battery was 13.25 volts.
I turned my converter off and my voltage dropped to 12.5 volts. I turned on some of my DC lights an the voltage slowly (10-15 min) dropped to 11.2 volts. I tuned on my converter and my voltage at the battery jumped to 14.4 volts. Within about 5 seconds the voltage was around 12.5-13.25 volts which indicates that my converter was working. It charges my batteries back up. I did have my batteries check and they were above specs. I tried to get to the converter but the was just too much stuff in the way (I'm a big guy). I have been in Yuma for about a month with this problem, just can't use the DC lights and fans to much. I planned to have my converter looked at when I get home, just wondered it anyone had any ideas.
Thanks
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Re: Progressive Powwer Converter Not Providing Full Power?

Hi bobowill,

when I was at home and plugged in that my interior DC lights would gradually go dim and my battery monitor would drop to the lowest reading.
Normally when on shore power, the 12V DC lights are powered by the converter and battery together. The converter should supply enough DC power to operate everything even if the battery were removed. But a shorted cell on the battery or a bad ground could confuse things.

I turned my converter off and my voltage dropped to 12.5 volts. I turned on some of my DC lights an the voltage slowly (10-15 min) dropped to 11.2 volts.
When you turn the converter off, you're relying totally on battery power. If voltage drops from 12.5 to 11.2 in 10-15 minutes, normally I would say that your battery is not holding a charge. But since you also have a problem on shore power, perhaps the converter output has a problem, as you suspect, and the battery is not getting a full charge.

One test you could run would be to turn off the circuit breaker for the power converter, and use a battery charger to charge up the battery. You can get one at Walmart for around $50. If the battery then runs the lights for hours instead of minutes, you'll have confirmed a problem with the converter, or the converter wiring connections. You could then use the battery charger to keep things going until you can get the converter looked at.

If the battery still runs down after 10-15 minutes (with converter off and charger removed), I'd suggest going somewhere else to get the battery tested.
 

Jim.Allison

Well-known member
At 11.2v your batteries are dead. 12.7 v +/- is nominally fully charged and sophisticated chargers like the progressive will charge to about 13.4 volts for a period of time known as acceptance, after that they float. The 14.4 volts you are reading is the charger trying to bulk charge a dead battery.

It sounds to me like you are in a catch 22, your batts are dead and your charger is charging them. They become charged by all appearances, the charger senses they are charged and your volt meter senses they are charged, but what they are, are "top charged" as soon as you put a load on them the top charge disappears and you are left with a dead battery. OR you have a dead cell as soon as it is put under a load it fails. Get a hydrometer and check all the cells after the battery is charged and slightly drained by one of your lights. What you will find is all of the cells charged except one. There is nothing wrong with your charger.

Good luck
 

brianharrison

Well-known member
You do not say how the batteries were checked and found to be above spec. A battery load tester (rented or purchase) from an auto store will help test the battery under load. It is essentially an electric element with gauge scaled to measure voltage drop under load, in a specified measured time period.
 

bobowill

Member
The batteries were checked using a load tester. I checked my cells to see if one of them was had a bad cell, all were good. I will turn some lights on to discharge it and test the cells again. I will then turn my converter off and charge them with an external battery charger. We will see what happens.
Thanks for your help.
 

bobowill

Member
OK, I am back home and doing some more troubleshooting. I load tested the battery again and checked the cells, all good. I turned off my converter and turned on 2 dc lights, in about 2 hours my battery was reading about 10.5 volts. I used an external charger to again charge my battery and retried with the same results. I changed batteries to a fully charged battery and am waiting to see what happens. I also noticed that with no dc items turned on that I was getting a spark at my battery terminals when I connected them. I removed all my dc fuses and I still get a spark when I connect my terminal wire. I will troubleshoot that next.
 

bobowill

Member
OK, with my converter on and 2 dc light on for about an hour, my voltage at the battery was 11.6 volts. I turned the lights off and my voltage went to 13.6 volts which means my converter is working but maybe not correctly. This might all be related to my unknown power draws I am going to look at that next.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Something is sucking a lot of power out of the battery. Is it possible your emergency break-away switch is actuated? Your wheels would be pretty hot because the brake magnets would be continuously energized.

You also might want to test with a different load than the 2 lights. Maybe just the refrigerator running on propane.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
OK, with my converter on and 2 dc light on for about an hour, my voltage at the battery was 11.6 volts. I turned the lights off and my voltage went to 13.6 volts which means my converter is working but maybe not correctly. This might all be related to my unknown power draws I am going to look at that next.

Bobwill:
Here is a webpage that explains all of the modes of the Progressive 9200 series charger/converters: http://www.progressivedyn.com/charge_wizard.html

The only normal parasitic load on your batteries is the 12 VDC propane detector, which isn't to be switched/fused per codes. Any chance your electric brakes are being actuated by the emergency lanyard switch? That would eat a lot of current. Again, this circuit is not allowed to be switched/fused for safety sake. If you think this might be the problem, you should be able to trace the wiring and disconnect (open) the brakes switch circuit.

Good Luck!!!
 

bobowill

Member
I did some more troubleshooting and I believe that the problem is my converter. 1. I turned the power off to the converter. 2. I measure my voltage at the battery, it 12.6 volts. 3. turned on a couple of dc lights. 4. After a couple of hours my voltage had dropped about .2 volts to 12.4 volts.
Next I turned my converter on. 1. my voltage at the battery went to 13.4 volts, which means my converter was putting out a voltage. 2. I turned on a coupe of dc lights. 3. after a couple of hours the voltage at the battery indicated 8.6 volts. 4. I turned the lights off and my battery indicated 1.4 volts.
This is all weird. It looks like the converter is putting out a voltage to my battery but is not charging it (no current?). I did notice that when I turned my converter on I had current flow, I don't know if it was from my converter to my battery or from battery to the converter. I didn't have an amp meter sparks at my battery terminals. I tried to get to the converter to remove it but I am to big and to old to twist up like a pretzel. I will just have the rv shop take care of it. Thanks for the suggestions and the help.
 
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