Converter Location HELP PLEASE !

Can someone please tell me where the fuse and the converter are located on my 2013 Heartland Bighorn 3685 RL is please. I am on a site and I have no power and my refrigerator is saying LO DC.

Batteries are at 5.85volts after being on shore power overnight and I checked to see if there was any power reaching the batteries this morning and there is None.

I have verified that I am getting power as all of the 110v systems are functioning.

Either the converter is dead or the fuse is blown.

The the converter trip switch was tripped but with it reset I still am not getting power to the batteries to charge.

Thanks for the help

Gavin Slabbert

Look in the basement storage area, back wall.

On ours there is a vented grill near the top of the wall and a small pie plate (removable port) near the bottom at the location of the converter. The pie plate covers access for the 110 volt plug.

The converter typically has three fuses (may be 30 amps).

You may have to remove the basement wall, look for 4-6 square drive screws near the top and bottom of the wall.

Thanks I will take look

On my 3570 BH it is located behind the rear basement wall near the junction of the angled piece and the flat middle piece. You will need 3 30 amp auto type fuses, it has been my experience that if one is blown all 3 will be blown

Hook up battery charger to battery till you find or get the problem solved.

Jim M

Gavin,

If you can't resolve the problem early today, stop by the nearest Walmart and pick up a battery charger to recharge and keep your battery charged while working the problem. If you can't find a battery charger, you can also recharge your battery from the truck by running at high idle for an hour with the trailer connected to the truck. Don't leave the trailer connected to the truck. If power flows to the trailer with ignition off (it will on some trucks), you could wake up with dead truck batteries too.

If you use jumper cables battery-to-battery, it'll go faster.

The 120V plug for the converter has been known by some to pop out of the outlet due to vibration. If I recall correctly, the fuses on the converter are there to protect it from a miswired battery. Check the fluid level in the battery, as well. If it’s dry, it will not charge.


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If you’re hooked to shore power and the 110 appliances appear to be functional why isn’t the fridge on 110 instead of 12v??


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OP didn't say what his truck is.

Odds are good whatever the truck, he will not get a good charge out of the 7-way.

If the battery really is 5 volts it is beyond just 'dead'

If it is 5 volts and in freezing temps it is most likely frozen and would need to thaw out before being charged.

What John said in post #7. The electric outlets they use in Rv s should be illegal. I could not plug my converter into the socket fully. It kept falling out until I replaced it.

If batteries are are dead or frozen do not attempt to charge them. They could blow up. I don’t mean a little pop either. You DO NOT want to see a battery blow up. I have and was lucky to not be hurt.

porthole said:

OP didn't say what his truck is.

Odds are good whatever the truck, he will not get a good charge out of the 7-way.

If the battery really is 5 volts it is beyond just 'dead'

If it is 5 volts and in freezing temps it is most likely frozen and would need to thaw out before being charged.

Click to expand...

If it was dead and frozen, it will probably stay dead. Due a circuit board problem on our home standby genny last winter, the battery ran down and froze. Actually swelled up. Had to replace it.

As has been indicated, there are several possible causes for the OP’s problem. Until he can access the converter and run some tests on the system, it’s all guesswork on our part.


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travelin2 said:

If you’re hooked to shore power and the 110 appliances appear to be functional why isn’t the fridge on 110 instead of 12v??


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Click to expand...

i was surpried to see see that the fridge was flashing “lo dc” though that does not mean that it was running on dc, as i judt found out. I still have lp so if push comes to shove i can switch to lp but the auyo shows ac, so i think that i am good there.

my truck is a 2015 Ford F250 xlt 6.L diesel for those that asked.

i do have a battery charger and thanks for the suggestion to connect it and keep 12v in the rig while charging.

I gound that the converter circuit was tripped and i reset that, but the circuit to the batteries is dtill showing no charge and I expected 13.5v.

when testing the pis and negative at the cable points where it comes into the battery housing I get no volts on my meter, which is why i am going to start at the converter.

the fact that it tripped suggests that the fuses are or were good.

further suggestions are most welcome

Thanks

Gavin

travelin2 said:

If you’re hooked to shore power and the 110 appliances appear to be functional why isn’t the fridge on 110 instead of 12v??


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Click to expand...

The traditional gas absorption RV refrigerator needs 12V DC to operate some of the circuits, including the on/off, mode switch, and the board that reads thermistor output.

If converter has 110 input at electric plug. And fuses not blown but no DC power output. You need a new converter. As simple as that. Easy to replace. Cheaper online. Sometimes manufacturers will replace old one or rebuild bad one for $80.00. Good luck. Keep posted. Dave


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gslabbert5119 said:

i was surpried to see see that the fridge was flashing “lo dc” though that does not mean that it was running on dc, as i judt found out. I still have lp so if push comes to shove i can switch to lp but the auyo shows ac, so i think that i am good there.

my truck is a 2015 Ford F250 xlt 6.L diesel for those that asked.

i do have a battery charger and thanks for the suggestion to connect it and keep 12v in the rig while charging.

I gound that the converter circuit was tripped and i reset that, but the circuit to the batteries is dtill showing no charge and I expected 13.5v.

when testing the pis and negative at the cable points where it comes into the battery housing I get no volts on my meter, which is why i am going to start at the converter.

the fact that it tripped suggests that the fuses are or were good.

further suggestions are most welcome

Thanks

Gavin

Click to expand...

When you say it was tripped, I'm assuming you mean the circuit breaker in the main circuit breaker panel inside the rig. That's a 20 amp circuit dedicated to the converter. Apart from a converter defect, I'm not sure what would account for that breaker tripping.

However, if you now have internal 12V lighting working, and the battery charge indicator at the control panel shows 4 lights, the converter is working for now. So if you don't have 13.2-13.6V at the battery, either the battery cutoff switch is OFF, or the 12V DC mini-circuit breaker between Power Converter and Battery is tripped.

You have a row of breakers near the battery, covered by a red rubber boot. One breaker has a teeny-tiny reset button. Pressing it should restore flow of power to and from the battery.
See the attached pictures. But note that your breaker arrangement may differ.

travelin2 said:

If you’re hooked to shore power and the 110 appliances appear to be functional why isn’t the fridge on 110 instead of 12v??


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Click to expand...

The fridge control panel works on 12 volt

Ok as I have been testing I have found some stuff out but not what I was expecting, now I am clueless, but my guess is that the converter - Inverter is bad.

I thought that I hd dead batteries so before any further diagnoses I took them to Autozone, had them charged and tested, and they passede all tests and were fully charged when i collected them
I checked the plug where the inverter is powered and I got 113v so power is good to there.
I checked the 3 fuses on the inverter, they are good
I tested the positive and negative coming out of the inverter and it is giving me 16.3v
I tested the power at the points where the power gets to the battery cabin and it is 16.3v
I checked the battery terminals and I received 15.8v across the terminals.
I still have a low DC reading
When I press my battery test button on the panel, all 4 lights light up with the charger connected.
When I connect the battery charger the Low DC lights go off

As far as the Inverter is concerned, the fan is not running - spinning, and I am not sure if it should be.

The inverter is likely not the factory spec unit as it has a hand written price sticker of $289.95 on it.

Gavin

I suspect your voltage reading at the output connections of the Power Converter may have actually been reading the output of the charged battery.

1. Trace the wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the cutoff switch and from there to the row of mini-circuit breakers.
2. Turn the battery cutoff to OFF.
3. Take voltage readings with the red wire of the voltmeter on each sides of each circuit breaker, with the black wire from the meter to the battery negative terminal.

If the converter is working, you should read 13.2-13.6 VDC on both sides of each circuit breaker.

If you have the right voltage, I'd next trace the battery negative terminal wire to it's frame ground. And also trace the ground wire from the Power Converter to frame ground.

danemayer said:

I suspect your voltage reading at the output connections of the Power Converter may have actually been reading the output of the charged battery.

1. Trace the wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the cutoff switch and from there to the row of mini-circuit breakers.
2. Turn the battery cutoff to OFF.
3. Take voltage readings with the red wire of the voltmeter on each sides of each circuit breaker, with the black wire from the meter to the battery negative terminal.

If the converter is working, you should read 13.2-13.6 VDC on both sides of each circuit breaker.

If you have the right voltage, I'd next trace the battery negative terminal wire to it's frame ground. And also trace the ground wire from the Power Converter to frame ground.

Click to expand...

Thanks Dan, I will do that in the morning, for it is getting dark here in Tennessee and it is darned cold.

I did check the ground wire and I cut the end off and re-secured it in the negative strip that is connected to the frame so the negative is good.

Thanks for all of your help, I will post again tomorrow.

BTW: is there any way for Camping World to test the inverter, if so I can pull it tomorrow (yes they are open on New Year) and have them test it and confirm whether it is good or not.

Lastly, whomever connected the 2 batteries in Parallel used 12 gauge wires between the batteries, I thought that these looked really thin so i replaced them with 4 gauge which is what the wires are that go from the inverter to the battery compartment.

gslabbert5119 said:

Thanks Dan, I will do that in the morning, for it is getting dark here in Tennessee and it is darned cold.

I did check the ground wire and I cut the end off and re-secured it in the negative strip that is connected to the frame so the negative is good.

Thanks for all of your help, I will post again tomorrow.

BTW: is there any way for Camping World to test the inverter, if so I can pull it tomorrow (yes they are open on New Year) and have them test it and confirm whether it is good or not.

Lastly, whomever connected the 2 batteries in Parallel used 12 gauge wires between the batteries, I thought that these looked really thin so i replaced them with 4 gauge which is what the wires are that go from the inverter to the battery compartment.

Click to expand...

You can test the Converter (inverters are the opposite, changing 12V DC into 120V AC) yourself by measuring the voltage at the converter wires while the battery cutoff switch is OFF. I'd check it with everything electrical at rest (to the extent possible), and again while putting a load on the converter - running the furnace for example. Again, check for the ground wire that should be attached to the converter and to frame ground.

I'd be surprised if CW is prepared to test the output other than to read the voltage, without a load. It's possible that it might deliver good voltage output until you load it up. A new Progressive Dynamics PD9280 runs about $280 incl shipping, online.