BigHorns
Active Member
I had a recent issue with the converter in my Bighorn that has had me stumped for a couple days now. Would be grateful for any insight or thoughts.
I've had this Bighorn for a year+ now. It has a Progressive 9200 converter that has exhibited a quirk that I've never been able to get any answers to- from Heartland nor Tech's I've talked to.
Everything I read on the 9200 confirms that it has three standard operating modes- Storage, Normal, and Boost with respective voltage outputs of 13.2, 13.6, and 14.4.
My converter has settled and operated at 12.6-12.8 for as long as I've had it- periodically bumping up to 13.2+ (behaving like it's going into equalize mode?). Following a trip and plugging back in, it would operate at 14.4 for a short while- as I would expect, presumably to pump the batteries back up after supplying the inverter/fridge on the road. But it would then drop back to 13.2-4 for a while and then to 12.6 or so like clockwork. Note here: I rarely ever have to add any water to my batteries, so I've wanted to assume my converter was taking pretty good care of them.
Then there was the event a couple evenings ago...
On this particular evening all 12v lights in the 5W suddenly dimmed to what seemed like half power. Voltage on the OneControl panel was at 9.3v. At the same time, the charge controller in the battery bay from the little solar panel glued to the roof was also showing the same 9.3v. Current battery voltage, I assumed.
We turned off everything 12v we could (except for the furnace I realized later) and went to flashlights.
At this point, I assumed the converter had crapped out and my batteries had been drawn down to nothing. But I would have thought all 12v service would have crapped out long before 9v. Remember, all lights were at full speed until that moment. Why would all 12v service (lights, furnace) be good until everything was suddenly at 9v?
Once I managed to get the converter exposed, only two things occurred- 1) I fondled the ugly mass of wires running past it thru all the sawdust, presumably to the fuse panels buried above, and 2) I pulled all three of the 30amp fuses on the converter to test them and returned them as good. Only other thing I did was to note the two heavy gauge bare ground wires (one to the converter and the other presumably going to a fuse panel above) resting against each other and separate them (why I don't know- I assumed it shouldn't matter).
At some point soon after plugging the converter's fuses back in I noted the voltage on the panel had jumped back to 13.3. Over the next several minutes it slowly climbed to 13.9 before coming back down and settling at 13.2.
Finally, one last event polished off the evening. Shortly, we noted that though the furnace had been running fine all evening, it was not coming on as it should be (even with bumping the thermostat up to be sure). I pulled its 12v fuse to test it and returned it as good. Soon as I returned the fuse, the furnace came on.
Now, remember that issue I've had with this converter for the last year with it operating at 12.6v+? Ever since this episode the other night, the converter has parked itself at 13.2 right where it should be- I've not seen the old 12.6 since.
One curiosity at the end of it all- when I suddenly noted the converter voltage had come back, why did it only come to 13v? Why would it not have jumped to boost voltage at 14.4 if the batteries were down? It never did. This seems to imply that the converter was happy with the batteries- they weren't really down, but... 9v??
Any explanations out there for what occurred here? Don't worry- I'm prepared for a number of flaws in my assumptions throughout.
I've had this Bighorn for a year+ now. It has a Progressive 9200 converter that has exhibited a quirk that I've never been able to get any answers to- from Heartland nor Tech's I've talked to.
Everything I read on the 9200 confirms that it has three standard operating modes- Storage, Normal, and Boost with respective voltage outputs of 13.2, 13.6, and 14.4.
My converter has settled and operated at 12.6-12.8 for as long as I've had it- periodically bumping up to 13.2+ (behaving like it's going into equalize mode?). Following a trip and plugging back in, it would operate at 14.4 for a short while- as I would expect, presumably to pump the batteries back up after supplying the inverter/fridge on the road. But it would then drop back to 13.2-4 for a while and then to 12.6 or so like clockwork. Note here: I rarely ever have to add any water to my batteries, so I've wanted to assume my converter was taking pretty good care of them.
Then there was the event a couple evenings ago...
On this particular evening all 12v lights in the 5W suddenly dimmed to what seemed like half power. Voltage on the OneControl panel was at 9.3v. At the same time, the charge controller in the battery bay from the little solar panel glued to the roof was also showing the same 9.3v. Current battery voltage, I assumed.
We turned off everything 12v we could (except for the furnace I realized later) and went to flashlights.
At this point, I assumed the converter had crapped out and my batteries had been drawn down to nothing. But I would have thought all 12v service would have crapped out long before 9v. Remember, all lights were at full speed until that moment. Why would all 12v service (lights, furnace) be good until everything was suddenly at 9v?
Once I managed to get the converter exposed, only two things occurred- 1) I fondled the ugly mass of wires running past it thru all the sawdust, presumably to the fuse panels buried above, and 2) I pulled all three of the 30amp fuses on the converter to test them and returned them as good. Only other thing I did was to note the two heavy gauge bare ground wires (one to the converter and the other presumably going to a fuse panel above) resting against each other and separate them (why I don't know- I assumed it shouldn't matter).
At some point soon after plugging the converter's fuses back in I noted the voltage on the panel had jumped back to 13.3. Over the next several minutes it slowly climbed to 13.9 before coming back down and settling at 13.2.
Finally, one last event polished off the evening. Shortly, we noted that though the furnace had been running fine all evening, it was not coming on as it should be (even with bumping the thermostat up to be sure). I pulled its 12v fuse to test it and returned it as good. Soon as I returned the fuse, the furnace came on.
Now, remember that issue I've had with this converter for the last year with it operating at 12.6v+? Ever since this episode the other night, the converter has parked itself at 13.2 right where it should be- I've not seen the old 12.6 since.
One curiosity at the end of it all- when I suddenly noted the converter voltage had come back, why did it only come to 13v? Why would it not have jumped to boost voltage at 14.4 if the batteries were down? It never did. This seems to imply that the converter was happy with the batteries- they weren't really down, but... 9v??
Any explanations out there for what occurred here? Don't worry- I'm prepared for a number of flaws in my assumptions throughout.
