Interesting 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC problem

[porthole]

So, a toy hauler rolls in with a dead battery from the night before, as well as AC power issues.

DC battery was down to 6+ volts, really dead. The truck barely got it charged and there is some speculation as to the new Fords giving full charge voltage back to the trailer (mine doesn't).

Air conditioner was not working all night either. Pretty much tripped the breaker once asleep, only to wake up to a too warm coach.

The pedestal breaker kept tripping. But it only seemed to be tripping when the DC stuff was working, the converter, which wasn't all the time.

A little checking found a 35 amp fuse in the converter appeared to be overheated, but not popped. Changed the fuse, converter works, turn on air, breaker trips.

Best we could figure out was that one of the two fuses was loose in the socket causing an intermittent converter operation.

Batteries get low, converter running full output, AC compressor kicks in, trailer shakes, fuses wiggles and the converter kicks in and out.

This was a 30 amp service trailer.
So, with the air conditioner running at maybe 15 amps and the converter kicking in on high and drawing maybe 12+ amps, and going in and out due to vibration, the main AC breaker was tripping at the pedestal.

The converter was pulled, the sockets tightened up, fuses replaced and everything was fine for the rest of the weekend.

 

[RuralPastor]

Great job of trouble shooting. Your analysis makes sense to me...especially since you made a fix that worked. The expansion and contraction from the loose fuse holder builds up heat, sparks, then opens, then cools, then closes. This, with the intermittent cycling of the compressor could certainly cause an overload of the pedestal or main breaker.

 

[porthole]

It was kind of a joint effort at some figuring an pondering

 

[wdk450]

I had a weird problem with my converter (?) the other day. I bought a new generator after my chained down Boily 3600 was stolen from my truck bed. I bought a 2500 watt ETQ. I got it set up with oil and gas, started it up, and gave it a short test run at home running my 1000 watt toaster oven - Worked fine. I took it to the trailer, hooked it up, turned off the main inside breakers, and started it, then turned the mains on, and activated the individual breakers. The generator ran fine, even with the water heater electric turned on, until I turned on the converter breaker. The generator slowed down and died repeatedly each time I enabled the converter. By my calculations the 60 amp 12 volt converter should pull about 7 amps AC max, less than the water heater. This problem happened when the generator was in either regular mode or Eco mode. I finally just ran the generator for about 15 minutes only powering the water heater, then tried the converter breaker- this time the generator worked with no problems. I might try testing it again this morning as I go over to storage to turn on the refrig for a trip tomorrow.

This made me wonder if there was some sort of special current loading the converter draws. The battery bank wasn't that far down and seemed charged up in about 1/2 hour of charging (I was working on swapping out my built-in microwave oven).

BTW, for all of you interested in the generator electrical safety issues, this generator uses a GFI outlet as its sole AC outlet source. The GFI was tripped when I first started it up at the trailer, but I suspect that was from the mechanical shocks involved with riding in the back of the truck. It didn't trip again.

 

[danemayer]

The Progressive PD9100 or PD9200 Power Converters with 60 amp output are spec'd at 1000 watts on the input side. The electric element of the water heater is rated at 1440 watts. Circuit boards in the water heater, refrigerator, alarms, radio, etc consume some # of watts. You're probably right on the edge anytime the water heater element is on.

After running the genny to heat the water for 15 minutes, the thermostat may have turned the element off allowing the converter to run.

You could run the water heater on LP to bypass the 1440 watt element.

 

[wdk450]

The Progressive PD9100 or PD9200 Power Converters with 60 amp output are spec'd at 1000 watts on the input side. The electric element of the water heater is rated at 1440 watts. Circuit boards in the water heater, refrigerator, alarms, radio, etc consume some # of watts. You're probably right on the edge anytime the water heater element is on.

After running the genny to heat the water for 15 minutes, the thermostat may have turned the element off allowing the converter to run.

You could run the water heater on LP to bypass the 1440 watt element.

I kept turning the water heater breaker off before I tried the converter each time it failed. The generator kept failing powering the converter ONLY, before it finally began to work right. If I remember correctly, it then ran both loads no problem.

The circuit boards on the water heater and refrigerator are powered by 12 volts DC only. I would expect each of them to be 1/2 amp or less. I have 4 - 12 volt batteries.

 

[danemayer]

Maybe you can find another 1000W load for test purposes and keep the converter circuit breaker off. Since the genny is the new guy, maybe that's where the problem lies.

 

[porthole]

hijackers

 

[wdk450]

hijackers

Well, it COULD have to do with erratic converter problems. Maybe that was a LowJack