dano73
new york
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Just got back from a dry camping trip, ran the batteries pretty low, as we always do, checked the water, which I don't do enough, and found they were low. I added water and plugged the trailer in to recharge the batteries as I normally would. It's been 4 days now that it has been plugged in and I noticed when I went in and opened the fridge the converter fan went on to supply power to the lite. I also ran the water pump and noticed the fan would cycle on and off with the pump. I'm used to the fan going on when I turn multiple dc items on but never on such low demand.
I haven't really gotten into it yet but I'm thinking my batteries are getting near the end. I have twin 6 volt delco's that are about 4 years old. Am I thinking clearly on this?
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YC 1
Yuba City Calif.
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Quite possibly. I would get a hydrometer to check them. You could have some crippled batteries that are working the converter hard.
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BFL13
Victoria, BC
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Could be the batteries. Might be the converter.
After all this time on the converter, with batteries connected, how does the battery terminal voltage compare with the converter voltage measured at the battery lugs on the panel? ie is the converter charging current (if any) reaching the batteries?
Maybe the converter is overheating from blocked air, whatever. Disconnect battery neg wire and run rig on converter only. Does fan still come on for those light loads?
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Deeply discharging ANY batteries is bad news and if you have Marine/RV starting batteries aboard it's even worse. Add to that low fluid levels and the chances are strong of the batteries being damaged. That SHOULDLN'T have anything to do with heat in your converter however. Frequent cycling is sometimes an indication that the converter is starting to go bad. About all you can do is keep an eye on it unless you want to do someting preemptive like replacing it before it goes out. I wouldn't unless there were some compelling reason to do so. Good luck / Skip
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dano73
new york
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OK I disconnected the negative battery terminal and the converter still comes on for light loads. Also multimeter tells me 13.65 volts at batteries
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BFL13
Victoria, BC
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Ok so fan is not related to battery charging as such. Depending on the converter model etc, you can remove the cover and vacuum out the cooling area which sometimes gets plogged up with dog hair, whatever, after a time.
You can get your batteries load tested meanwhile to check on that end of things.
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dano73
new york
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That's what I'm thinkin BFL. Thanks alot for your help, I'll let you know what happens.
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Pauljdav
Everett, Wa
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dano73 wrote:OK I disconnected the negative battery terminal and the converter still comes on for light loads. Also multimeter tells me 13.65 volts at batteries
Voltage with no load does not show what happens to a questionable battery when a load is applied.
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dano73
new york
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Yeah I know, but my load tester seems to have walked away. I took the converter out and blew it out with compressed air, and reinstalled it. also checked the charging output at the converter seems to be charging. Hooked everything back up put all dc lites on I could and the fan still didn't come on for about 15 sec, but then shutdown before I shut all the lites off, working like it used to.
Problem solved?, not so sure we'll see what happens this week. Thanks all for your help.
So what I've learned is that the fan is there to convert ac power to dc, and to charge your batteries, and your dc items when plugged in run solely off the converter, hence the cooling fan.
Final question,I promise, if my converter fries while dry camping I just wont be able to charge my batteries thru the converter, all my dc items willstill work, right?
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BFL13
Victoria, BC
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The fan doesn't do the converting 
Yes you can live with no converter. It means you are on battery even if you have shore power or gen for the 110v things. So then you need a portable battery charger. If worried about the converter you can carry a portable charger along in case. The more amps the charger has the less gen time to charge the batteries
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