I just posted about a bad smell in our 5th wheel, it turned out to be the batteries. Some of you are saying that I need a new converter. How can I tell if I need one. We have 2 batteries, one still looks ok, the other one has 2 caps off and is missing about half the fluid. I do not want to spend the money on a converter if I don't need one. Is there any way that I can test it? As soon as we unplugged the camper the smell went away. We have not idea what these people did with these batteries.
Montana 2008 Mountaineer travel trailer 32FLD
2006 Ford F350 PSD, Lariat, CC, LB, SRW and Blue ox sway control
It is not likely that a converter problem had anything to do with your battery issue. Batteries wear out from repeated charge/discharge cycles or even just due to age. If your batteries were creating a smell the most likely cause for that is an internal short in the batteries. SOMETIMES this results in a melt down or even in rare cases an explosion. The odor you smelled would have been the sulfuric acid leaking from the overheated battery. I'd have both batteries load tested and replace based on those results.
Good luck / Skip
2011 F-150 HD Ecoboost 3.5 V6. 2550 payload, 17,100 GCVWR - 2004 F-150 HD (Traded after 80,000 towing miles) 2007 Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
US Govt survey shows three out of four people make up 75% of the total population
When one battery goes into the sort of catastrophic failure that you have observed, then it is almost a certainty that both have been compromised.
If the remaining battery is a 12 volt unit you might try using it by itself. It may work--but I think that comes under the heading of "faint hope". Do not parallel it with a new 12 volt.
If it is a six volt mating it with a new six volt may not be a good plan.
Batteries are some what like fuel for a car. They are a consumable item and from time to time do need replacement.
common thing about batteries is if you have one go bad, replace them both. same type, same age. over the years I have replaced batteries and gone from one 12v to two 12v, finally settled on two 6v and found the two 6's to be far superior to the two 12v
Please!!
Read and understand what downtheroad, skipnchar, pianotuna and old guy wrote. This will save you a great deal of grief.
At least one of the batteries are damaged [a given]. You cannot replace one of a pair and have it work out well. Yes, for a house bank a pair of 6V golf cart batteries will do a much better job than any pair of 12V in series [and I will not go into why at this writing because I just don't have the time].
When the new batteries are in place, then have a knowledgeable person check out the converter. It may be just fine. It may also be a POS that is now 4 years old but was junk when it was installed. A new 3-stage unit may end up costing you 300$us, but in the long run it will save you a that much cost and an untold amount of problems.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie
A sailor, his bride and their black dog going to see some dry places that have Geocaches in a coach made the year we married.
How to tell if you need a new converter two or three ways.
One: look at it.. if it says "Magnetek" you need a new one
If it's a Parallex 7300 (NOTE: NOT the 7300T) odds are you could use one.
If it's a Progressive Dynamics 9200 series.. Likely now go to method 3.
TWO: Post the make and model and let us research/comment on it.
Three: Break out ye-old digital multimeter or voltmeter, you need one that will do 1/10th of a volt steps or better.
Measure the voltage as the NEW batter charges, Keep measuring over time (Hours or days even)
Post results and one of the forum experts can analyze (Likely not me) for you.
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
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