KcBorne
south
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A little while back i started having problems with my AC and other 12v appliances in my camper. I narrowed it down to the WFCO power converter i had. I ordered a progressive dynamics replacement on 4/17/12 from bestconverter.com. Everything worked fine for about 4 months. Now this power converter is no longer putting out 12v. My AC and most of my lights won't come on. Why would my converters keep burning up? Also i don't have batteries on my camper. Would this stress the converter out?
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westend
all over
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Joined: 11/17/2011
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The lack of a battery may have somethig to do with it, If inordinate 12v loads are placed on the converter atthe same time, it may unduly stress the converter. Why not add a batterY?
'03 F-250 4x4 CC
'71 Starcraft Wanderstar -- The Cowboy/Hilton
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Hi,
Not having a battery is harder on the converter. I suspect that brown outs that are sometimes quite short happen far more often than we would hope. That would stress the converter too.
I would check to make sure that all the screws are tight in the breaker box. I would do this with all the power off.
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts Unisolar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries, 2500 MSW watt inverter.
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KcBorne
south
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Thanks for the advice. I had originally got the camper from FEMA and they had came and set it up without the batteries, so i have just been running it as is for now. Also haven't had the money for em'. Ill definitely Look into getting some tho if it's gonna keep blowing my converter.
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KcBorne
south
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Also having transformers blow in our area has become a regular occurrence. Probably 10 or more times just this year. Our power is always dipping on and off.
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Gdetrailer
PA
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westend writes "The lack of a battery may have somethig to do with it, If inordinate 12v loads are placed on the converter atthe same time, it may unduly stress the converter."
B.S.
The converters in question are SWITCHING POWER SUPPLIES, not the old heavy transformer/linear supplies which used the battery as a filter. If these modern day wiz bang switching converter is not fully capable of the max rated load then it is time to just buy a plain old heavy duty power supply.
"Why not add a batterY?"
Many situations in which having a battery sitting around may not be worth while such as using a RV at a permanent site and never sees road time or boondocking time. Basically in theses cases the battery simply boils to death over time since folks will often forget to check water levels.
Also notice that the OP is having issues with AC not working, the converter has nothing to do with the AC so I would think that the OP is having 120V power problems in the park which is damaging the converter and AC.
I would start at the shore power socket and check the voltage there taking samples at different times of the day (voltage should be no lower than 108V and no higher than 135V). Many times the sockets are very worn out and or loose connections causing resistance. This causes the voltage to drop under load until you fry equipment. Heck even your own 120V electrical panel can have loose connections on the buss bars or even the breakers.
At the same time the campground may have other electrical issues which could cause too low or too high of voltage.
This could be a case for an autoformer help keep the voltage within acceptable limits.
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dbbls
Missouri
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I have heard that it is better to have a battery installed. It evens out the output of the 12 volt. Don't know if it is harder on the converter.
2011 F-350 CC Lariat 4X4 Dually Diesel
2012 Big Country 3450TS 5th Wheel
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA
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Power company or power service could have a floating ground to neutral connection.
Make sure the positive lead where the battery is normally located is isolated from the frame and any other ground connection.
Bud
USAF Retired
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ScottG
Bothell Wa.
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That converter could care less whether a battery is connected. In fact, the battery would be yet another load on it at times.
Older, more simple converters needed it for filtering but yours doesn't.
Scott, Grace and Wesly
2003 Dodge 3500 4x4, 6 speed Cummins (lightly bombed),
2004 Forest River 25RKS many, many mods.
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KcBorne
south
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Thanks again for the replies, but i can guarantee it is the converter. What lead me to replace the first converter was the fact that my AC wasn't working. As soon as i linked up the new one it ran like a charm. Its because my thermostat runs off of 12v power. Its the exact same symptoms as before no AC, Lights, Fan. I'm getting 122.1 at the socket. Is there something i can buy to protect my trailer from all these transformers blowing? Like i said its very common around here. They had one today even. At least once or twice a month this year.
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