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If you are charging the battery with the converter for the RV it will charge very slowly for several reasons. First, the max. current that it can supply will be shared with any other 12V loads that may be on inside of the RV. Second, a converter is set to a constant voltage of about 13.5V or so, and can never go higher, although it will read less when the battery is low. If you use an auto battery charger, it will be much more effective for charging since it is not a constant voltage device and was designed for battery charging, while the converter is designed to supply 12V power to loads and not really as a charger. They are different circuits. If you happen to have one of the three stage converters then it will do both pretty well, but most RVs do not have that unless it was added later. Six hours of running the converter should begin to increase the voltage of the battery, but slowly.
There are two other issues here that could play to this problem. The first is that you say you are running this on a 50' extension cord. Very likely if you were to check the voltage to your 120V system with the converter in operation, you would probably find that that long cord had cause you a major voltage drop. When the supply to the converter drops by 10% the output of most of them do also. If the supply were only 100V, the output from the converter would be about 11V or so and it would not charge a battery since it can't push a battery to a voltage that is higher than it supplies.
The second factor might be the meter that you are using. Are you using a hand held meter of good quality, that reading may be accurate, but if you are depending upon a meter that is built into the RV's display panel, then it is probably an analog one and very cheap and not accurate. Those display panel meters are mostly worthless.
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Another is the converter is bad
Another is there is a tripped breaker or blown fuse somewhere
Another is you have your batteries in "Store" mode (disconnected) and the converter thus can not charge them
Another is you have a bad extension cord
And the list goes on
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A battery measuring 13.6V indicates that it’s in float mode and doesn't tell you the SOC. A temperature compensated converter will hold the battery at 13.1V on a very hot day and about 13.8V on a very cold day in float mode. 13.2-13.6V is a good range for a non compensated converter. While charging in bulk or absorb mode the voltage may be up to 14.4V.
If the 12.0V that the OP measured is accurate and the battery was at rest then the SOC is 25%. The actual numbers are:
Open Circuit Voltage VS. State of Charge
12.66V 100%
12.45V 75%
12.24V 50%
12.06V 25%
11.89V 0%
But the OP observed no change which indicates that the battery is not being charged. If the OPs AC voltage is 108V or more then we can eliminate the cord.
Can the OP measure the AC voltage in the rig? BTW a 50’ 12ga cord with good connections should be more than adequate for most converters. Cycle all CB’s that are related to the converter on/off/on. Press firmly. Look for CBs in the main panel and on the converter itself. Check any fuses in the converter. Check converter connections to any remote panels. Also clean and check all battery connections. Also check John’s list above.
Notice that there is only 0.8V change between 0% and 100% SOC. This means that you must have an accurate voltmeter to make the measurements. Most light oriented monitors and analog meters won't be accurate enough. A $30 RS digital voltmeter will be accurate enough.
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I was going to do the same till got to the bottom and saw yours.
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For accurate voltage readings, batteries must remain idle (no charging, no discharging) for at least 6 hrs, preferably 24. NOTE: Correct the readings to 80° F: (Add .028 per cell for every 10° above 80° F) (Subtract .028 per cell for every 10° below 80° F)
Charge--- SG -----12V
100%-----1.277-----12.73
90%-----1.258-----12.62
80%-----1.238-----12.50
70%-----1.217-----12.37
60%-----1.195-----12.24
50%-----1.172-----12.10
40%-----1.148-----11.96
30%-----1.124-----11.81
20%-----1.098-----11.66
10%-----1.073-----11.51
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CA Traveler wrote:
There are some inaccurate posts above. In order to determine the SOC (State of Charge) for a battery it must be at rest for at least 1 hour. At rest means NO loads and NO charging. Under these conditions a fully charged battery will read 12.7V and a 0% charged battery will read 11.9V. If you measure the battery while it’s being charged or under load there is little you can say about the battery SOC.
A battery measuring 13.6V indicates that it’s in float mode and doesn't tell you the SOC. A temperature compensated converter will hold the battery at 13.1V on a very hot day and about 13.8V on a very cold day in float mode. 13.2-13.6V is a good range for a non compensated converter. While charging in bulk or absorb mode the voltage may be up to 14.4V.
If the 12.0V that the OP measured is accurate and the battery was at rest then the SOC is 25%. The actual numbers are:
Open Circuit Voltage VS. State of Charge
12.66V 100%
12.45V 75%
12.24V 50%
12.06V 25%
11.89V 0%
But the OP observed no change which indicates that the battery is not being charged. If the OPs AC voltage is 108V or more then we can eliminate the cord.
Can the OP measure the AC voltage in the rig? BTW a 50’ 12ga cord with good connections should be more than adequate for most converters. Cycle all CB’s that are related to the converter on/off/on. Press firmly. Look for CBs in the main panel and on the converter itself. Check any fuses in the converter. Check converter connections to any remote panels. Also clean and check all battery connections. Also check John’s list above.
Notice that there is only 0.8V change between 0% and 100% SOC. This means that you must have an accurate voltmeter to make the measurements. Most light oriented monitors and analog meters won't be accurate enough. A $30 RS digital voltmeter will be accurate enough.
There are some inaccurate posts above. In order to determine the SOC (State of Charge) for a battery it must be at rest for at least 1 hour. At rest means NO loads and NO charging. Under these conditions a fully charged battery will read 12.7V and a 0% charged battery will read 11.9V. If you measure the battery while it’s being charged or under load there is little you can say about the battery SOC.
A battery measuring 13.6V indicates that it’s in float mode and doesn't tell you the SOC. A temperature compensated converter will hold the battery at 13.1V on a very hot day and about 13.8V on a very cold day in float mode. 13.2-13.6V is a good range for a non compensated converter. While charging in bulk or absorb mode the voltage may be up to 14.4V.
If the 12.0V that the OP measured is accurate and the battery was at rest then the SOC is 25%. The actual numbers are:
Open Circuit Voltage VS. State of Charge
12.66V 100%
12.45V 75%
12.24V 50%
12.06V 25%
11.89V 0%
But the OP observed no change which indicates that the battery is not being charged. If the OPs AC voltage is 108V or more then we can eliminate the cord.
Can the OP measure the AC voltage in the rig? BTW a 50’ 12ga cord with good connections should be more than adequate for most converters. Cycle all CB’s that are related to the converter on/off/on. Press firmly. Look for CBs in the main panel and on the converter itself. Check any fuses in the converter. Check converter connections to any remote panels. Also clean and check all battery connections. Also check John’s list above.
Notice that there is only 0.8V change between 0% and 100% SOC. This means that you must have an accurate voltmeter to make the measurements. Most light oriented monitors and analog meters won't be accurate enough. A $30 RS digital voltmeter will be accurate enough.
Exactly!
Good advice.
If you are reading battery voltage at the batteries, with the rig plugged in and you are only reading 12 volts. Your charger isn't working. Not a case of batteries being too low to charge, they'd have to be a little lower for that to happen. Check fuses/breakers to be sure the charger is getting AC voltage.
Inverter doesn't charge batteries. It takes DC battery voltage 12, 24, 48 volts, whatever and with the miracle of modern electronics inverts it to AC, usually a modified sine wave to power devices that normally don't work or are not designed to run on DC (Direct Current) microwaves, TV's and air conditioners come to mind although you'd have to have a pretty good sized inverter and a huge battery bank to run air conditoning.
If you happened to misconnect the battery positive and negative cables while adding a battery, you probably blew two fuses on the back of the Iota 45 amp converter. They are there to protect the converter when the battery is connected wrong.
There will be no output from the converter with the fuses blown.
The fuses are located above the connection for the DC output of converter, and the screws have to be loosened to get the fuses out.
It is probably worth the time to check them...
Mel