aws910 Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 I got an '82 Dolphin, with the original converter, no inverter, and I think it's causing a few problems... The 12v won't work off the battery at all. I checked the battery and it has good voltage. I figured I'd just keep tracing wires and measuring voltage until I found the culprit... anyone ever seen this happen? Also, when the rig is plugged in, the 12v power will just cut out, sometimes for a moment, and other times I have to go and flip the switch from "converter" to "battery", and then back again. One time, it shut off and I only touched the switch(didn't move it at all) and everything came back on. It's probably the old converter box, right? Is there a way I can do an exorcism on this thing? There are so many other things I'd rather spend a hundred bucks on. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred heath Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 Check your ground wire connections. Start with coach battery, then move to fuse block and converter. In my toy the original converter was making a humming noise but only about 6 volts were coming out. Many of the older homes use a small terminal block (near the converter/fuse panel). Most all the coach grounds attach to this, which in turn is grounded to the frame. Mine was located near the left rear wheel well. Not saying this is your problem, but a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boots Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Convertor woes, So if you have the original converter it will likely be a Parallax model, 6300 and they do fail after a while, and worse sometimes will short out and I have seen one post showing a burnt floor under it. Parallax makes several direct replacements one of them is 7300 and another model I can't recall the model number. Now onto your comment about the battery; taking a multimeter and testing the voltage is a very poor indication of the battery's condition. Only when a load (current draw) is applied can you see the batteries state (or capacity) For example if you have a fully charged battery your voltage should be close to 14.4 volts DC. If you then turn on say a (DC) coffee maker and it drew 20 amps, this means that you are drawing 14.4 volts x 20 amps or 288 watts. now depending on your battery state (or health) it will supply that for a period of time (let's say 15 minutes) and then the voltage will drop by some variable number; for this example say to 13. volts. A battery supply company has a meter which does basically the same thing, and their meter shows that state (good, poor or bad etc.) Now if you battery is not fully charged, or is discharged say to 12.5 volts, and you try to draw the same current - 20 amps you will only get 250 watts, and as you try to sustain that draw your voltage will drop even lower, causing the battery to overheat or fail. Time to rethink how to approach this, and if in doubt have the load test. Checking the ground wire(s) is an excellent suggestion as well. Boots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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