Help for a newbie?

[Lorie Q]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

And here's another case where the best advice is take it to an RV Shop and let the professionals trouble shoot and repair. 12 VDC is just as dangerous as 120 VAC. (fires are common when wiring systems are messed with, without knowledge)

Byron, I would hate to take it to a repair shop to find that it simply came unplugged. Ectrical system repairs will definitely not be attempted since I am not even familiar with the part. Thanks for the post though. Safety is important.

[Lorie Q]

The battery won't stay charged and it's a pretty new 12v deep cell. The battery reads around 6.13v and will not operate anything at that level. When I jump the battery with the vehicle (and then battery reads closer to the expected 12v), everything works for a short time, with or without shore power. However, shore power is not KEEPING the battery charged.

I am trying to isolate my converter problem and avoid any unnecessary repair costs if possible. I have inspected all areas of my converter and ac/dc items (all fuses and connections appear intact) and have it narrowed down to what I think are two possibilities. I have labeled them as #1 & #2 in the picture.

For #1, what size fuze should be in this American brand cs2000xl converter? I cannot find this information in the converter owners manual or the Scamp owners manual. There was no fuze in this spot and therefore the charger may never have been working at all. If this is the problem, I am surprised the battery lasted through 3 days of camping with considerable use of 12v appliances.

For #2, does the little green knob look toasted to anyone else? What is this 'knob' and what does it do? It doesn't look recently toasted. It looks like it's been that way for a while. Can't find any diagrams to educate me on the parts of this board.

As I mentioned before, all of the 120v appliances work (with shore power), but none of the 12v appliances work (with or without shore power) unless the battery is connected and fully charged.

As always thanks in advance for all of your experiencee and willingness to help.

[gordon2]

# 1... I would call Scamp and ask. Might take some effort but they should know what they put in. If that is the main AC supply and it appears that it might be, that might tell you what size fuse.. but I know nothing about this brand (and can't trace the wires in a photo).

# 2.. That appears to be a capacitor, and they do "burn up" sometimes. It is very possible that your converter is toast but checking with a meter is needed. There are some online guides on trouble shooting converters that might help but its best to have some experience with them before getting in too deep.

#3.. OK, I know you had no number three.. but I suspect your battery will never hold a full charge again. Its been over discharged.

PS.. coming from not even knowing where the converter is, to this point, is quite an accomplishment.. kudos. But do be careful with electricity.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Paul O.

Gordon, I find it interesting that Scamp used a converter that is plugged in, rather than hard wired (mine is) to the 110VAC. Is it original? All travel trailers present a high vibration environment and all equipment inside should be designed for it. The wire-ties are so handy for something like this and many other things. Every camper needs to have a bundle of those.

Some converters come with a plug and others are integrated and hardwired.
Early Scamps (when they had converters) were plugged in, for years they used a hardwired integrated converter, now they are back to using a plug-in converter which is separate from the fuse panel. It is commonly considered a superior converter but I am still using an American which is integrated and works very well.

[Lorie Q]

Originally Posted by floyd

Some converters come with a plug and others are integrated and hardwired.
Early Scamps (when they had converters) were plugged in, for years they used a hardwired integrated converter, now they are back to using a plug-in converter which is separate from the fuse panel. It is commonly considered a superior converter but I am still using an American which is integrated and works very well.

Floyd, Could you open the front of your converter panel and tell me what size barrel fuse is in the lower front of yours? I cannot find any documentation that states the correct size for that little glass barrel fuse. See the photo I posted earlier with the #1 arrow pointing to it. This would be a great help! Thanks

[Carol H]

Not Floyd but until he comes to the rescue.....

Is there not a wiring paper diagram located on the inside of the converter that tells you?

According to the American manual in the documents center here the American CX2000xl has Input Voltage 120volts 8 amps
Output Voltage 12 volt 20 amps

Depending on if if that fuse is inline on your input or if its on your output feed it will dictate the size of fuse.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by Lorie Q

Byron, I would hate to take it to a repair shop to find that it simply came unplugged. Ectrical system repairs will definitely not be attempted since I am not even familiar with the part. Thanks for the post though. Safety is important.

If you can't tell if it is plugged in or not plugged then you need to find a friend right there on site to help you look and see what is what. Or go to an RV shop and request help as well as having them instruct you what it is all about.

Some people learn quickly from minimal instructions in forums but for many people, especially someone with no electrical experience, one-on-one teaching right there in your trailer will work best. A good RV repair center might have the time to show you what to look for. It is OK to pay a teacher to educate you

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Lorie Q

Floyd, Could you open the front of your converter panel and tell me what size barrel fuse is in the lower front of yours? I cannot find any documentation that states the correct size for that little glass barrel fuse. See the photo I posted earlier with the #1 arrow pointing to it. This would be a great help! Thanks

The glass "barrel fuse" has the size stamped into the metal ends. FYI it's called a buss fuse.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

The glass "barrel fuse" has the size stamped into the metal ends. FYI it's called a buss fuse.

Problem is Byron as she mentioned there is no fuse in the fuse holder in the converter to check whats stamped on it ;-)

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

The glass "barrel fuse" has the size stamped into the metal ends. FYI it's called a buss fuse.

Leave the other "s" off - kissing it does not fix it.

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Lorie Q

....

For #1, what size fuze should be in this American brand cs2000xl converter? I cannot find this information in the converter owners manual or the Scamp owners manual. There was no fuze in this spot and therefore the charger may never have been working at all. If this is the problem, I am surprised the battery lasted through 3 days of camping with considerable use of 12v appliances.

For #2, does the little green knob look toasted to anyone else? What is this 'knob' and what does it do? It doesn't look recently toasted. It looks like it's been that way for a while. Can't find any diagrams to educate me on the parts of this board.

....

Re #1: The fuse in mine is 8A, 250V (I just looked and while there, blew some dust out of there).

Re #2: The green thing looks like a capacitor, but I do not see well on the picture whether it looks "toasted", or "fried" (word used in the EE lingo).

Somebody pulled the 8Amp fuse, probably to replace it, and never finished. Replace it and observe what happens.

Editing:
I took another look at the pictureand that capacitor has the green coating chipped (or blown off). If it is bad, then it is either a specialized repair (with a $0.05 part cost) or a simpler replacement of the converter (with $$$ part cost).

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Paul O.

Re #1: The fuse in mine is 8A, 250V (I just looked and while there, blew some dust out of there).

.

Makes since that its 8 Amp as the Input Voltage is 120volts 8 amps