Converter Problem - Battery not charging

[wklose99]

So I camped last night for the first time in my recently purchased 1981 burro. The previous owner said he had just installed a Progressive Dynamics 9200 series converter/battery charger (https://docs.google.com/gview?url=ht...lish.pdf&pli=1) and that the battery was fairly new. When I bought it, the battery had about 60% charge or so.

The main reason I went camping last night was to charge the battery (i can't plug it in at home because i live in a city, and keep the burro stored at a storage place). So I plugged it in to shore power, and had the ceiling fan running on 10v and the porch light on 10v on all night. We also had a big box fan plugged in and running off 120v AC shore power. Before I went to bed, the 'charge wizard' remote on my PD9245 was blinking, suggesting the converter was charging the battery in 'normal' mode (13.6v).

I wake up around 2am and notice the porch light is considerably dim. Didn't think much of it because I am very new to this. Wake up in the morning and the lights are pretty much dead, and so is the ceiling fan. The converter is still blinking, saying its 'charging' the battery.

So now my battery is sitting almost completely empty and I have to find a way to fix it. I am about to run out to see it with multimeter and check it out, but was wondering if anyone could give me any tips.

I checked all the connections and it seems to be hooked up fine. I checked the fuses on the converter and they were not blown. The +/- connections look to be OK. The converter is plugged into an outlet in the burro, and +/- leads leading to the +/- leads of the battery. I plugged the 120v AC fan directly into the shore power connection at the campsite and it ran, so I assume the shore power source was OK.

One last question - it is a 45amp power converter (with a 20amp 2 prong connection). Can I plug this in to a normal house outlet to charge the battery or will it trip the house circuit breaker?

[Thomas G.]

I would use the multimeter to test how much current the converter is providing to the battery. Put the multimeter on the 10 amp scale and connect in series between the converter and the battery. It should be charging at least 5 amps with the battery that low.

Yes, you can plug the 45 amp converter into a 20 amp circuit. Remember that 45 amps at 12 volts draws only 5 amps at 110 volts.

THE BEST Multimeter tutorial (HD) - YouTube

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by wklose99

So I camped last night for the first time in my recently purchased 1981 burro. The previous owner said he had just installed a Progressive Dynamics 9200 series converter/battery charger (https://docs.google.com/gview?url=ht...lish.pdf&pli=1) and that the battery was fairly new. When I bought it, the battery had about 60% charge or so.

The main reason I went camping last night was to charge the battery (i can't plug it in at home because i live in a city, and keep the burro stored at a storage place). So I plugged it in to shore power, and had the ceiling fan running on 10v and the porch light on 10v on all night. We also had a big box fan plugged in and running off 120v AC shore power. Before I went to bed, the 'charge wizard' remote on my PD9245 was blinking, suggesting the converter was charging the battery in 'normal' mode (13.6v).

I wake up around 2am and notice the porch light is considerably dim. Didn't think much of it because I am very new to this. Wake up in the morning and the lights are pretty much dead, and so is the ceiling fan. The converter is still blinking, saying its 'charging' the battery.

So now my battery is sitting almost completely empty and I have to find a way to fix it. I am about to run out to see it with multimeter and check it out, but was wondering if anyone could give me any tips.

I checked all the connections and it seems to be hooked up fine. I checked the fuses on the converter and they were not blown. The +/- connections look to be OK. The converter is plugged into an outlet in the burro, and +/- leads leading to the +/- leads of the battery. I plugged the 120v AC fan directly into the shore power connection at the campsite and it ran, so I assume the shore power source was OK.

One last question - it is a 45amp power converter (with a 20amp 2 prong connection). Can I plug this in to a normal house outlet to charge the battery or will it trip the house circuit breaker?

Short answer YES... The 45 amp is the maximum output of the converter. The 120 input would 4.5 amp if the converter was running at full output. However, I doubt you'll ever see more than 10 amps out the converter, which would be 1 amp at 120 volt. Not to worry.

[wklose99]

Okay I figured out the converter works fine it was just some shoddy wiring on the previous owners behalf. I am now going to take the battery home and charge it in my apartment with a box fan blowing over the top of it to an open window to vent any gas that may be excreted.

Thanks for the help!