Electrical Issue

[KurtFranz]

Plugged into shore power last night to charge the house battery. This morning the light on the control panel is not lit and the battery cannot be engaged - there is no click from the breaker when activating it. The converter was making a slight chirping sound. I tried resetting the breakers to no avail.

Bottomline - I click the battery button on the panel - no loud click as it normally does to engage the electrical system. Everything dead except for the slight chirping sound coming from the converter - which tells me that there is ac going in.

All original equipment. 2002 Chevy Versatile 190

Asking for any insight as I start investigating
Thanks

[mkguitar]

your converter likely has 30 amp ( ?) fuses near the output.

on my Intellipower PD9245, they are automotive type fuses near the black and red output cables

with a tester, test the 120 ac supply to the converter is working, then check the output of the converter for 12 volt ( a test light is better than a meter)


battery switch on ?


check ac breakers from shore power source ( house?) to the van to the converter.



check your DC breakers and/or fuses

[booster]

Originally Posted by KurtFranz

Plugged into shore power last night to charge the house battery. This morning the light on the control panel is not lit and the battery cannot be engaged - there is no click from the breaker when activating it. The converter was making a slight chirping sound. I tried resetting the breakers to no avail.

Bottomline - I click the battery button on the panel - no loud click as it normally does to engage the electrical system. Everything dead except for the slight chirping sound coming from the converter - which tells me that there is ac going in.

All original equipment. 2002 Chevy Versatile 190

Asking for any insight as I start investigating
Thanks

I assume you have Tripplite inverter/charger? If so, it will not charge a dead battery so that would explain now if no DC power either.



If you are on shore power do the 110v outlets work, or the display on the microwave? If not, you have a shore power issue like a tripped breaker on the source of inside the van, or possible a bad automatic transfer switch.



If you have 110v power, you would need to look at the charger and push the reset buttons to see if it quits chirping, but it probably still won't charge if the battery is dead.


If that is the case, start the van and see if you get the 12v back to prove the system will power up. It should also charge the batteries at that point because it doesn't care if they are dead to start with. You should see the top or second indicator light on the battery charge indicator panel in the van if it is charging.


If you get it to charge that way, run the van for about 30 minutes to put some charge in and then plug into shore power and shut off the engine to see what happens.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by booster

I assume you have Tripplite inverter/charger? If so, it will not charge a dead battery so that would explain now if no DC power either.



If you are on shore power do the 110v outlets work, or the display on the microwave? If not, you have a shore power issue like a tripped breaker on the source of inside the van, or possible a bad automatic transfer switch.



If you have 110v power, you would need to look at the charger and push the reset buttons to see if it quits chirping, but it probably still won't charge if the battery is dead.


If that is the case, start the van and see if you get the 12v back to prove the system will power up. It should also charge the batteries at that point because it doesn't care if they are dead to start with. You should see the top or second indicator light on the battery charge indicator panel in the van if it is charging.


If you get it to charge that way, run the van for about 30 minutes to put some charge in and then plug into shore power and shut off the engine to see what happens.

booster, I don't think a 2002 would have a tripplite.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Bud

booster, I don't think a 2002 would have a tripplite.

You very well may be correct on that, but I also have seen, been told, that the Tripplite change came with the change to Chevy. That doesn't say there couldn't be some with the old electronics in them during the transition as Roadtrek is known to do that. In 2002 it would also be the previous generation Chevy van.



The manual says Elixer for a charger and none of the vans show an inverter, but it is shown at 45 amps and is in the later, until 2007, location under the drivers side bolster.

[KurtFranz]

Guys

Thanks for responding - I was testing the battery yesterday by running the fan and then plugged in to shore power but did not have the battery switch set to on before plugging in. The battery was dead.

[KurtFranz]

Originally Posted by Bud

booster, I don't think a 2002 would have a tripplite.

It is a Centurion 3000 - probably the original unit that came from the factory. It is discontinued, this is the suggested replacement:

https://www.bestconverter.com/PD-413...ter_p_612.html

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by KurtFranz

the battery switch

do you have a visual indicator of battery ?

in my van the microwave display is an easy indicator of 120 VAC power.

DC power is indicated by status lights on my c/o detector.
this would be "on" with shore power ( via converter) or by battery power.

A couple of quick ways to know status.

for converters, the intellipower I have is durable and appears well made- it has a feature called "charge wizard" which varies the charging voltage to better maintain the battery during periods on shore power. auto type fuses at the outputs are accessible.


A pal with a fairly new travel trailer was visiting and his converter failed.
a number of bad solder joints and a design which relies on flowed solder for 30 amp outputs - weak
this also had the fuses soldered to the PCB- requiring dismantling teh whole thing is a fuse pops. WFCO 8900


but let's hope your lasts forever- as I understand the charge wizard module can be retrofitted to some converters

[KurtFranz]

It would be nice to have a 3 stage charger incorporated into the converter as opposed to the current one which I can't leave plugged in indefinitely without worrying about the battery boiling the electrolyte.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by KurtFranz

leave plugged in indefinitely.

I have a timer type thing on my shore power when stored at home. It comes on at night to make up for power use during the day ( vent fan in the summer).


wyze ourdoor plug

[KurtFranz]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

I have a timer type thing on my shore power when stored at home. It comes on at night to make up for power use during the day ( vent fan in the summer).


wyze ourdoor plug

i like that - will give it a try today - thx

[Chams]

I had the same problem with my 2010 R/T 170 and this fixed the problem.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1