Oh, you can bet I will be checking before plugging.

 

A 30 amp plug is 120 volts only with a neutral and equipment ground, this is where 99% of the wiring problems happen because of reverse polarity and wiring like a old style 3 prong dryer plug with 240 volts. A 30 amp RV receptacle will have 30 amp available.

A 50 RV receptacle uses a 50 amp 120/240 volt receptical that's been around for years, it will have 50 amps available on each leg of the 240 volt service for 100 total. The receptacle will have two 120 volt circuits (240 volts across the two legs) one neutral and a equipment ground, the receptical will have 240 volts available and you will have 240 volts all the way to the RV panel. From the panel only one leg is used at a time so your circuits will only use 120 volts. This receptacle is really hard to wire wrong but I'm sure it can be done, the biggest problem with the 50 amp service is of you loose the neutral the two 120 volt legs can float between 0 and 240 volts. When you check one you want to check the voltage between neutral (the bottom terminal) and each side of the receptical and also to the ground terminal (the top prong).

If your uncles rec is a 3 prong welding receptacle it will not have a neutral just two 120 volt legs making 240 volts and a ground. A welding receptical will have two horizonal blades instead of the 3 vertical ones on your RV plug, both have round ground prongs.

Denny

 

He confirmed it is a true RV receptacle. thanks guys for explaining where the power comes in and how much at each terminal.


With that in mind when I test it then I will know if I can hook up to it.

 

If you are using a power management system, it should take care of that for you.

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, I did see your other post. Its a Power Source brand battery charger/power supply. Its never charged beyond a 13.4 output. I put a meter to them quite often because I'm a maintenance freak who always wants to know whats going on. Water level has never been an issue as I check all my deep cycle batteries once a month. This unit plugs into a 120v outlet and it is the only piece of equipment between the batteries and the outlet. I would like to replace this unit with the Pro Sport 12 unit.

 

Rick,

When batteries are charged, the charger will never go above what you are seeing with that converter, no matter what converter you have. You can change charging sources, but you might try unhooking the battery, letting it rest over night, and then check the voltage. If the battery is fully charged, changing chargers is not likely to help.

Steve

 

A fully charged battery should show 12.8 volts with no draw or charger attached.

110v chargers vary. My Odyssey charger (by Schumacher) for my Odyssey battery will go above 14 volts during part of the charge cycle. I haven't seen it hit 15 volts.

Odyssey is very particular about which chargers are to be used. I'm in the process of warrantying an Odyssey PC1700 (AGM) and one of the questions they asked pertained to which charger I used. I brought my charger along to prove that I was using their approved charger.

I think they are concerned about what the float charge is. Some of the old battery chargers weren't trickle chargers or they weren't very smart about it.

Odyssey considers an AGM battery at 12.5 volts to be only 75% charged.

I use a CTEK MUS 4.3 charger for my non-Odyssey, non-AGM batteries. It has a cycle it goes through. The CTEK can charge AGM batteries but I still don't use it on my Odyssey batteries. Other than that I don't know much about it other than it was highly recommended. It's a nice compact unit. The Odyssey charger is bulky.

 

When new, but you seldom will see it otherwise. On very inexpensive batteries, you will not see it even going out the factory door.

Steve

 

How long have you had the Odesseys?

 

Odyssey is replacing my battery because it will only hold 12.6 volts. That's the three year warranty.

 

I have another Odyssey battery (same model) that is about 9 years old and it will hold 12.5. But I don't use that on my truck any more. I keep it as a spare and use it to run an inverter when camping. It works great for what I need it for.

 

Did you find a good source? I haven't seen them much, but they look like a quality product.

 

I bought the last four Odyssey batteries online. That worked out OK until I needed to warranty this one. The online seller said they no longer stocked/carried that particular model. I had to find a local brick and mortar store to warranty it. They chided me for buying online and I looked sufficiently chastised. It should be here next week.

The brick and mortar store carries Trojan batteries so I'm going to see what they'll charge for a set of 6v batteries. I'm not sure which battery to go with though.

 

Trojans are certainly a very good choice also.

 

Yes, but which Trojan? Buy the biggest one I can afford?