I have a 2003 5th wheel with a converter/charger.

I bought it used in excellent shape. When I first got it I stored it with a 120V hook-up to keep the battery charged. It worked fine for the first 2-3 years.

After I removed the old battery when it went bad and I added a new marine battery, the charger seemed to be overcharging the battery and I noticed that the battery was quite warm. Later I noticed a bubbling sound and found that the battery was nearly dry of electrolyte.

I added water and it boiled it away again.

Do I need a new converter/charger? I presume the old one cannot be repaired.

Can I convert to an inverter/charger and if so, do you have any recommendations as to manufacturer?

Also, I am planning to buy a generator at PepBoys. It is a Chinese made generator that costs about $300. Any recommendation about such a piece of equipment. A similar size Japanese unit from Honda or Suzuki cost about $1800. I don't expect the cheapie to last as long as the more expensive model, but I thought I could replace it 5 times for the amount of money. Onan cost much more that either of the above.

 

FWIW, I've had disturbingly good luck with a lot of those cheap Chinese products, for the reason you indicate. They presumably won't last as long, and you'll never be able to get parts to repair one when it does break, but by that time you've already gotten your money's worth....

As to your charger, the older chargers weren't really capable of "trickle" charging. They usually had a high current/ low current switch, so even at the low setting they tried to pump juice into the battery after they were fully charged, which is what results in the boiling electrolyte.

The newer chargers however (especially if they say "computer controlled") will stop charging when the battery is full.

 

you can either buy a new converter with an inverter, or you can get a charge protect system, basically installing a component that deactivates the converter when the battery is done charging, the other thing i would check is if you have a solenoid that activates and deactivates when you plug and unplug the trailer to 110

 

On my unit, it appears that the charger is integral with the converter which is located at the panelboard.

It doesn't seem like I could just replace the charger part unless I could disconnect it from the battery circuit and install a separate new "smart" charger upstream of the battery.

Anybody know where I could obtain a usable circuit diagram for my unit? It is a 2003 Laredo by Keystone. Manufacturer perhaps?

When plugged in to shore power, are the 12V lights running off the converter or the battery?

 

Don't buy a chinese generator... you are better off going to Lowes and buying one there. Generac and Briggs are both quality systems. I bought two in the last two months, a 8kw Generac, built by Brigg's old plant, and a 5500kw Briggs. Both work great. They were $1400 and $600, respectively.

 

I'll look into Generac and Briggs, but the ones you mentioned are much larger than I would need or be able to handle as portables.

I'm looking for one in the 3.5kw size and one that runs relatively quietly.

I expect to have to baffle the exhaust to keep the noise down from disturbing the neighbors anyway.

Other than the fact that they are Chinese and have short term reliability and limited repairability, is there something else about them that makes you dislike them? Are they unsafe?

Thanks for the input.

 

Power quality may suffer, yes. And that means that it can fry electronics.

I know Honda makes some really good small generators that have inverters built in... which means something along the lines of high quality electronic-compatible power (I think?). I know they are pricy, but they'll last forever, be very quiet, and never break. Honda's are supposed to be the best of the best. That means of course that I could never afford one in the size I need :P

 

They STILL run off the battery when on shore power. Manufacturer - or the local dealer should have the electrical schematics but you'd prob be more likely to get them from Keystone....if they are still in business.

 

I have an old Yammaha brand 1000W generator and a newer China special 4500W generator.

My experience with the 4500W generator is that it is fairly reliable but either doesn't have the rated capacity or mine is running a tad low on voltage. When I turn on the Airconditoner in my trailer it runs slower than it would from land power. Ditto the Microwave. The generator handles everything in the trailer but like I said it runs slow.

I suspect the China special is using underated wiring, I have not checked, but probably should. Reason I say this is that my general experience with China specials is they consistantly use smaller wires(On electrical products) than I would expect on a quality brand.

Small wiring might be a general problem with Asian makes. Reason I say this and it is based on only one sample... I rebuilt my old Yammaha generator last summer after it burned up and almost started a fire. While rebuilding it I noticed all the wires were much smaller than I would expect for power wiring. The Yammaha was bought around 1992 and had given me good service for camping until it burned up. I suspect the problem was a self inflicted issue since it caught fire a little while after I refueled it after running all day. So it was hot and the gas may have expanded and overflowed onto the engine.

Lesson 1) NEVER put the generator under the trailer to kill noise. 2) NEVER Fill the tank full after it has been running a long time.

Short answer, I think the wiring is barely adequate on the cheap generators. But I only have owned two so my experience is limited.

Jim Henderson

 

The first thing I would do is replace the battery. I know you just did that, but I would do it again and keep a close eye on it for the first couple of days. At the same time I installed the new battery, I would install one of these voltage meters: Voltminder Your converter will have multiple stages, or voltages it puts out based on the battery charge. You need to know what the converter is doing. For example, my converter puts out 13.2 (maintain) 13.6 (charge) and 14.4 (quick boost). It does all that automatically, but if it was stuck on 14.4 for more than a day I would know something was wrong.

When you install the battery, check the electrolyte level. They often are a little low when you get them, and you are supposed to top them up with distilled water. If you don't, the battery cannot take a full charge, but the converter keeps trying, and the level just keeps going lower. Then the battery is ruined.

If after all that I thought I had a bad converter, I would install one of these: 9200 Series I have had a converter fail on one mode, but not the others. Maybe it was just the microprocessor that failed, I don't know. What I know is that it would not put out anything but 13.2, no matter what, and it had previously been a 3 stage converter. They are not worth repairing IMO, unless you enjoy tinkering with electronics.

You don't need an inverter unless you want to have 120V AC available when on battery power. Unless you have a lot of battery capacity, you won't get much use out of that. You just need a smart converter with built in charger.