We just upgraded from a '76 12 foot to a '97 16 foot. When we picked it up the electrical system worked fine. After we fooled around and got the furnace to light the problems started. The furnace is off but the converter kicks on every 3 or 4 minutes and will drain a fully charged battery in about a day. Is there a way to just circumvent the converter for now? Do I need a new one? Any insight?
Thanks!
Tue, 07/28/2020 - 10:47
#1
Noob power converter
The converter should charge the battery not discharge it. I'd start by pulling the fuses one at a time to find what is running it down. Please let us know what you find.
The problem started when we kicked on the furnace for the first time. Are the fuses inside the converter? Our old scamp had really simple electricity do this is new to me.
You will need to look at the book for yours. Use a volt meter to check output. The battery voltage should go up a little when you plug in to AC power.You still need to see what is running your battery down in a day, Most make it a weekend on a charge.
Is there an easy way to circumvent the converter? I don't have an AC plug-in that will work with the scamp yet so I just charge the battery with a charger. Leaving for a 7 day trip in a few days and I don't have time to order a new converter.
No need to circumvent it unless it is doing something bad, if so just unplug it or shut the breaker off.. Have you done any testing or trouble shooting? Like pulling any fuses to see what is draining the battery? Converters should not be doing anything with no AC power going in. If yours is draining the battery I would think that pulling the out put fuse should disconnect it from the battery. Scamps do not come from the factory with an inverter.
And the Scamps come with an adapter to plug the 30 amp cord into 15/20 amp home outlets. Walmart also has them.
Well, uhm......nobody told me white was the negative on a camper. I hooked the battery wires up backward and all sorts of problems came with it. Feeling pretty dumb, but also pretty good that my problem is no longer a problem. SMH
Normally if the battery is backward fuses flow or the magic smoke leaks out. Newer Scamps have a label.
Think house living space white is the grounded conductor, and the black is the "hot" side. Or better yet get out your phone and take a picture if you take the battery out. This backward thing happens a lot every spring.
Dont feel left out, I was aware that typically white is Neg/ground on an Rv but the 12v supply to my dometic refrigerator turns out to be Black and brown so nothing is really in stone and standard on these. A volt meter to the chassis is a good start as the chassis is typically neg and ground if wired correctly .
2019 Scamp 13 standard