No 12 Volt, lots of 110

rollinthunder · 09-11-2011, 10:25 PM

Hey Peeps,
I had a pretty low battery and plugged my x160 into power. My microwave fired up and Fan/AC worked but I still did not have 12v, all the lights were dime and w/pump barely operated. What can cause this? My battery is good, and I have hooked up trailer without battery for about 30 seconds before, but no other time has this occurred. Any suggestions?

webslave · 09-12-2011, 04:25 PM

Sounds like battery... If your battery was low, why? Run down or drained from non-use? You say your battery is now "good"....how did you test? Voltmeter or load test? A battery can read "good" with a voltmeter (>12 volts), but, still have a dead/shorted cell that will prevent amp flow, even though it reads a static volt level of 12 volts or better.

My recommendation would be to temporarily swap your trailer's battery for a "known" good one (out of your tow vehicle, for instance) to eliminate that as a cause. The only other "device" that would cause those symptoms (in my experience) would be your converter is failing...or for the really simple; a corroded ground connection

I've seen a loose/corroded ground connection give those symptoms and if your battery is, indeed, good; I'd start looking at connections from the battery back first, as that is cheaper and easier than a converter! Bad connections will also keep your converter from charging your battery (maybe the reason your battery went low?). Hard to tell without a lot more information.

Maybe somebody else has some ideas...

rollinthunder · 09-12-2011, 10:55 PM

I had the battery load checked at interstate battery, the full day procedure. They said it was about 80 % and ok for continued use. The battery took full charge from an external charger and I am now drawing it down to see if the lights remain dim when I plug it in. Theorectically when I plug in everything should be bright, and the battery should become charged, right?

webslave · 09-16-2011, 10:21 PM

That's the way it is supposed to work, however, if your battery is very low, the converter may not be able to "force feed" enough amperage to charge your battery and run the 12v appliances.

Since you had the battery load tested, it should be physically OK. That leaves you with the other possible problems that kept it from being charged while you had shore power...

Ted Kenner · 10-04-2011, 12:15 PM

disconnect the positive battery wire from your electrical panel. You should have 13.6volts and all fused circuits should work. If that works, I would then look for the problem in the 12 volt dc battery part of the wiring system.
Ted.