HELP............HELP


A

ARCHER

Senior Member
Well, I think I have a major issue going on with my Sunset Creek TT. We are in Florida for winter. Linda was standing in front of stove (not using it at all) mixing up some salads. All of a sudden we hear several pops coming from under the stove area where the Power Converter is located. Started to smell really bad like something was burning so I used fire extingisher and unplugged what I think is the power converter. I took off the front cover to get to the plug for the converter. Waited a few minutes then tried to plug converter back in again and it popped several times again so have left it unplugged for now.
I'm not sure how to get to the power converter since it is behind or is enclosed.
I have left it unplugged for now.
Everything seems to still be working for now but I think 12 volt stuff is running directly off the battery until it dies (but I have a portable charger I can keep it charged until I get the power converter replaced or fixed).
Any ideas what I should do??????
Maybe Kenneth, if he is reading these today can provide guidance since I bought it from him.
Anyway, I don't really know what to do right now, other than to call RV repair folks tomorrow (Monday).
thanks for any guidance....... :question:
 
C

CharlieS

New Member
RE: HELP............HELP

Sorry to hear about your problem.

Call Kenneth first thing in the AM when his shop opens. He may have an idea. I called him from the beach one Saturday morning and he talked me through an electrical problem.

Good luck.

Charlie
 
Kirk

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: HELP............HELP

Archer,

Electrical type I am so may be able to help with that part, but access is another issue.

Based upon what you tell me I would highly suspect that your converter is toast. There are several things in one that would smell bad and could cause the popping sound if they were to fail. All of them have a transformer that steps the voltage down from 120V and when a transformer cooks it smells really bad and can make a lot of smoke for a very small device. In addition, most of them also have several electrolytic capacitors and they too hole way more smoke and odor than the size would lead you to expect. If you have ever smelled a ballast in a florescent light failing, the odor would be quite similar for either one.

Unless you have one of the better converters, it is probably better to replace the converter than to try and have it repaired. Replacing one is not terribly difficult, other than access to it. As I am not familiar with your RV, I really can't help much in that area. I am pretty confident that you did unplug the converter as nearly all are connected in just that way. The fact that it starts popping tells me that it has a major problem and as such you have done the proper thing.

As a temporary means of keeping the batteries up, you could use an automobile battery charger to recharge them. Unless it is a pretty sophisticate charger, I would not leave it connected all of the time, but rather use it for several hours, one of two times each day. You could make that happen by using one of the timers that are available at places like Wal-Mart. That should get you by for the time being. I would not reconnect the converter power as it will probably just get worse or trip the circuit breaker that supplies it. It could even damage the batteries.

Since you must have 12V power to operate your refrigerator and if needed the furnace as well as the water heater, you will need some means of keeping the batteries up. Do not allow them to discharge too far or it will damage the batteries.
 
A

ARCHER

Senior Member
Re: HELP............HELP

Kirk and Charlie, thanks for the input. Electrician I am NOT. With Kirk's guidance, believe I will survive this issue. Will be calling Kenneth tomorrow for possible replacement power converter, if he handles what I need. tks again ;)
 
Grandview Trailer Sa

Grandview Trailer Sa

Senior Member
Re: HELP............HELP

Mike,
Sent you an E-mail...you do not have a converter...you have a battery charger made by Inteli Power. Very few go bad, but some do. Of course I can ship you one, but you can also go to a local dealer to get it replaced.
 
Kirk

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: HELP............HELP

Mike,

I sent you some further information about your converter/charger from Progressive Dynamics. They have some pretty decent trouble shooting help on their website at: http://www.progressivedyn.com/troubleshooting_pwr_con.html

You may want to call them to see what they think about returning it for repair or just replacing it. I have not used their tech support but have been told that it is pretty good.
 
A

ARCHER

Senior Member
Re: HELP............HELP

Thanks all. We called Progressive Dynamics this am and they are sending us a reconditioned unit for a reasonable price with one year warranty. They were very pleasant to deal with. Should get it in three days. Keeping the battery charged right now using an automatic battery charger that only works as needed to keep full charge (kind of like the converter/charger). Anyway, thanks to Kirk, Ken and Charlie for the guidance. Guess I should not have sprayed the cabinet area with fire extinguisher, as all it did was make a powdery mess.....ha ha Darn thing still stinks from internal burn out. I now know a lot about converters/chargers for future reference ;)
 
H2H1

H2H1

Senior Member
Re: HELP............HELP

well Mike you used a ABC multi use fire extinguisher, which is a power base fire extinguisher. I recommend you get a CO 2 for all your electrical and grease fires. leaves no residue to clean up. The CO2 is recommended for class B&C fires., electrical and grease fires. Class A is for things like paper, wood,, things that leave ash :laugh:
 
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