Converter Issue

I had a converter issue show up this weekend while doing a short camping trip. I have a little time to investigate today before packing up and heading home so wanted to post here for suggestions.
Here's what I know so far: The American CS6000XL converter is now not working. 110V in TM is fine but no 12V power from converter. Only the TM battery powers 12V TM items in camper. I recharged the TM 12V battery separately after arriving and it has kept a good charge over weekend (doesn't appear there's a short/heavy load drawing down battery). The fridge will also not work on 110V since arriving (had to use propane). It appears the small LED converter light indicating Overload is dimly lit on the Converter panel. I've tried disconnecting/reconnecting shore power and battery power, pushing converter Reset button, resetting converter breakers and checked all the fuses but find nothing wrong. I've also checked the voltage at 12V battery and the converter isn't providing power there to recharge.
A few other things: I turned the fridge on 12V before departing home on Friday and the TM battery was low by time I arrived and fridge was not cold (freezer section seemed cool though). It appears that the tow vehicle is not providing enough charge to compensate for fridge draw. I don't have a manual for troubleshooting the American converter and only thing I found online was a 2 page useless guide.
Is the fact that the 110V fridge AND 12V converter not working indicating a particular part of the converter? It looks like they both use the same breaker. Any recommendations to check before I leave campsite/30A power would be greatly appreciated.

[ELM-JLM]

Ours had a 40 amp surge protection fuse that blew! The 7 pin connecter came loose and caused an arc! This caused the same symptoms! The fuse is in the panel, Brown in color, I didn't have a replacement 40 so used a 30 and it worked well! I also replaced the 7 pin OE connecter on my silverado with one from NAPA and all was well again!

Also had to replace the 40 amp fuse in the silverado panel that goes to the 7 pin!

[Bill]

Brian -

The fact that you have a 120VAC problem on two devices which are both served by the same circuit breaker really suggests that there is a problem at or before the breaker. Breakers rarely go bad, though it does happen. But first, I'm sure you realize that if a breaker trips, you can't reset it simply by pushing it back to the ON position. You must first push it to the OFF position (SNAP!), and then to ON (SNAP!) Assuming you are doing this, you need to confirm that 120VAC is coming out of the breaker, at the black wires. Do you have a voltmeter? If not, you can buy a simple analog or digital VOM (volt-ohm-milliammeter) for less than $10 at an auto supply place, hardware store, big box store, or even WalMart. It doesn't have to be fancy. Alternatively, you can buy a 120VAC test light for about $3.

Since I believe you have a problem that is common to both circuits, I won't try to go further into it until you get back to us. But let me make a couple comments about the two individual devices - the refrig and the converter.

Most of us - about 80% according to the poll - find that our tow vehicles won't power the refrig while travelling. The problem is that the wiring in the tow vehicle isn't heavy enough. It delivers only a part of the current that the refrig needs, and the rest is provided by the TM battery. If you want to run the refrig while you are driving, the most common solution is simply to add another 12VDC supply wire from the tow vehicle alternator to the TM battery, running alongside the existing one. There is a lot of discussion - several threads - about this issue, which I'm sure you can find. It has nothing to do with your converter problem, so I'll leave it there.

Incidentally, some owners have found that in their tow vehicle, there is a fuse holder for the 12VDC line that runs back to the trailer connector, but that no fuse was installed by the factory. You'll need to confirm that.

Regarding the converter. You have an '06 3023, and I have an '06 2720. In the '06 model, TM used an American Enterprises converter. The fact that they switched to another converter after one year tells you that the AE converter was pretty bad. My experience was this. The AE converter doesn't charge the battery all the way - the tech support guy at AE admitted that to prevent overcharging the battery, the converter shuts off before the battery is fully charged. The "useless two-page manual" you found is the only manual there is, again according to the tech support guy at AE. When my AE converter died, I bought a new and expensive main board from the converter's importer. When it came, it did not have the little board with the LED indicator lights. Yet another call to the tech support guy yielded the info that the lights didn't do anything important or reliable, so they were eliminated. After a year, the new main board died, so I gave up, pulled the main board out, and bought a new charger section from Progressive Dynamics. I have not been entirely pleased with it, either, but it is a lot better than the AE unit, and at least it still works after 4 or 5 years.

Again, from what you have said, I think the problem you are experiencing is neither in the refrig nor the converter, but somewhere common to both. So don't run off the deep end, replacing either, until you have confirmed it one way or the other. But if it turns out that the converter is bad, you might consider replacing it with a different brand.

Just my experience.

Bill

[HIKERZ]

This is why the 12 dollars is well spent to join. So many people,with so much to share

I agree on this 'HIKERZ" What a great "POST' Bill... We all are so lucky to have this knowledge at our fingertips.

Dave

[scrubjaysnest]

I didn't like having both the converter and the refrig on the same breaker so added a new breaker just for the converter. This also gives me a means to not use the converter when connected to shore power if desired.

Like Bill said with both the converter and refrig fed from the same breaker look for something common. With the refrig off measure the power at the breaker should be around 120vac. Next measure the power after turning on the refrig should be around 120vac. Use care when doing this. The old electricians rule is keep one hand in your pocket when measuring. Difficult I know but it does prevent a current path across the chest which is the killer.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

This also gives me a means to not use the converter when connected to shore power if desired.

Why would you not want to use the converter? Without it, you can't run any of the appliances in the TM, except the AC....the toilet, lights, water pump, furnace, etc.

Dave

Thanks to everyone for all the great info! During the process of breaking down the camper, I took some time to turn off everything (fridge, sensors powered when bathroom set up, etc) and again tried disconnecting all power sources (12V and 110/30A), reconnecting 110/30A and resetting all breakers at converter. There was a temporary electrical buzzing that came from the converter panel when I reset them. However, this time I was able to get the TM 12V lights to come on without battery hooked up indicating that the converter was working. I'm not sure why it worked that time or if it will work the next time I set up the trailer. I wasn't able to check if the fridge would work on 110V in this short amount of time. However, I can say with confidence that I won't be turning on the fridge to 12V when leaving the house, to eliminate that possible issue and draining my TM 12V battery down during transit.
I'll also note that there has always been something drawing 12V power even when the TM is closed, as there is a spark when I connect the battery lead (I leave 12V battery disconnected while TM stored). I know others on the Forum have mentioned the same. It isn't a large draw but it's there.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Brifla

I'll also note that there has always been something drawing 12V power even when the TM is closed, as there is a spark when I connect the battery lead (I leave 12V battery disconnected while TM stored). I know others on the Forum have mentioned the same. It isn't a large draw but it's there.

Parasitic loads. Lots of discussion. It is small, but big enough to kill your battery in a week.

Bill

Yes I had read about parasitic loads in other threads. I'm curious what they might be since I don't have a radio and the bathroom is down (no CO/Propane sensor load). But I'll keep disconnecting my battery during storage in any case.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that on this trip my GFI was tripped when we got the camper set up. I simply reset it at the electrical outlet beside the Converter. This has happened before and it is fine once reset but I'm not sure what is tripping it initially (?).

I'm assuming the fridge will work when hooked up to 110V power at home with a adaptor plug to the TM, correct? I'd like to verify it's operating on 110V before the next trip. If I remember correctly, the AC won't work when TM is plugged in at home but hopefully fridge will.

And thanks for the suggestion to check the tow vehicle fuse. I just had my brake controller installed a few months ago and haven't checked the 12V power supply from vehicle to trailer. I only checked the TM brakes and lights. I'll take my voltmeter out and see if there's power on that plug prong. If not, I'll look for the fuse (or lack thereof) on the TV.