Lo DC Alert; Fridge Furnace Lights won’t work

[Thr33devil]

Hi all, I’ve been living in my 2017 Momentum 351M for nearly two years and this is the first time experiencing issues with power.
I came home from a work trip as the coldest night of this winter hit here in eastern Idaho. The lights flickered for about ten minutes and eventually went off, the fridge was flashing Lo dc and wouldn’t operate on electric or gas and the furnace would start and blow warm air, but After a couple minutes of sputtering it would eventually shut down and seemingly cause chaos in My Lippert One control panel as it starts goes on and off. When it does turn on my voltage reads down to 7. This also causes My electric and gas black/fresh water heaters to shut off and not restart until what seems like 15-20mins of the system resetting?

My outlets will run space heaters and my electric fireplace works. Shore power is solid and working. Is this a convert or issue? Are the batteries getting hammered from the cold? Should I keep the batteries engaged or disengage w key in passthrough bay? I’m a novice with power systems so any advice is appreciated. This trailer survived qn Idaho winter last year without issues so I’m very perplexed.

Thanks

[pengle]

Thr33devil Yes, your batteries are probably very low. With the cables still connected to the battery and the trailer connected to shore power you should read 13.6vdc with a volt meter. If not, then you probably have an issue with your converter. You should first check that the circuit breaker for the converter is on. Just flip it off and then back on. Go check voltage again at battery. Looking for 13.6vdc. If you see like 10vdc then you haven't been charging the battery with your converter. You'll have to locate your converter. It has a couple of fuses on it, but those usually won't fail unless you've installed a new battery and hooked the cables up wrong. The input into the converter is usually a plug that goes into an outlet. The output is a red and black wire that go to the battery. That output should be 13.6vdc. I've attached a common troubleshooting guide for the converter. Looks like you'll have to download the picture to your computer so you can zoom in on the instructions.

[Thr33devil]

Incredible feedback. Thanks for taking the time to reply and share. I’ll dive into the process today…very much appreciated! Maybe I’ll get things fixed before single digits hit again tonight!

[howson]

Incredible feedback. Thanks for taking the time to reply and share. I’ll dive into the process today…very much appreciated! Maybe I’ll get things fixed before single digits hit again tonight!

Very likely the battery is beyond recovery. An auto parts store can do a "load test" which will reveal if it's truly bad or not. Given the age of your unit replacing the battery (and confirming the operation of the converter as outlined by pengle ) is something to consider.

[Thr33devil]

Anyone have thoughts on using battery mat-type heaters? I’m hoping this is just my batteries wiped out from the cold and not converter (even though batteries only a year old). If that’s the case I want to make sure I keep batteries warm enough to keep charge.

[howson]

Anyone have thoughts on using battery mat-type heaters? I’m hoping this is just my batteries wiped out from the cold and not converter (even though batteries only a year old). If that’s the case I want to make sure I keep batteries warm enough to keep charge.

A battery will freeze faster when the charge is low due to the higher percentage of water to electrolyte. The chart below is from an RVSA presentation (a school I attended).



It could be that the converter's not charging the battery, which lowered the specific gravity, leading to the battery being much more susceptible to freezing. An educated guess on my part, but plausible. Checking the converter's operation is paramount. Even though it's only a year old, if it was truly down to 7 volts that battery could still be way beyond recovery.

[Thr33devil]

Awesome information. On road to get voltmeter now to check all components. I did get to the converter and fuses are good. It is cycling an internal fan about every 15 seconds which I thought was excessive and possibly indicating failure. Thanks again for all the feedback. I’m flying blind and this is clearing a path for me.

[Country Campers]

Also make sure that the battery key is pushed in and turned so that it can not be removed, the converter/charger may not charge if the battery key is removed. These can easily get bumped out of position and would be the first thing to check.

Brian

[Thr33devil]

Success. Batteries were low. Two new ones and a small electric heater with thermostat and smoke detector in battery bay. Hopefully this will keep the cold from draining the juice. I’ll certainly keep eye on converter as well. Thanks for to all who took time from their Saturday to provide guidance. It’s 8F outside and a comfortable 70 in the rig.

[Jkwilson]

Success. Batteries were low. Two new ones and a small electric heater with thermostat and smoke detector in battery bay. Hopefully this will keep the cold from draining the juice. I’ll certainly keep eye on converter as well. Thanks for to all who took time from their Saturday to provide guidance. It’s 8F outside and a comfortable 70 in the rig.

The cold does not drain a battery. It may reduce its ability to provide very high currents, but that is not an issue in house battery use. The heat from charging or using the batteries will keep them warm. I would suggest you remove the heater from the area as the thermostat is a potential ignition source and should not be in a battery compartment. Lead-acid batteries being charged are potentially explosive.

[Thr33devil]

Thank you I will take that advice!

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Jkwilson is spot on.
Thr33devil 8* is better for a battery than 80*. Did you confirm your converter is working? If the batteries were the cause and not the symptom, you're all set. But if the cause is a faulty converter/charger you will be in the same situation in a few short days. Put a meter on your battery terminals to verify charging voltage if you haven't already.

[Jlawles2]

I'm going to guess as others that the converter is on it's way out. Most likely the charge circuit is not reducing the output as the battery charges. By chance were the batteries low on electrolyte? If so, then the charger is probably boiling the water out, or you need to add the batteries to the check list. Once a month open the battery box and pull the caps. If the electrolyte is not touching the bottom of the tube that leads from the top of the battery into the compartment, then it is low. Even "MAINTENANCE FREE" batteries when used in an RV system need to be checked due to the constant charge / discharge they undergo.

The cold temps as mentioned are not that bad on batteries, note that as high amperage devices pull power out of the battery, the chemical reaction will self heat the battery along with the charger.

[Thr33devil]

Continued thanks for the support and feedback.
I should’ve known better than to go for the easy solution. Most things other than a couple of outlets shut down on me last night. Checked batteries this morning and one is 12.5 and the other is 5. When I disengage the batteries the rig and rely on shore power all seems normal and my Lippert monitor reads over 13amps. All lights heaters etc work, for about 5 minutes and then the amps fall into 8,7,6 range even if I only turn on gas water heater as to not overload things (assumption on my part).

I should’ve taken the converter advice right away. I wasn’t able to successfully check yesterday as when I was ready to use voltmeter I was faced w some difficult to remove screws securing the output. I can engage the screw with an Allen wrench but it’s not long enough to fully rotate vs the height of converter. I’m heading out to look for some longer handled solutions. If anyone has a trick/tip for this little Hangup It would be very appreciated

[Jlawles2]

Are both batteries tied together? One reading different than the other is a concern. Check your cables.

Short term solution would be to put a normal Auto Battery charger on the batteries. This will help prevent damage to the batteries and help you make it a few days till the new converter comes in OR you figure out what is really going on.

Also double check that the break away switch did not get pulled or shorted or starting to short out.