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Mr. Luddite[_4_]

On 9/28/2018 12:17 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 28 Sep 2018 08:56:19 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 9/28/2018 7:51 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Fri, 28 Sep 2018 07:30:25 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 13:14:50 -0700 (PDT), Tim wrote:

Youâ€™d made mention that you had to work on it? What happened?

My 120vac/12vdc converter went out. The 12v lights got dimmer and dimmer. I checked the fuses in the
converter, but they were good. The RV battery was down to a bit over 10v. We got through the night
OK, 'cause the heat pump uses 120v. But, the next morning I had to get some help pushing the slides
in as the RV battery, even with the truck connected wouldn't do it. Luckily, there was enough juice
in the system to raise the trailer enough to hook up, but those motors were running pretty slow.

Got home and tested the converter, which should have been putting out about 13.6v. It was putting
out about 7.5v. Got a new one, a 65amp, to replace the 55amp. Then I noticed a weird plug on the end
of the new converter. It's a 20amp plug. I'm thinking 'Oh ****, this won't work'. Then I tried to
see where the old converter was plugged in. The receptacle is on the underside of the distribution
center for the RV, which is behind the furnace in the 'basement' of the RV and not accessible to a
normal-sized person. So I had to remove the distribution center (where all the fuses and breakers
are). Got that done, and I was able to remove the old converter plug. Luckily the receptacle takes
either the 15amp or the 20amp plug.

Today I'll try to get the new one plugged in. First I have to run a line down under the distribution
center, tie the new plug to it and pull the plug up. Then it'll be touch and feel to try to get the
plug into the receptacle.

Hope it works.

===

Sounds like a boat project where every solution requires working
througl multiple layers of other issues.

On a boat, converter/chargrers are almost always hard wired to the
breaker panel. Would that work for you?

On another note, your house battery which got drawn down to 10 volts
is almost certainly toast and should probably be replaced.

Yup.

One other thing I'd check is the wiring gauge from the breaker box to to
where ever the new converter plugs in. If the original breaker was
15 amp and it was replaced with a 20 amp, the wiring itself could
technically be undersized. Probably not an issue but worth checking.
15 amp wiring is typically 14 ga. 20 amp wiring should be at least 12 ga.

If they put a NEMA 5-20 receptacle in there I hope they had sense to
use 12ga wire. Unfortunately RVs are not HUD dwellings so they do not
get inspected to the same standards. The NEC does not apply at all.
If it makes you feel better 15ga wire is actually rated at 20a but
they add the 80% safety factor in on "small conductors" by limiting
the breaker size.
You actually get to exploit that higher rating in some hard wired
circuits, usually motors or welders. That is why you can see a motor
circuit with 15 ga wire and a 40a breaker. (exploiting a few
exceptions)

Never heard of 15 ga wire.

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