Follow-up to post on RV converter not charging battery

This is a follow-up to this recent post: Why won’t RV’s converter charge the battery unless reset button is pushed?

Dave,
I’m not sure where to start. I am by no means an electrician and I don’t have any documentation on the electrical systems. When I bought the RV it was a prototype for the 2022 Tampa RV show. Model is 26RD made by Prime Time in Oct 2021.

My issues started at the end of the season last year. After my last trip I wanted to see what the installed solar panel would do, and I left the 12-volt refrigerator on without hooking to shore power. In a few hours the battery was completely dead. I took out the battery to store for the winter and hooked to a battery charger. The charger indicated that the battery was bad.

This spring I installed a 12-volt AGM deep cycle battery. When installed, the battery monitor (Furrion FBM08A10C) indicated 60-65%. After several hours, with nothing running in the RV and while hooked to 15-amp house circuit, the percentage never increased.

Checking voltage

I have been checking voltage at battery, at the power panel and with the factory-installed battery monitor. All indicated 13+ volts. I still don’t know if this voltage indicated converter output or solar panel output. One solar panel is factory-installed and I don’t know if it is configured with everything else.

With the power panel cover off, I found a slowly blinking light next to what looked like a blue reset button. When pushed, the light glowed continuously and voltage readings went to 14.40 volts. Then the battery monitor percentage began to slowly rise. After a few hours, the light again began to blink very slowly and voltages dropped back down to 13+ volts.

Between pressing that reset button and hooking to the truck while driving, the battery monitor finally indicated 100% with a reading of 13+ volts at all check points. It still goes to 14.40 volts when the button is pushed. Since I have not been using the RV the past couple weeks, the battery is staying at 100% according to the monitor.

I hope this helps. It’s as clear as mud to me. —Joe, 2021 Prime Time Crusader 26RD

Joe,
Thanks for the follow up and the photos. Your Progressive Dynamics unit is a 4500 series Distribution Center/Converter with Charge Wizard features. I was able to find documentation on the PD site. Here is the wiring schematic that identifies the components you are looking at.

Charge profile

Here is the charge profile according to the owner’s manual:

PD4500 – The full rated load is available for load, battery charging or both. When functioning as a regulated battery charger the converter has a nominal voltage output of 13.6 VDC. The system is designed to sense voltage on the battery and automatically selects one of three operating modes (normal, boost and storage) to provide the correct charge level to the batteries.

BOOST MODE: If the converter senses that the battery voltage has dropped below a preset level the output voltage is increased to approximately 14.4 VDC to rapidly recharge the battery.

NORMAL MODE: Output voltage set at approximately 13.6 VDC.

STORAGE MODE: When there has been no significant battery usage for 30 hours the output voltage is reduced to 13.2 VDC for minimal water usage. When in storage mode, the output voltage will periodically increase to 14.4 VDC to help prevent sulfation of the battery plates.

LED indicator light

The green LED light that you described is an indicator light that tells what charge mode the converter is in. A fast flash indicates it is normal mode and should be providing a 13.6-volt charge. If the charge wizard senses a drop in voltage at the battery, it will increase to 14.4-volts, as indicated in the previous description. A slow flash indicates storage mode, which is 13.2 volts. If there is no battery usage for 30 hours, it will jump to a 14.4-volt charge to condition the battery.

Reset button

The ”reset button” is actually a wizard manual button that allows you to change the charge profile. So when you push it, I assume you are putting the wizard into “boost” mode and it does 14.4 volts and then drops to the normal mode of 13.6 volts. This would also cause the LED to stay on until it resets to 13.6 volts and then blink.

The 4500 series is available in a 60-, 75-, and 90-amp model. There is also a lithium model that would have an LI at the tail of the model number. The model would read 4560 if it is a 60-amp version and not lithium. It would be 4560LI and would have the optional Output Mode Switch directly to the right of the LED. From what I can tell, your unit does not have this, but rather has a slot for the option.

I also think the solar panel you have on the roof might be a very low-watt version just designed to keep the battery topped off during storage or on a dealer lot. Many RV manufacturers started putting a 100-watt panel on the roof as the battery would go dead quickly while sitting in the dealer lot and then not show well to customers.

So, it seems the unit is working as designed. You just need to understand the charge profile. Your AGM batteries typically do not want 14.4 volts continuously.

I hope Dennis is reading this; he would have figured it out… Miss you, Man!

 You might also enjoy these posts from Dave 

• Why won’t RV’s converter charge the battery unless reset button is pushed?
• Replaced RV’s batteries but converter won’t charge them. Now what?
• My batteries don’t charge when connected to shoreline power. How can I test my converter?
• Why does converter show 13.8 volts output but battery shows 7.1 volts?

Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”

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