12v system randomly stops and restarts

[Dan Paleczny]

Greetings,
In our 2018 17B, we've had at least 4 instances over the last two weekends, while boondocking, where the 12v system completely stops and then 10-20 seconds later it comes back on. It seems to happen when the water pump comes on and the gas hot water tank is on. Seems random. I'd welcome any advice on how to figure out what's going on and how to fix it.

Thanks, Dan

 

[SRS]

Greetings,
In our 2018 17B, we've had at least 4 instances over the last two weekends, while boondocking, where the 12v system completely stops and then 10-20 seconds later it comes back on. It seems to happen when the water pump comes on and the gas hot water tank is on. Seems random. I'd welcome any advice on how to figure out what's going on and how to fix it.

Thanks, Dan

Can you say more about how your trailer is equipped?

• What type of batteries, number and age?
• Do you have solar?
• Is your water heater gas only or dual (gas and 120V when on shore power)?
• Have you checked battery voltage with a voltmeter?

 

[Ron in BC]

Random problems like that can drive you nuts trying to track them down.

My first suspicion would be a loose connection making intermittent contact. I'd pull the panel cover off and carefully manipulate the wires. Loose wires have been a problem in the past.

If all wires that you check seem secure I'd leave the panel cover off and dive in there with a multi meter the next time it went off. I'd especially check the input to the panel.

I don't know what kind of battery switch you have but some of them have had issues in the past. If the power is off long enough I'd check for voltage on both terminals.

Good luck

Ron

 

[Rockhead]

I’d start by checking all connections and frame grounds for corrosion.

 

[brroberts]

My battery terminal connections were lose from the factory causing lights to flicker.

 

[GinoandLinda]

Like others have said, whenever I hear "random electrical problems" especially on something that gets bounced around like a camper trailer, I start looking for loose electrical connections starting with the battery ground and working my way from the battery bank.

 

[Dan Paleczny]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Answers to SRS questions:
The trailer has:
- 2 original, 2019, GC2 flooded 6v batteries, reading 13.6v. All connections, including the ground to theframe are good.
- 1 solar panel with Go Power controller showing 100% and 13.8v.
- hot water is dual electric and gas.

I have checked panel connections. Appear to have 13.6v incoming to the panel. I'll post a picture of the battery disconnect switch.

My technical knowledge and confidence with this stuff is low. Any good youtube videos welcome.

Thanks again. The search continues!

Dan

 

[Ron in BC]

The type of battery disconnect switch that you have has been problematic for others. Many of us have installed much more robust marine battery switches.

Test both terminals of the switch and wiggle the switch handle and wires a bit. If the power goes off measure the voltage at each terminal. Or jumper the terminals and temporarily bypass the switch.

Ron

 

[Dan Paleczny]

Thanks for the fast response Ron! Wiggling the switch or wires didn't affect the incoming power. I attached the red and black ends of the multimeter to each of the terminals at the same time, if that's the right way, and got a reading of 0 to .1 when the switch is on, and 13.1 to 13.3 when it's off. In the off position, with one wire grounded, it read 13.6.

 

[Ron in BC]

In the off position, with one wire grounded, it read 13.6.

If the switch has an intermittent contact problem it would show up on the other terminal when the switch was on. With the positive of the multi meter on it and the black to a good known ground.

Did I ever mention that I hate trouble shooting intermittent problems?

Good luck

Ron

 

[Dan Paleczny]

Here's an update...haven't had any random outages lately, but continue to monitor. While boondocking, we had the maxfan on one evening for about an hour, and after this the converter fan ran continuously through the night, periodicallyslowing down and speeding up. Not sure why, but it seems the system was fully charged and it eventually stopped. Thinking this might be linked to batteries, I've been monitoring them. From june 28th I have parked the trailer in the garage with a cover over the PV panel, so no charging inputs. After 20 days like this, the Go Power reading is 12.4 v and 72%. What does this indicate about the batteries? Are they ok?

 

[alanmalk]

With everything turned off that can be turned off, there still may be some small items drawing electricity all the time. For example, in my trailer, the propane detector, the USB outlets (pilot light), and a user installed night light in the bathroom. None of these have an on-off switch and typically pull perhaps a total of 1/2 amp on a 24/7 basis. The point being that there may be "phantom drain" to be considered that can pull your power down.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

12.4V is something like 75% charged for flooded lead acid batteries at rest, if the battery temperature is 68F/20C

 

[Dan Paleczny]

Thanks Allan and John. I'm thinking this indicates the batteries are ok, holding their charge with limited loss of capacity over 20 days. Would you agree?

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I highly recommend adding a battery shunt monitor like the Victron Smart Shunt (uses your smart phone via bluetooth) or a BVM-712 (has a display). These are quite simple to hook up, basically you disconnect the cable to the battery ground terminal, and connect that cable to the shunt, then add a short cable from the other side of the shunt to the battery ground terminal. There's also a thin red wire you connect to the battery + terminal for monitoring the battery voltage. You configure the shunt with your battery chemistry (flooded lead acid, or AGM sealed lead acid, or lithium iron phosphate), and battery capacity in amp*hours, fully charge the battery and reset the monitor, done and ready to go.

the VictronConnect software reads the smart shunt, and gives you displays like...

 

[GinoandLinda]

I highly recommend adding a battery shunt monitor like the Victron Smart Shunt (uses your smart phone via bluetooth) or a BVM-712 (has a display). These are quite simple to hook up, basically you disconnect the cable to the battery ground terminal, and connect that cable to the shunt, then add a short cable from the other side of the shunt to the battery ground terminal. There's also a thin red wire you connect to the battery + terminal for monitoring the battery voltage. You configure the shunt with your battery chemistry (flooded lead acid, or AGM sealed lead acid, or lithium iron phosphate), and battery capacity in amp*hours, fully charge the battery and reset the monitor, done and ready to go.

Agreed. I know I use the heck out of mine.