New to trailer camping 2021 5.0TA

[jillted]

We are new to the world of Escape trailers and camping. With that said, we need help.

We plugged into shore power last night. All was well then we heard a pop and all the lights, refrigerator, etc. went out. The lithium battery showed power running to that with the E0 code and all of the outlets were working.

This morning all the lights came back on when we started our truck. Next, in a few minutes the lights started flashing on and off and there was a beeping sound.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. We are heading back to Virginia from Chilliwack.

Hope to see you on the road!

Jill and Ira

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

you need a volt meter to do some basic tests.

1) voltage across the battery terminals without shore power
2) voltage across the BAT+ to GND terminals on the fuse panel without shore power
3&4) voltage at 1) and 2) with shore power

1) is the state of the battery, typically 12-13V with a lithium battery thats charged.
2) should be the same as 1
3) should be about 1-2V higher, max 14.6V as thats the charging voltage from your converter
4) should be the same as 3

question: did your 2021 come with a lithium battery from the factory, or was this added by a previous owner? If it was added, what sort of modifications did said previous owner make?

 

[jillted]

Reply to John

Thank you John. I will relay this information to my husband. The lithium battery was installed by the previous owner. My husband will need to comment on your question. I will let you know how things turn out.

Thanks for responding,
Jill and Ira

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

to properly support a lithium battery, both the charger (aka power center/converter), and the solar controller should support lithium as they have a different charge profile than lead acid. When I did my conversion on my 2014, I replaced my power center's charge controller because the original didn't support Lithium, and I replaced the original GoPower PWM solar controller with a Victron MPPT 100/30 that supports lithium. I also upgraded the wiring between the batteries and added larger fuses, to do this, I added a 'wiring board' that then passed the power on to the existing power center.

you said something popped, that could have been fuses and/or the power controller. The batteries are connected to the power center's fuse panel via a couple 30 or 40A fuses in parallel that are to the left. This is a replacement PD46xx fuse panel ... the original WFCO 8955 fuse panel is very similar (and in fact, they can be exchanged)

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

the catch-22 is, someone who does a conversion like this could do it a lot of different ways.

 

[jillted]

We read the manuals...

John,

Thank you for all of your wisdom and advice. By reading the various manuals, we were able to solve our immediate issue. Your electrical system upgrades look like a good idea for the future.

Thanks again for taking the time to assist us!

Jill and Ira