Maiden Voyage...

[Shhendo]

I have a 2011 Thor Freedom Elite 21C, and this past weekend we took our maiden voyage, ultimately, I think it was a resounding success, at least until this morning.

We arrived Friday and set up, and everything looked good. The battery meter on the bed said 100% all weekend without change. This morning when I woke up it showed 88%. I checked with the RV park office, and they said they did not lose any power last night. I turned off and on the battery cut off switch and the meter went to 89% where it stayed until we unhooked shore power, and then it read 13.3.

My question if there was no power drop what could have caused this? Could it just be a janky battery connection?
The batteries were replaced before I purchased this RV about a month ago. They said there was an issue with the inverter, so they replaced it along with the batteries.

Any opinions or ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all in advance.

V/R
Scott

 

[16ACE27]

Welcome to the Forum, Scott.

A 2011 MH did not have a battery meter by the bed from the factory, the best it had was a 4 or 5 LED battery status indicator on the same panel as the tank level indicator. This would always show 100% when plugged into SP.

So to get better answers to your question we need to know what you are looking at. Take a picture, tell us anything else you know that may have been changed/upgraded in the RV electrical system.

And your RV did not come with an inverter either. Did you mean converter?

 

[Shhendo]

I really appreciate your reply.

I have attached a pic of what I am talking about, and you are correct, during the purchase inspection it was found that the batteries and converter needed to be replaced which they did.

The previous owner also installed an inverter, but I am still trying to learn how that works in practice. (I have watched 4 million RV electrical systems videos, so I get the concept, but actual practice still eludes me for some reason.

I also noticed something today. When we got back on Monday the readout showed 100%, I forgot to turn off the battery switch, and when I went back today it showed 81% so something is draining it pretty good, everything was shut off no random lights on or anything.

Again thank you very much for any help you can offer.

V/R
Scott

 

[16ACE27]

I really appreciate your reply.

I have attached a pic of what I am talking about, and you are correct, during the purchase inspection it was found that the batteries and converter needed to be replaced which they did.

The previous owner also installed an inverter, but I am still trying to learn how that works in practice. (I have watched 4 million RV electrical systems videos, so I get the concept, but actual practice still eludes me for some reason.

I also noticed something today. When we got back on Monday the readout showed 100%, I forgot to turn off the battery switch, and when I went back today it showed 81% so something is draining it pretty good, everything was shut off no random lights on or anything.

Again thank you very much for any help you can offer.

V/R
Scott

The picture is too fuzzy to see exactly what that aftermarket indicator is.

Inverters take the 12 VDC power from your batteries and create 120 VAC for outlets and appliances that use that voltage input. Inverters will take up battery power even when not powering anything, and when installed properly, are connected directly to the house battery bank, not through the battery disconnect switch - so remember to turn off your inverter if not using the RV and not plugged into SP. Some inverters have an Automatic Transfer Switch built in so that when connected to SP, the SP powers the circuits the inverter is wired to power.

As it is not OEM, you will need to do some investigating to see what inverter you have, what features it has, and what AC circuits it is wired to.

There are always loads on the house batteries even if not running anything.
CO/LP detector
Thermostat
Control power for water heater, refrigerator, and HVAC components. That's why you have that battery disconnect - to save the batteries when the RV is not is use and not connected to SP.

So take a better picture of that battery indicator and inverter and give us any numbers, etc visible and we'll try to help you figure out what you really have. It may be a true battery capacity meter or it may just be a glorified voltmeter.

 

[Shhendo]

Thank you very much, and I am quickly learning a lot about how much I just don't know

I spent all morning trying to find an inverter which I failed to find. I found my 800w Stanly Converter, and a Sunforce Solar Charger Controller, but no inverter anywhere. But there are plugs in several different locations that are labelled inverter so unless they took it out when they sold it I have no clue. I have plugged things into the inverter plugs while the genny was running and they did not have power to them. Stupidly I did not try to plug anything in after I turned off the genny so I do not know if they work when everything is off. Also if I am remembering correctly when we were hooked up to shore power the plugs marked inverter did not work then either (but I could be mistaken here as there was a lot of new things going on and I was a bit overwhelmed)

I also have no idea where I am supposed to plug the cigarette lighter charge plug for the solar panels into (I can't just plug it into the cig lighter in the cab can I?)

Thank you very much for all your time and help I really appreciate it.

V/R
Scott

 

[16ACE27]

Thank you very much, and I am quickly learning a lot about how much I just don't know

I spent all morning trying to find an inverter which I failed to find. I found my 800w Stanly Converter, and a Sunforce Solar Charger Controller, but no inverter anywhere. But there are plugs in several different locations that are labelled inverter so unless they took it out when they sold it I have no clue. I have plugged things into the inverter plugs while the genny was running and they did not have power to them. Stupidly I did not try to plug anything in after I turned off the genny so I do not know if they work when everything is off. Also if I am remembering correctly when we were hooked up to shore power the plugs marked inverter did not work then either (but I could be mistaken here as there was a lot of new things going on and I was a bit overwhelmed)

I also have no idea where I am supposed to plug the cigarette lighter charge plug for the solar panels into (I can't just plug it into the cig lighter in the cab can I?)

Thank you very much for all your time and help I really appreciate it.

V/R
Scott

Confusion abounds and Stanley does you no favors by labeling their 800 watt INVERTER as a converter.

In the RV world:
A Converter takes SP or generator power; 120 VAC and CONVERTS it to 12+ VDC to run the DC loads in the RV and charge the house batteries.

An Inverter takes that 12+ VDC battery power and creates 120 VAC to run selected 120 VAC loads. Small, portable inverters can plug into a cigarette lighter and then you have to plug the AC load into the inverter. That Stanley Inverter is at the large end of that range.

Properly installed RV inverters are hard wired both to the house batteries as well as the AC circuits they power. MOST RV inverters have an Automatic Transfer Switch built in so that when connected to SP, the SP powers the circuits the inverter is wired to power. It sounds like your RV used to be wired this way but someone has replaced the installed/hardwired inverter with the Stanley inverter; and it sounds like you inverter marked circuits are not even connected.

So this begs the question: Did the dealer just replace the installed INVERTER with the cheap portable Stanley inverter, and leave you with dead circuits (instead of replacing the converter)?


Solar Panels: I assume they are portable? And have a cigarette lighter plug? If that is the case, you SHOULD have a cigarette socket somewhere, maybe in a storage compartment, specifically for those panels that is wired to the INPUT of your solar charge controller. But all bets are off at this point - the RV may have had hardwired solar panels wired to the charge controller that have disappeared and been replaced with portable solar panels that you put on the windshield and plug into a cigarette lighter socket to keep the battery trickle charged.

 

[Shhendo]

Confusion is certainly the word of the day

So, you're saying the Stanley "converter" is actually an inverter (I have attached a pic)? Then where is the actual converter? Holy moly I am way more confused lol

Thank you very much for all your time and help, I really appreciate it.

V/R
Scott

 

[16ACE27]

Confusion is certainly the word of the day

So, you're saying the Stanley "converter" is actually an inverter (I have attached a pic)? Then where is the actual converter? Holy moly I am way more confused lol

Thank you very much for all your time and help, I really appreciate it.

V/R
Scott

Yes, that is an INVERTER: The real question is - where do those extension cables plugged into it go?

The converter is in the bottom of your Power Center (the box with all the breakers and fuses). If you remove the outer panel you will see a large circuit board device in the bottom - that is your CONVERTER.

Here is a picture of it removed in the middle of replacing it:

 

[Shhendo]

Ok so that helped A LOT Thank you very much. Now your right I have to track down those cables somehow.

Please let me run this by you.

If I am hooked up to shore power, everything comes in through the converter and provides power to fridge/microwave etc, and any plugs that are not marked as inverter plugs, and then after that trickle charges the house battery then the cab battery.

If I am running off the generator, it is the same as above.

If I am not hooked up to shore power or running the generator, then power comes from the batteries through an Inverter and runs plugs that are marked as inverter and that is all, unless it was prewired to run other things? And I can hook up the solar panel (in the basement) and it will trickle charge the batteries (but only to a certain extent that the one solar panel can offer)

Is that all correct?

 

[16ACE27]

Ok so that helped A LOT Thank you very much. Now your right I have to track down those cables somehow.

Please let me run this by you.

If I am hooked up to shore power, everything comes in through the converter and provides power to fridge/microwave etc, and any plugs that are not marked as inverter plugs, and then after that trickle charges the house battery then the cab battery.

If I am running off the generator, it is the same as above.

If I am not hooked up to shore power or running the generator, then power comes from the batteries through an Inverter and runs plugs that are marked as inverter and that is all, unless it was prewired to run other things? And I can hook up the solar panel (in the basement) and it will trickle charge the batteries (but only to a certain extent that the one solar panel can offer)

Is that all correct?

Good except the converter only powers DC loads. AC loads such as the microwave, the ELECTRIC operation of the fridge and water heater, and the Air Conditioner are run directly off SP or the generator. What outlets are powered by SP/Generator or Inverter (or not at all) remains to be determined by your search and testing.

 

[marksil]

Looking at this picture, I think I am seeing the solar control panel showing the charge level of the battery (s) it is connected to. Shows 13.4, volts, which is 100%