June 19th - More 12 Volt Electrical Work on Homer

Thursday I disconnected the new charger/controller and reconnected the original charger/controller. Here is a picture of it. It is 27 years old and a big heavy thing that buzzes constantly. It is not a smart charger. It charges whether you batteries need charge or not. It is simple but dependable.

I reconnected the CO detector and interior voltmeter, which quit working over the weekend as well. The CO detector is not beeping, as it did going down the road to Cuba, and the interior voltmeter started working again. After several hours on the old converter/charger it appears everything is working correctly. The interior voltmeter indicated 12.2 volts. I put a voltmeter on the batteries and they show 13.3 volts. I can't account for the difference. As time wore on the readings became the same. John came by and we checked all the connections for draws on the batteries and could find none.

The old converter/charger wasn't charging enough to get the batteries to 100%. We suspected a battery problem. Friday morning I pulled them out and headed to Fredericktown where I bought them.

Upon arriving at the store in Fredericktown I was told that I voided the batteries' warranties by cutting off the led posts to get them to fit into Homer. He tested them and they were severely discharged. He said cutting off the terminals could have caused this. I didn't understand how and he said that cutting them off was like cutting off a fingernail too close and it bleeds. He offered to put them on their charger and have me come back on Monday. I decided if that was all they were going to do I could do that at home and not have to make another 45 mile trip.  

It appears that I may have ruined these new batteries. Live and learn. Upon getting home I took JB Weld and covered each lead terminal to seal it off to see if that would help. Here is a picture with red arrows pointing to the sealed terminals. 

I then put them on a 10 amp charger for 24 hours at his suggestion. I hooked up a 12 volt battery to Homer that my brother-in-law loaned me. I hooked up the old converter and everything worked fine for hours although the old converter did not charge the battery to 100%. I then disconnected the old charger/converter and hooked up the new charger/converter.  The solid green light on the Remote Pendant indicates "boost mode." There was no difference. It is only putting out 12.3 volts, even on boost mode which should be 14 volts.

I even locked it in to boost mode and there was no change. I believe the new charger/converter is bad. I guess I'll order a new one after I see how it acts with the 6 volt batteries re-installed. More to follow on this.

Lastly, I discovered another repair issue with Homer last week. As I was climbing the ladder to the roof to put a new starter capacitor on the AC unit I noticed that one of the ladder brackets was loose. The round aluminum tubing is supported by a metal bracket inside. That part is then riveted to the wall of the motorhome. These parts rust away. I replaced on at the bottom a couple of years ago. Here is a picture with an arrow pointing to the rusted away bracket that is inside the aluminum tubing.

I used a stainless steel boat railing bracket to fix the bottom one and ordered the same bracket to fix this one. Once it arrives I will drill out the rivets and bolt the new one on.