Power max converter keeps blowing 30 amp fuses

[revcononthehill]

Hello everyone!

My revcon has a power max 55amp converter and when I put in a new fuse it pops instantly. I unplugged shore power and it popped instantly still. I measured the voltage with it plugged into shore and was 110 going in and 26 coming out. I figured it has to do with wiring to the batteries but I checked so many times and can’t figure it out! Any help appreciated.

[shastagary]

the popping noise from the converter when trying the 40 amp fuse may have been a capacitor exploding inside of the converter it may continue to work but the output voltage may not be as clean as it should be.

[wa8yxm]

The Photos you posted were plumbing

Just what was the problem?????

[BFL13]

Yes, if your converter has 120v input and you see 12.3v at the output, that is battery voltage and the converter is not working.

Those have come down in price in the last few years, so it is not so much of a disaster as it used to be.

[wolfe10]

12.3 is basically a 50% discharged battery.

Check it again after the converter has been running for several hours.

Readings with converter on should be in the 132.- 13.5 VDC range.

[revcononthehill]

time2roll, It was putting out 12.3 so I think all is normal.

Thank you to everyone in this forum. What a huge help you all were! Problem solved swiftly and now my batteries are being charged. So far so good and now off to fix my toilet which was just gushing water from the seams!!! Here is some plumbing I had to redo today. What a nightmare, but its all working great.

http://u.cubeupload.com/polskye/6894DC5051D140788DFC.jpeg
http://u.cubeupload.com/polskye/8EF56605E4B94CE8B67C.jpeg

Thank you all again.

[time2roll]

OK so unplug and disconnect the 12v side of the converter. Check voltage and polarity of the 12v wires that connect to the converter. Post the results.

[BFL13]

My PowerMax 55 amper from 2015 has two 40s. Anyway, it is not clear what was blowing your RP fuses. You do need to replace both if just one blows.

Since they are not blowing now, you must have fixed whatever was wrong. No idea what the popping was from but it works now.

If it continues to smell bad after a while instead of the smell going away, I would take the converter out and drill the four corner rivets out that hold the lid on and check under there for what might be covered with black smoke. The lid might have screws instead of rivets depending on when it was made. It will be warm while on and have some normal smell, but the nose knows when the smell is unusual.

You might have lucked out though. 🙂

[revcononthehill]

Yes marking the white wire is a great idea and I will do that when I get some red tape. The fuses that kept blowing were two 30amp fuses directing on the converter before I redid the wiring. Before redoing the battery wiring I tried 40amp fuses directly in the converter that I had on hand. That was a big mistake and made a popping noise inside the converter without blowing the fuses. It sounds like I lucked out and didn’t cause major damage to the converter, I hope! Here’s a photo online of the converter and the fuses I am talking about. Maybe it smells because it hasn’t been turned on for a couple years?

[revcononthehill]

Yes marking the white wire is a great idea and I will do that when I get some red tape. The fuses that kept blowing were two 30amp fuses directing on the converter before I redid the wiring. Before redoing the battery wiring I tried 40amp fuses directly in the converter that I had on hand. That was a big mistake and made a popping noise inside the converter without blowing the fuses. It sounds like I lucked out and didn’t cause major damage to the converter, I hope! Here’s a photo online of the converter and the fuses I am talking about. Maybe it smells because it hasn’t been turned on for a couple years?

[wolfe10]

Two things:

I would move those reset-able breakers out of the battery box (sulfuric acid and hydrogen gas do not play well with electrical components). Actually, I would both move and replace them-- they look like they have already taken a beating.

Reorient your inner battery cabling so that you can access the batteries to check water level.

[BFL13]

https://u.cubeupload.com/polskye/FD1F2DC358814DC7B135.jpeg

https://u.cubeupload.com/polskye/479DE0D946224A748253.jpeg

IMO wrap red tape along that white wire so there will be no confusion in the future that it is positive. Or replace with actual red one.

Not clear which fuse(s) blew. The 40 amp RP fuses on the converter or some other fuse. If some other where is it?

Voltages are ok now, and nothing is smoking, so you should be ok, but first need answer to the fuse question.

[revcononthehill]

[revcononthehill]

http://cubeupload.com/im/polskye/FD1F2DC358814DC7B135.jpeg

[revcononthehill]

Okay so you all have been so helpful! It seems we have solved the issue by putting all wires onto one positive and one negative and using a jumper to connect the two batteries.. Now it’s putting out 14.6 and just stepped down to 13.6 and not blowing fuses. I do smell a hot electrical smell and will add that like an idiot, tried 40amp fuses that I had on hand and heard a loud popping noise the other day, but somehow seems to be working. I’m keeping a close eye on it right now and will unplug if I step out. Here is a photo update of the wiring. Any thoughts of how I know this unit is still safe to use?