From the time we first moved into our fifth wheel almost 2 years ago, we've noticed that sometimes the lights get suddenly brighter, usually for no apparent reason. Also, if we have two lights on and turn one off, the one left on gets brighter. We, being brand new to RVs of any kind, just thought it was normal. But recently we mentioned it to someone, and he said it wasn't normal and could mean that our converter wasn't working properly. So of course, now we keep wondering if our converter is okay.
So my question is to those of you who know about these things, is our converter likely to have a problem? We've always thought that the rig took more electric than it should, given how much electrical things we don't use, but it's never been so much that we could know there is a problem. So what do you think?
Lucky Mike said
03:36 PM May 18, 2014
it will depend.....are your batteries cycle charging at the time its occurring.
are you in a park with an overloaded circuit , do you have a surge protector
is there something else running on that circuit within your coach causing the fluctuation..(fridge on electric , heater)
Bad connection at pedestal.....sometimes the tines in the pedestal are burnt from those who dont shut it off prior to connecting or disconecting.....this is a very common problem
RVKevi said
03:58 PM May 18, 2014
Mike, I don't think it is a park problem since it has been happening everywhere we've been. The park we're in now is a private owner park where we rent from the people who own the site we're on and it is a really nice park. I don't know how to tell if the batteries are cycle charging at that time or not. It's possible that something like the refrigerator or water heater is going off, but we haven't noticed it being that. Yes, we have the Progressive EMS with remote readout and we check it a lot to see how many amps we're using on each line. That's helped us know more about how many amps various appliances use. It hasn't shown any problems with the power.
Thanks.
Talensnana said
07:51 PM May 18, 2014
What kind of lights are these.... 12 volts, or 110 voltsWhen the light changes is it when you are plugged in or off the battery. What type of bulbs are they.
RVKevi said
08:05 PM May 18, 2014
They're the 12 volt lights. It is when we are on shore power. They're not the led lights.
Talensnana said
09:10 PM May 18, 2014
DH says what makes them brighter is when the convector comes on to charge the battery. First thing he would do is check the battery voltage. The battery may be getting weak. Do you know how old the batteries are? I will PM you DH PHONE number incase you need more help.
RVKevi said
09:19 AM May 19, 2014
We bought the battery ourselves as the battery that came with the rig was bad. We may have ruined the first one ourselves running it down too far, as we didn't know better then. We bought this one about a year and a half ago. And we haven't abused it this time, so it should be good.
Bill and Linda said
03:29 PM May 19, 2014
This is one of those “it depends.”There is no real “regulation” of the 12 volts in a RV. Even turning on one light, if it’s incandescent, can change the voltage in the rig and hence the brightness of the lights.Also if you have a converter that has 3 stage charging especially the voltage will change, and hence the brightness of the lights, as it goes through its charge stages.
If the brightness change is pretty minor I’d not worry about it.Some of this is normal in so many words.
From the time we first moved into our fifth wheel almost 2 years ago, we've noticed that sometimes the lights get suddenly brighter, usually for no apparent reason. Also, if we have two lights on and turn one off, the one left on gets brighter. We, being brand new to RVs of any kind, just thought it was normal. But recently we mentioned it to someone, and he said it wasn't normal and could mean that our converter wasn't working properly. So of course, now we keep wondering if our converter is okay.
So my question is to those of you who know about these things, is our converter likely to have a problem? We've always thought that the rig took more electric than it should, given how much electrical things we don't use, but it's never been so much that we could know there is a problem. So what do you think?
are you in a park with an overloaded circuit , do you have a surge protector
is there something else running on that circuit within your coach causing the fluctuation..(fridge on electric , heater)
Bad connection at pedestal.....sometimes the tines in the pedestal are burnt from those who dont shut it off prior to connecting or disconecting.....this is a very common problem
Thanks.
What kind of lights are these.... 12 volts, or 110 voltsWhen the light changes is it when you are plugged in or off the battery. What type of bulbs are they.
DH says what makes them brighter is when the convector comes on to charge the battery. First thing he would do is check the battery voltage. The battery may be getting weak. Do you know how old the batteries are? I will PM you DH PHONE number incase you need more help.
This is one of those “it depends.” There is no real “regulation” of the 12 volts in a RV. Even turning on one light, if it’s incandescent, can change the voltage in the rig and hence the brightness of the lights. Also if you have a converter that has 3 stage charging especially the voltage will change, and hence the brightness of the lights, as it goes through its charge stages.
If the brightness change is pretty minor I’d not worry about it. Some of this is normal in so many words.