Electrical Panel/Power converter

[Dman]

Hi,

I recently purchased a 2005 Sunline Solaris T267SR. My question is about the electrical panel/converter located under the bunk beds near the bathroom at the end of the trailer. I noticed a bright green light on which underneath the light states overload (it is the first light going from left to right). Is this normal? Is this just because the trailer was plugged in?

What are the next lights for? Low Mid Full?? They are not lit up.

The last light is on and under that light is said BT check? This light is not quite as bright as the first green light but it is illuminated. Not sure what this is for either. Everything appears to be working OK just not sure what these lights are for.

It is an American panel/converter model CS6000XL I have also attached some pictures.

Thanks

[JohnB]

H'mm,

I'm away from my normal tech stuff, but a question, do you have a battery installed that is good and is the battery disconnect switch turned on?

The BT check, I "think" means battery check. The low, mid & full "I think" is some level of battery state of charge.

The overload light might be from no battery connected, but I'm not sure.

If you want to test that the power converter is creating a good battery charge, plug the camper into shore power 120 VAC, and using a volt meter at the battery terminals check the DC voltage.

13.25 volts area means float charge

13.65 volts area means standard charge

If you only see 12.7 volts or lower, the power converter is not charging or maintaining the battery. That can come from a few issues, but let's see if you get 13 volts or higher first before we get into troubleshooting why the battery charge feature is not working.

Hope this helps

John

[Dman]

I just purchased a new battery for the camper a few weeks ago. I was told that the old battery was not deep cell and it was strongly suggested to have a new deep cell battery. I believe the battery is good and the disconnect switch is on. I have shore power to the camper and will get a meter to check to see what the voltage is.

Thanks,
Derek

[JohnB]

Hi Derek,

I have a foggy memory that the Overload light changes from green = OK to, red = not OK. This "might" be why you are seeing green now, as it can be OK.

You are correct, you want a deep cycle battery.

Do your voltage checks and if they do not come out right, then let's talk about what could be the problem of why the charger is not getting a good connection to the battery.

John

[Dman]

The voltage checks came out just fine and everything is working properly. I checked the camper with battery power and shore power. I am just getting used to the camper and different systems and how they operate. I found out that the light on the right is not really a light and it is a push button that shows or lights up the battery power (low mid full) lights in the middle.

Thanks for the information and help.
Derek

[JohnB]

Derek,

Thanks for reporting back and that all is good. Great!

Also while we are on the battery, your vintage Sunline has a battery disconnect switch on the frame header by the battery. If you store the camper and you are no plugged into shore power, turn the disconnect off, if not the battery can be drained dead in about 2 weeks from the little parasitic drains left on in the camper.

The LP detector, the radio display, the roof top antenna booster gets left on and the worst one, if the fridge climate control rocker switch is on. The fridge climate control switch is inside the cabinet up in the freeze gasket area when you open the door. It's purpose is to warm the door gasket to not freeze up under super humid conditions. I leave ours off all the time. That heat strip is active all the time with the rocker switch on even if the fridge is turned off. You may want to look for that climate control switch and try using the camper with it off.

Have fun learning all the new stuff on your Sunny! And best of all, have fun camping!

John

[deliloah]

I have the exact same model. Does anyone know where the SLIDEOUT control panel is?!?!

Thank you

[BenB]

What problem are you having? It's pretty much the wall switch for in and out. Does your slide not move? Check fuse in the panel, should be labeled slide or slideout.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by deliloah

I have the exact same model. Does anyone know where the SLIDEOUT control panel is?!?!

Thank you

Hi,

When you say slide-out control and the exact same model, do you mean the power converter (American enterprises) or the camper model 2005 T267SR, or both?

As for the slide-out motor drive control on a 2004 or newer Sunline SR camper, the wall switch and the emergency shut-off switch is the control system. The wall button turns the power on and off. This was the Lippert brand of the slide control system for a rack and pinion drive system.

There are "no" fuses for the "slide motor" inside the power converter panel. There is a fuse for the lights in the slide room in the power converter. On the 2004 and newer slide campers, the slide motor has a 30 amp self-resetting circuit breaker mounted outside in the plastic 7-wire truck cable junction box on the front frame header behind the battery. Getting into that plastic junction can be an issue; ask how to get in, as they crack and break easily while attempting to get in.

Some of the older Sunlines slide room drives (before 2004 models) used a brand of slide drive by Dewald, Power Gear, and Barker. Most had the wall switch to run the slide motor drive, some had an electric torque control, while others had a mechanical slip clutch. The main 30 amp power fuse was still in 7 wire cord junction box, but the junction box was a wood-covered box inside the front of the camper, not on the frame header. Pending the floor plan, the junction box moved around but was normally along the front wall inside the camper.

If this does not solve your problem, tell us more about your problem, the model and year camper, and the brand of power converter make and model.

Hope this helps

John

[Joestanich]

Hey all, I just picked up a 2000 Solaris T-1950. Seems like a good little trailer, yet my current situation is the batteries were dead (of course) so I've been trickle charging one of the batteries for two days (no real save). New batteries are coming. The issue I'm having is when plugged into shore power nothing seems to work (lights/radio), when I turn on the AC and the condenser kicks on, EVERYTHING works! When the condenser cycles off everything (lights/radio) stop working. I have checked for voltage at the battery terminals connections to trailer, no power. So, I think it's the power converter. I checked all the circuit breakers and fuses and slid the converter out to check the internal fuse and capacitors which were not blown. I looked under the frame for any switches or broken connections, all looked good. When I checked the main power station, I did find remnants of mice which I thoroughly cleaned, again no broken or chewed wires. Where do I go next? Do I look to a new Power converter? Thanks guys, Joe

[JohnB]

Hi Joe,

First off, welcome! sorry this took so long to get to you, I have had limited signal to be able to log on. Today, I have a signal, so I will see if I can help.

There are a few things that stick out in your post that do not add up, at least yet, anyway. If you are still not made it through your issues, see if this helps get you further ahead.

You stated this in Blue, please explain the context of "everything"?

when I turn on the AC and the condenser kicks on, EVERYTHING works!

First, let me explain: your AC unit in a T-1950 "only" runs and "needs" to have 120 VAC to work. It is a non-ducted AC unit, and it does not need 12 VDC to run the control system. It is a simple thermobulb T stat in the control box that turns the compressor on and off to satisfy the temp setpoint your selected by the warmer colder knob. So yes, when plugged into shore power, the AC will work if there is no 12 VDC power as it only uses 120 VAC.

When you said "everything" works, did you mean all the 12 VDC items in the camper or just that the entire AC unit worked? Please clarify this

Originally Posted by Joestanich

Hey all, I just picked up a 2000 Solaris T-1950. Seems like a good little trailer, yet my current situation is the batteries were dead (of course) so I've been trickle charging one of the batteries for two days (no real save). New batteries are coming.

The issue I'm having is when plugged into shore power nothing seems to work (lights/radio), when I turn on the AC and the condenser kicks on, EVERYTHING works! When the condenser cycles off everything (lights/radio) stop working. I have checked for voltage at the battery terminals connections to trailer, no power. So, I think it's the power converter.

I checked all the circuit breakers and fuses and slid the converter out to check the internal fuse and capacitors which were not blown. I looked under the frame for any switches or broken connections, all looked good. When I checked the main power station, I did find remnants of mice which I thoroughly cleaned, again no broken or chewed wires. Where do I go next? Do I look to a new Power converter? Thanks guys, Joe

Now, to the orange text, your dead batteries, and the power converter. You did well so far in checking things, but here are some things you may not know or did not check.

The battery is dead; you did use the wording, batteries. Are there one or two batteries on the trailer, A-Frame behind the LP tanks? And are they connected together in parallel?

If the batteries are dead, a trickle charger is not strong enough to bring them back to life. At a minimum, you need a full charger (6 to 12 amp or larger), and it can take a few days to bring them back to 100% charge if they are not damaged. It may be that they are toast. Check and see if the electrolyte level is below the plate cells. If it is, then they may be toast you inherited from the prior owner. And yes, getting new "deep-cycle" batteries is a good start. Advance Auto or NAPA have a free service. They can test the battery and tell you if it is damaged or deeply discharged.

Also, do you have two 6-volt batteries in series, or two 12-volt batteries in parallel, or only one battery of 12 volts?

Now, to the power converter, what brand and model converter does yours have in it? Someone may have changed it since it was new, or it is the original and maybe a Centurion or an American enterprise. Both of which have gone out of business. And both can have a failure of the actual control
boards associated with the power converter itself.

Here is how you can test the power converter to see if it is putting out the correct voltage. If there is no battery in the camper, then make sure the battery leads out on the A-frame are not touching each other and the heavy red cable (12 VDC Pos. +) is not touching the metal frame. If you are hooked to a good battery, ok leave it hooked up.

Inside the camper, shut off all power and take the front cover off the power center. Only do an of this if your electrical skills are enough to work on live power.

Look for the 12 VDC fuse blocks and look for a heavy red wire (+ 12 VDC pos.) and heavy white wire (- 12 VDC neg. )that feeds the main fuse block. These heavy wires are from the battery.

What you are going to do is test the live DC voltage on those two wires. Plug in the camper, and with all the circuit breakers on so you know the power converter is getting 120 VAC, test the 12 VDC voltage.

If the power converter is working, the voltage should be either 13.25 (float mode) or 13.65 volts (standard charge mode) on the main fuse block. A fully charged 12-volt lead acid battery is 12.7 VDC when at 100% charge and the battery is at rest (no sizable loads for 8 hours is at rest)

If you have a good battery connected and the terminal block voltage is less then 13 volts, like anything under 12 volts, then your power converter is not working right.

Some times the converter of your vintage fails in 3 different ways.

1. It fails dead totally. No DC voltage will come out.

2. If it fails in low voltage mode. This means the voltage regulator is messed up and it may only be trying to regulate like 9, 10 or 12.0 volts and not up at 13 volts. This can kill even a good battery in time as the power converter is draining down the battery into damaging voltage.

3. It fails in high voltage. The voltage goes way high, above 14.4 volts, sometimes up in 15 plus. This high voltage non stop boils out a battery and in time damage some of the DC items in the camper.

See what you come up with and report back

PS, there is a fuse in the main battery cable between the battery and the power converter on the heavy red power cable. this 30 amp fuse is in a little wooden covered box on the floor most time on the front wall of the camper. On your floor plan in may be inside the front left storage compartment. There are either fuses or auto reset circuit breakers. The 7 wire cable truck charge line fuse is also in this junction box. When that fuse or auto reset breaker trips, the battery voltage cannot get to the power converter or converter to the battery

Hope this helps

John

[Joestanich]

Hey John, thank you for getting back to me.

Okay, let me try and answer your questions;

1- (when I turn on the AC and the condenser kicks on, EVERYTHING works!)
When the AC compressor comes on all the lights, the radio and the exhaust fans work at their fullest function levels. The battery indicator button shows 100% when pushed. So yes, all the 12 VDC items.

2-There were two 12-volt batteries mounted on the A frame behind the LP tanks, and they were mounted positive to positive-negative to negative both were dead. I picked up one new 12-volt deep cycle group 27 at Walmart.

3-So currently one 12-volt battery

4-Power converter has no name on it, only three labels that read:
55 AMP
Series 7100
Modal 7155 Converter section Fan thermally controlled
and a warning label Risk pf electric shock

5-I ran the voltage test at the power center with a new battery hooked up and the trailer plugged into shore power. I got a consistent 10 volts when all the circuit were breakers switched on (except one marked WH which I think is the water heater), occasionally when I switched off the MAIN and then on, I would get 13 volts. Switch off and on, back to 10 volts. When I switch off from the 10 volts it would momentarily jump to 13 volts and then to zero. When at 10 volts if I switched on the breaker labeled WH or turned on the AC w/compressor it would jump to 13 volts and stay there.
Converter low voltage mode from what you have said, is more than likely the problem. The 30AMP fuse under the front couch area in the square wooden box is good.
My guess is replacing the converter with a 55 AMP, but which brand or does it not matter?

Thanks for your time and attention.
Joe

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Joestanich

3-So currently one 12-volt battery

4-Power converter has no name on it, only three labels that read:
55 AMP
Series 7100
Modal 7155 Converter section Fan thermally controlled
and a warning label Risk pf electric shock

5-I ran the voltage test at the power center with a new battery hooked up and the trailer plugged into shore power. I got a consistent 10 volts when all the circuit were breakers switched on (except one marked WH which I think is the water heater), occasionally when I switched off the MAIN and then on, I would get 13 volts. Switch off and on, back to 10 volts. When I switch off from the 10 volts it would momentarily jump to 13 volts and then to zero. When at 10 volts if I switched on the breaker labeled WH or turned on the AC w/compressor it would jump to 13 volts and stay there.
Converter low voltage mode from what you have said, is more than likely the problem. The 30AMP fuse under the front couch area in the square wooden box is good.
My guess is replacing the converter with a 55 AMP, but which brand or does it not matter?

Thanks for your time and attention.
Joe

Hi Joe,

I am getting back to you once again as I have a enough signal to login.

From your numbers,

Series 7100
Modal 7155 Converter section Fan thermally controlled

That may be an old Parallax converter. See if it looks like this one: https://parallaxpower.com/product/7155-power-center/

From what you describe, the power converter board system is bad. 10 volts is bad news hooked to a battery as, in some cases, it has tried to pull down the battery.

The power surge in AC 120-volt power from the compressor kicking in "might" be enough to upset the power converter and make it try to regulate the DC power accordingly. Again, this change in DC voltage indicates that the power converter board is going bad.

If your DC fuse board is still in good condition, you can change out just the power converter section and leave all the circuit breakers and fuse board intact.

As to the brand, I like the Progressive Dynamics brand converter the best. They do offer deck mount units, and some interchange them with older power converters. But there are also other good brands out there now.

I recommend you call this company, which specializes in all brands of power converter upgrades: https://www.bestconverter.com/. Ask for Randy, the owner. Tell him your problems, the model and serial number you have, and send him pictures of the converter, and he will know what you have.

Ask him if his 55 amp Wildcat Progressive Dynamics converter fits your case. I have done several of the WFCO conversions with that converter, which was a drop-in and works, as well as the main deck-mount Progressive Dynamics converters.

If it is not a drop-in, or there is a considerable rework of the system, he does offer other good brands that could fit better.

I hope this gets you up and going. In the future, post pics of what you have, and we can help you better see what you are up against.

Let us know how you make out.

John

[JohnB]

Joe,

If you need help posting pictures, I have the basics here.

There are three ways to add pics.

1. Upload pics to a specific post, attaching them at the end of the post.

2. Link them in from a publicly viewable web photo hosting service you have.

See here for 1 and 2 https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...html#post86041

3. You can upload pics to the forum in your own personal photo album. Then, link them anywhere in the text of a post. See here for how to create an album. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...html#post87945

If you still need help, let us know. Pic's go a long way in helping show things you are working on, and we like seeing Sunline pics!

Hope this helps

John

[JohnB]

Joe, here is something else in case you did not know.

Your camper year did not come with a battery disconnect switch from Sunline. A prior owner may or may not have added one. If there is one, it should be out by the battery itself.

The point of this reply is to let you know that when the camper is being stored and not plugged into shore power, there are small power loads in the camper that drain power from the battery all the time: the LP gas detector, the radio display, the roof TV antenna booster if it is not turned off, etc. These tiny power loads will drain a good battery in two weeks or less, depending on what is on.

If you are storing the camper, not plugged into shore power, or not using a battery minder /tender, turn off the battery disconnect switch if you have one. If you have none of these battery maintenance items, unhook the battery negative cable to stop these small power loads from draining the battery dead.

I hope this helps

John

[Joestanich]

John
Thanks for all your information. I went ahead and ordered a Parallax 7155 converter from camping world; it should arrive in a few days, and I'll make the swap. I did not mention that it is a Parallax Power Center from top to bottom. I think the converter as you mentioned is having issues and the change should do the trick. I will definitely post pictures when all the parts are present and again Thanks so much for all your advice helping me with this problem.
And you're correct there is not a battery cut out switch installed, YET.
That will be my next little project after I get the system up.
The weather has taken a quick turn for the cooler, and I still have so many questions, as I'm a newbie to all the camper life. The camper is still winterized from the previous owners last winter, but I do expect to run all the systems as soon as the electric is set.

Looking forward to the open road...

John if you want to you can email me directly so I don't miss anything.
joestanich@aol.com

[JohnB]

Hi Joe,

OK, good you found a replacement converter. The older ones do go bad as time goes on.

You mentioned adding a battery disconnect; that is a good thing to do. They came standard during the 2004 model year campers. A heads up: when you add in the disconnect, make sure the power wire to the emergency breakaway switch is "upstream" of the disconnect switch. The emergency breakaway switch must have live power for safety reasons and not rely on someone always remembering to turn the disconnect on. On your year 2000 camper, that emergency breakaway switch may be tied into the battery red hot wire in the small wooden junction box inside the camper at the front wall on the floor. Odds are that is where the tie-in is. If so, you need to move that emergency breakaway switch power wire to go directly to the upstream lug of the new discount switch that will then go directly to the battery.

I hope this helps, and ask away for any help.

John

[terri]

hi
Im new to this type trailor (2006 solaris 2363), bought used. every thing works on shore power, but nothing when disconnect. trailor has on/off switch by battery which does not change out come when switched, fuses look good. several light bulbs were burnt black but work when replaced. thinking may have taken a power surge. where is the power inverter located on this unit. any insight on what to check.

terri

[JohnB]

Hi terri and welcome.

If it is still original on a 2006 T2363, the power center/converter could be a brown-covered WFCO brand power converter or a black covered American Enterprises that looks like the power converter posted by Dman on the first reply to this thread. Sunline changed power center brands depending on when your camper was built. A 2006 model camper could be made between mid-year 2005 to mid-year 2006.

You mentioned where the "power inverter" is. Maybe that was a typo, or you didn't know that a power inverter uses 12 VDC and creates 120 VAC. The campers did not come with that inverter feature from Sunline unless a previous owner added it. The camper came with a power "converter" that uses 120 VAC and creates 12 VDC-like battery power. Since your lights inside worked when plugged into shore power, your power converter is doing something and creating some level of power to run the lights. The power converter boards are in the power center next to the DC fuses and AC circuit breakers.

If you are still on the incandescent glass light bulbs, no 921, they can burn out and turn black, but not generally in large numbers all at once. If there are many black light bulbs ( more than, say, 3 of them), it may be a power converter failing and going high voltage. The brown WFCO power converters have been known to do this and kill the battery by boiling it out in the process.

To help with the next steps, please tell us the make and model of your power converter. Inside where the fuses are, there should be a name tag.

Next, do you have a DC volt meter and know how to use it? If so, do these two voltage tests.

1. The battery disconnect switch is OFF. Take the cover off the battery and use the voltmeter on the battery terminals. Record the battery voltage.

2. Turn the battery disconnect switch ON and plug the camper into shore power. Record the battery voltage.

Ideally, we need one or two decimal places on the voltage, but if it is on an older analog meter, give us at least one decimal place. While the battery may be damaged, the voltage helps tell us a lot of what may or may not be working.

Also, check the big cables attached to the battery; the big red wire is positive +, and the big white wire is negative (-). Please make sure they are on the correct terminals.

By telling us the battery voltages in the above tests and how the battery cables are hooked up, we can help guide you on what to do next.

I hope this helps.

John

[JohnB]

terri,

We may need to get into pictures to help you with this problem. Here is how to post pics on the forum.

There are 3 ways to add pics.

1. Upload pics to a specific post, attaching them at the end of the post.

2. Link them in from a publicly viewable web photo hosting service you have.

See here for 1 and 2 https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...html#post86041

3. You can upload pics to the forum in your photo album. Then, link them anywhere in the text of a post. See here for how to create an album. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...html#post87945

If you still get stuck, let us know. Pictures go a long way in helping show what you are working on or what you have, as a prior owner may have modified your camper.

Hope this helps

John