Troubleshooting DC circuits especially "safety switch"

Neil Henry

Neil Henry

Member
Jun 12, 2018
11
West Concord, MA
I have a 2005 Rockwood Freedom; it has an original WF-8712 power center. It charges the battery and distributes the AC fine. I have no DC power except the porch light. I have made progress removing the power center panel and looking at the wiring. The (3) DC circuits are nicely color coded and clear.
I am ready to declare it a failure pull the trigger on a new power center/ converter. My last lingering doubt is the safety/ kill switch circuit (that it might be the root cause) somehow stuck or shorted in off position. My safety switch was modified years ago from the “sink switch” to be a standard 2- position toggle switch.

My question: I can’t figure out how the 2-wire safety/kill switch comes back to the power center. How does that 2-wire circuit support on/off for all 3 DC circuits.
 
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SteveP

Super Active Member
May 21, 2015
2,696
Neil Henry said:
I have a 2005 Rockwood Freedom; it has an original WF-8712 power center. It charges the battery ... fine. I have no DC power except the porch light.
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Indicates the converter is working fine.
Neil Henry said:
I can’t figure out how the 2-wire safety/kill switch comes back to the power center. How does that 2-wire circuit support on/off for all 3 DC circuits.
Click to expand...
The safety switch should only affect the ceiling lights. The porch light and ceiling lights should be on the same circuit, indicating that that fuse is fine. Other items on that circuit could be the water pump and LP leak detector. Do either of them work. I would expect the heater and fridge to be on individual circuits and their fuses may be suspect.

I would disconnect the battery to take it out of the loop while testing. If the battery is weak it could be using most of the output of the converter to maintain charge.
 
S

SteveP

Super Active Member
May 21, 2015
2,696
You need to test the converter output with a multimeter. This needs to be done with the battery fully charged. With the + battery wire connected and the - wire disconnected and plugged into Shore Power hold the end of the - battery wire to the red lead on the meter and hold the black lead to the - post of the battery. If you read 13.6 volts the converter is functioning as designed. If less than 13.0 the the converter is due for replacement.
 
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HoosierMomma

Member
Jun 21, 2022
23
SteveP said:
You need to test the converter output with a multimeter. This needs to be done with the battery fully charged. With the + battery wire connected and the - wire disconnected and plugged into Shore Power hold the end of the - battery wire to the red lead on the meter and hold the black lead to the - post of the battery. If you read 13.6 volts the converter is functioning as designed. If less than 13.0 the the converter is due for replacement.
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This is very helpful info. I am getting 12.6. Does this mean converter is no good?
 
S

SteveP

Super Active Member
May 21, 2015
2,696
It's usable as a 12 volt power supply but it will not charge your battery.
 
S

SteveP

Super Active Member
May 21, 2015
2,696
@HoosierMomma you need to gather your posts into a single thread under your name. It's impossible to track when you keep inserting into other poster's threads. IIRC you're still trying to work around the fact that your battery is overdue for replacement.
 
H

HoosierMomma

Member
Jun 21, 2022
23
SteveP said:
@HoosierMomma you need to gather your posts into a single thread under your name. It's impossible to track when you keep inserting into other poster's threads. IIRC you're still trying to work around the fact that your battery is overdue for replacement.
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Sorry, i was just trying to respond in areas where the information seems relevant to what i am dealing with. I have been search threads for info, so that is why i am all over the place 😳
 
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