Just had the converter go kaput, thus no 12 volt when plugged into shore power. 110 works just fine so plugged in a couple of portable electtric heaters to keep from freezing. Dealer installed a new converter two years ago but low end Intellipower 9100. Anyone have recommendation for something a lot better? Anyone have a fairly large inverter? But that would mean more batteries, yes? In the dark here, as usual on electricity issues. Thanks in advance for your help. This is a great support site. thanks, Dave.
PS Please send e-mail to consultgrg@aol.com

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Susie and Gary (SUGAR)
'95 Barth Regency 34'
'96 Explorer

I enjoyed your trip vicariously.

You may use a Car battery charger to keep up the House batteries while waiting for repairs.

If you have NO 12V at all, check house batteries to see if they have any voltage present. The problem may be something else, like the cutoff switch or an open inline circuit breaker.


You may want to investigate going to a inverter/charger. They will charge faster and be easier on the batteries, plus it will make 110vac for your use any time. The Xantax RS2000 unit is on my wish list.

http://www.xantrex.com/applications/index.asp?did=308

The generator running will recharge the batteries faster than the 'POI'

(TLA for Plain old Inverter (TLA = Three Letter Acronym))

Yea Pats !!!

(no explanation needed)


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89 Barth Regal 32
Runs like a Deere
New Hampshire

I figure my old AC/DC unit is getting long-in-the-tooth also. Dave's wish list link came at a good time for me. I would consider the RV series though, since they have a 50A transfer switch instead of the 30A used in the RS. I find that I trip a 30A shore power bkr when running both roof units and some other minor load at the same time. Love the 50A hook-ups. I can even brew coffee and bake cat-heads at the same time (waiting to see if Cuz knows what a CatHead is). :-)

It's one of the two HEADS off of our CATAPILLER engine. Eveyone knows that ron. How STUPID do you think us northern folks are anyway? Next time ask a HARD question. Got to love that ron, maybe. Dale

Nuevomex (sugar),
you most likely have already done this but if not check all fuses, even the converter may have some! and i agree check batteries. our coach had a trace (now xantax) 2000 when we bought it. problem is it was wired wrong and we blew it out. luckly we didn't burn the coach up as it had been shorting for a long time and we didn't know it.
we had a new trace 2000 and 2 L16 freedom (510 amps total)batteries installed by a freelance dealer/installer in elkhardt and have been very pleased with the results. it has a built in 3 stage charger and once set up manages itself. it will run the coach for everything we need as long as we are not wasteful with elect. ie... bunn coffee maker, hair dryer,electric heater and microwave a long time are all hogs of elect. this also eleminates need for converter. to do over i might go with a 2500 but i really don't see the need. they are not going to run the air no matter what you do. jmho

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mike foster
83-35' regency 8.2 detroit towing 98 cherokee classic 4x4

Not that this helps Gary, but Ron, the 50 amp transfer is for the circuits that are used from the inverter and the air conditioning units would not be included normally. The normal wire A/C (alternating current) setup is from the shore feed to the 50-amp transfer switch (along with the A/C generator) then that feeds the main breaker box. When the Inverter is installed it would be feed from that breaker box and the out put from the Inverter goes to a new Box which is now wired with the circuits that you want powered (which are removed from the original breaker box) So a 20 or 30 amp Transfer switch should be fine, and not considered a limitation unless you really want 3000 watts or so.
Hope this makes sense.

ahhhhhh, I was thinking about the gen/shore switch. Thanks Jack, that ought to reduce the $$$ investment amount a bit. :-)

Again, this probably does not apply to you, however, I had the same problem and it was a simple connection from the converter to the fuse strip to 12v. It's just a rivet thing and the mechanic says that they alway check that first because it is such a common problem.

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Opportunity always knocks at the least opportune moment.

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

thanks, guys (and gals)......we did all the checking with connections, fuses, circuit breakers, voltage meters etc....still Nada, so going from the Intellipower 9100 (bottom of the line, cheap, one year guarantee, newly named Unintellipower) to a
better one with a three year warranty. Can't yet swallow the inverter price of 2K but have, along with others, added it to our wish list. Right now all the budget can take is the $198 Converter and we'll manage fine. We do have 50 as well as 30 amp and we try to be careful about what is and is not using elec......Cheers....

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Susie and Gary (SUGAR)
'95 Barth Regency 34'
'96 Explorer

On my boat, sorry, my sob, I have a Freedom 1000. In this day I would go to a sine wave inverter/charger but it works great. I use it to keep the frig happy without using the genny. I also have it hooked to the 1/2HP sump pump which I use as an AWWWCRAPWE'REGONNASINK bilge pump. It is a 3 stage charger, fast recharge, taper and float. If you want to spend additional cash you can get a manangement panel to let you do things to your batteries that requires reading the owners manual. I just let all the batteries (5) go parallel and charge. In todays market I think you can get the sinewave type, ie Prosine, for about $1/watt. This prevents noise in your stereo system etc.
Good Luck, Tim