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clickscrazy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: My weekend charging experience
    Posted: 23 Dec 2018 at 12:06pm
2018 171 in Ocala this weekend.

After 1 full day, I woke up and noticed the battery was at 1 led, and the lights were dim. (my wife ran the fridge a bit on battery accidental, so I was not surprised)

I forgot my shore power cable, so could not charge up. I was like, what am I going to do, I need to run the furnace for the night!

So, I plugged into the TV, a 2014 Touareg. After after a couple hours, I did not notice any change the battery power level, which lead me down a rabbit hole of how do I confirm I have 12v from my TV.

After about an hour of research, checking fuses, etc., I turned off the battery disconnect and figured that was it.

I opened the door, and the converter was just turning off. So, I flipped the switch back on, and checked battery level, and it was full!

Why, I have no idea....ran the furnace all night, and still full in the morning.




2018 R-Pod 171
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clickscrazy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Dec 2018 at 12:07pm
Thought I would clarify, the TV was running when I was trying to charge it up via TV.
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CharlieM View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Dec 2018 at 6:52pm
The 4 light battery panel is often misinterpreted. The fourth light only means the battery is being charged, not that it is charged. When the charging source is disconnected the indicator will soon drop back to three lights. This generally means full charge, not 75%. Not sure why you thought the converter was ever running since it has no function without shore power. When on shore power you can sometimes hear the converter fan but it should not run at all without shore power. 
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clickscrazy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Dec 2018 at 9:41pm
That's what I thought. I could have been wrong though about what I heard though.

But to clarify, the batt was down to 1 lit LED. So it was able to charge from 12v and have full charge all night.
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mjlrpod View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 8:12am
To determine if your t.v. charges the battery, you will need a multimeter. Pin number 4 (at 1 o'clock position) is the charge port. Pin number 1 (located at 7 o'clock position) is ground. With the meter set to DC volts, and set to the lowest number of DC volts thats bigger than 12 (usually 20 is a setting) you place the meter probes on these 2 pin ports (with the vehicle running)  either You will or will not see somewhere between 13.8 to 14.4 (approx) volts. If you see that, you are outputting a charge. If not, you are NOT outputting a charge.

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CharlieM View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 8:44am
Most TVs will charge the battery, but slowly. The last post describes a way to determine if yours will. Another method, again requiting a digital voltmeter, is to measure the voltage at the TT battery with the TV running and not running. With the TV connected and running you should see something around 13+ volts. A good clamp on digital ammeter/voltmeter will answer all your questions. My main point was not to trust the 4 LEDs much. In my experience the top LED means the battery is being charged and the bottom LED means you don't have a battery. The other two LEDs are somewhere between and generally unreliable. With no shore power the converter is totally out of the equation and provides only 12V distribution. 
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mcarter View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 8:57am
+1 to CharlieM, the converter has nothing to do with issue. It doesn't have any power minus shore power. Best to carry a pin layout of the 7 pin and a meter to verify voltages when troubleshooting. Here's a vehicle side pic from etrailer:

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CharlieM View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 10:34am
Note that the "Traditional" and "RV standard" pictures above are essentially the same. The only difference is the color of the wiring; the pin positions and functions are identical. A bit confusing at first glance. Thanks, Mike. 
Charlie
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 11:09am
As others have noted, your converter only "runs" when you are connected to shore power. The 12V system will still work (the battery/ies are the power source) through the power panel.

To determine whether your TV is charging, measure the voltage at the battery/ies with and without the TV connected and running. You should note a bump in voltage of about 1 volt (or more) when the TV is charging.

As a sanity check, and if you have a clamp-on ammeter, you could also measure the drain on the battery/ies when the TV is disconnected. When the TV is connected and running, the amps measurement will reverse polarity and show you how much current the TV is providing.
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mcarter View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 4:53pm
CharlieM, Yep I ignored left and right and went with RV standard, which is correct. As far as TV charging I would start at TV to see if I had voltage, before I disassembled the TT battery box. Just me, I'd split issue in middle then resolve.
Mike Carter
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