Rv Generator Not Charging Battery

Charging a camper battery through the converter.

Rv generator not charging battery.

Rv generators most if not all charge an rv battery via a converter charger which only dishes out a small amount of amperage even if they have a 12 volt output. If you do not have an inverter with this capability your conventional converter charger will recognize the battery is at 10 5 volts and throw a 13 6 volt charge to the battery until it reaches 12 6 volts and shut off. While the problem of an rv battery not charging typically stems back to one common issue there are a handful of other possibilities. And depending on the charge that has depleted from the battery this can take a long time.

There are a few ways in which a battery can be charged using the converter. But there are cases when there might be a problem with your power source converter or battery and your rv battery actually does not charge. We received a question from an rv repair club member asking why their rv battery wasn t holding any juice after a full charging cycle. As i was monitoring the gen battery voltage i noticed it was declining.

Because of this charging an rv battery using a generator a generator really takes a long time. The generator in an rv uses a converter which converts 120 volts to 12 volts and is not designed to be a battery charger. While a portable generator is not the fastest way to charge your battery it is the most useful especially when you are traveling off grid or unexpectedly loose power. Testing the battery s ability to take and hold a full charge is certainly an important first step.

Under normal scenarios if your rv battery is plugged in then it should be charging. I now understand some rv generators don t have a charging circuit like most engines that use a battery for starting. The generator powers the converter on the rv and it recharges the battery. When your rv s converter isn t charging the batteries it can be a major headache.

I believe that in my case the dealer did not correctly hook up the gen battery. And because your rv s built in battery charger can utilize up to the full 2 000 watts available from your generator actually 1 800 watts in most cases but who s counting on the 12 volt dc side of the converter charger you could easily be charging your batteries at up to 160 amps of current 2 000 watts 12 volts 166 amps. The camper could be hooked up to the electrical grid via a 30 or 50 amp outlet at a campground national park or state park.