PD 4045 question

[mjg0808]

Hi guys. I have a question for all that can help. Installed a pd 4045 in my ctc earlier this month. I took it out for a shakedown yesterday to see how everything works. I have 2 Trojan t105's in series running off it as well as a 200w pure sine wave inverter. I installed a digital volt meter hooked up on a remote switch to check my battery voltage. It's always read around 13.4 or so but yesterday it dropped to 12.4 while on it's shakedown. This was running off of my generator for about 6 hours. When I got home, I hooked up shore power thinking it would bring back the voltage to the 13.4 reading but it actually dropped to 12.15. When I hooked a voltmeter directly to the batteries and tested it, it read 13.3. Here's the questions...I thought the pd4045 was supposed to charge while on shore power?? It didn't while on generator yesterday and did not bring the voltage up last night(charged for 16 hours or so)...did I do something wrong in my wiring. Do you think my dedicated volt meter is going bad?... I've never seen the fan spin. When and how does it spin? Am I overthinking this?

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[mjg0808]

Here's a few more

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[MtnDon]

#1... if the battery voltage in as low as 12.15 volts at rest (no loads on the battery and no recent loads either*) get your hands on a good battery charger quick! That is too low a voltage for an FLA (flooded lead acid battery). Very bad for them. 12.15 reflects a state of charge of about 55 - 60%.

If you have FLA batteries you should also have a good hydrometer. This is an excellent choice.
~~~~~

It's always read around 13.4 or so

When?
When the PD was plugged into shore power?
When the trailer battery was receiving power from the TV with the engine running? (if there is a 12 VDC hookup between TV battery and the trailer battery)
At rest you'd expect a reading of around 12.7 volts for a fully charged 12 volt FLA.

When you first installed and hooked everything up what voltage reading did you get? At the battery with the PD on shore power?

I thought the pd4045 was supposed to charge while on shore power??

IF the battery is not fully charged there should be a noticeable charge going into the battery when the PD is on shore power.

The fan won't spin if the battery is charged. It only runs when the PD is working at charging and gets warm/hot, IIRC. If you have a low battery (12.15 volts) the PD should be working pretty hard to recharge when plugged into shore power. Begin with checking the tightness of the connections and if everything is correctly connected.



* a minimum of an hour rest is needed to get close to having an accurate voltage reading. Trojan recommends a 6 hour rest at a minimum and states 24 hours is best.

[MtnDon]

This is a great FAQ on deep cycle batteries. There is a voltage / SOC chart about 3/4 the page down, and lots of good info.

It is not likely, IMO, that your meters are going to be off my very much. When connected to the same points as the little digital meter does the reading of your multimeter compare favorably. Off by no more than a hundredth or so?

[wtcreaux]

I can't tell from your picture if the on-board charger is being used. Though I see 2 black wires to the far right, I can't tell if any of the circuit breakers are to it.......On my first time with the 4045, I did not have a circuit breaker with wire to the charger.....no charging.....I learned on my second one...

[Shadow Catcher]

When on shore power you should not see less than 13.2V!
Check that you are getting 120AC into the PD at the 30A AC circuit breaker. Check that you are getting at least 13.6 V DC coming out.
If not call PD http://www.progressivedyn.com/servicedept.html

[Bluebunny]

One thing that jumps out at me is that the fill caps seem hard to access. Has a cell or three run dry? I have found that those traction batteries consume a lot of water, and need frequent maintenance. Route your wires to make that easy...

[Kharn]

I can't tell from your picture if the on-board charger is being used. Though I see 2 black wires to the far right, I can't tell if any of the circuit breakers are to it.......On my first time with the 4045, I did not have a circuit breaker with wire to the charger.....no charging.....I learned on my second one...

+1
The PD4045 requires a 15 amp breaker, but the only 15 amp breaker in the pictures goes to Romex instead of into the charger.

Looking at ImageUploadedByTapatalk1428165504.157999.jpg, where is the black wire from the charger going once it crosses from the 12v to the 120v side? It looks to me like it is going into the short bar (which is supposed to be 120v hot), then the hot bar has a jumper to the ground bar? The white wire should go to the neutral bar, the green wire to the ground bar, and the black wire needs to get 120v 15amp from a breaker. You may need a tandem breaker.

You should also fill the empty fuses, both to have spares, and so someone doesn't stick their finger in there and hit a live contact.