2023 Minnie 2301BHS TT power converter??

[HarryMinks]

Hello, newbie here with an embarrassing question. Where is the stock power converter located on the 2023 2301bhs? I’ve been looking for three hours and can’t locate it. 12v battery will not charge on shore power, only solar. So at around 1am the last few nights we’ve woken to the CO alarm beeping from low battery, even though we’re either on shore power or generator. The AC shuts down too when the battery dies. Three weeks on the road and no issues because it’s been sunny and we drive about four hours/day, but the last two days we’ve parked in shade and I can’t get a full charge on the battery. We’re not driving enough at the moment to give tow vehicle enough time to charge it up. Any help is much appreciated!

[creativepart]

The converter is almost always behind your AC / DC circuit breaker/fuse box. The first place I usually check for that box is below the fridge. That’s not an “always” thing but it’s common, especially in older RVs with a gas absorption fridge.

The reason the the A/C stops when the battery is discharged is because the thermostat runs on 12v.

[Morich]

On older converters, they were built in the same unit as the load center with breakers and fuses. Newer are stand alone items in lots of cases and can be located at different places.

But one thing is still true on how it has to be wired and that goes into the placement.
The Incoming 110AC has to be wired to the converter after going to the AC breakers.
The 12VDC coming out of the converter has to go to the 12Volt fuses before the rest of the RV.
That means they will often have the converter located close to the breakers and fuses, as a way to shorten the cables.
That may also lead to finding the problem if there is a 110AC breaker tripped?
Do you remember hearing a hum in the RV, as that would likely be the converter running.
Normal would say that if the input to the converter is good, it should hum! Maybe take a quiet time to try to spot it by ear?
Unfortunately, we get very little online info for the towable group, so no way to look at drawings, etc. for the info.

A possible way to start would be to check that the 110AC is getting to the breakers and also look them over to make sure there is not one which is tripped. It can happen they trip but not move the handle to show. That can mean tripping each one fully off and then fully on can cure the problem even when we can't see it!

Or do you have one marked converter or is it combined with others like the frig?
Since the converter is a pretty heavy weight reliable thing, I would look carefully at the input before chasing the location too hard.

[HarryMinks]

Thanks for the replies. Found it this morning behind the power center. Looks like one of the fuses is blown so bought a new one. Will try it out and update the thread. We’ve never heard a humming - I think there’s a chance it never worked but we’ve been lucky enough to have sun and full charge each day, until now.

[HarryMinks]

Forgot to mention, none of the AC breakers were tripped. I flipped the converter breaker just to see what would happen. No hum before, and none after. Hoping the fuse solves it cause we just lost everything in the fridge

[Jay Tea]

Harry, my Micro's converter is silent. Or my hearing loss is worse than expected By comparison, my old truck camper converter hummed constantly, between white-noise and irritating, whether "working" or not.

[HarryMinks]

Problem solved! It was a fuse. Whole new experience being connected to shore power and not worrying about the battery. Man, we have a lot to learn!

[Morich]

Sounds of humming from the converter will likely have several things that change the hum . One is the design and newer are likely to be less noise.

Also the age factor as part of the hum is from the 110AC current and as some of the parts age there are small metal sections glued together to make the center of things like transformers. These metal stampings are glued together and then wire wrapped around them. Over time, the glue holding them together can gradually degrade and as the 60 cycle current moves through then, the plates can start to kind of "dance" in tune to the 60 cycle! Hummm!

Or as more power is used or on hotter days, there is often a cooling fan that kicks in and we may hear the fan. Some report that their converter has "failed" and now makes a terrible noise!

But if the fuse has failed, it may be real quiet! Almost like it's dead?

Learning is the tough thing but we all go there at times.
Small point to know that can be missed? If you have a battery cutoff switch to remove battery drains, it often leaves the safety equipment still connected! Be alert when storing and thinking you have removed all battery drains with the switch as it can sneak up and kill a battery while we are not looking!