Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

I found these at batteries plus bulbs , they have a group 31 in a case size that fit in my tray. https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/m ... li31agmdpm

You may want to consider two 6 volt golf cart batteries. They are true deep cycle which is the preferred type. These are connected in series to give you 12 volts. They are also available from Batteries Plus. These are the ones that I have in my coach:

https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sligc110

Tom,

Thanks for mentioning the 6V option again. I read about this in the past and considered it. I wonder since I need to get new batteries if I should explore this again.

For us, we tend to travel and boondock a lot. Last year during a 2 week trip we only paid for a camp site once. So most of the time we are not hooking up to shore power. For the most part we tend to move a lot.. so the alternator is recharging the batteries every day. However, there are times as well we stay in one location a few days.

Seems like most would suggest if you dry camp often, and wish to have a little bit more batter capacity = the 6V option might be best?

I think the tray is about 14" by 13" and I think the GC2 foot print is 10.38" X 7.13" from what I can tell.

Will 2 x 6Vs within the GC2 group fit our battery tray without any modifications? Seems close with 7.13 as a width -- just slightly over 14 inches?

I found these spec on the different batteries mentioned.... didn't find the 29.. but have been told the footprint is close to the Group 31.

6 Volt Deep Cycle Batteries by BCI Group Number
GC2BCI GROUP NUMBER: GC2
DIMENSIONS IN INCHES*: 10.38" 7.13" 10.88" LxWxH
Amp Hours (AH): 225

12 Volt Deep Cycle RV & Marine Batteries by BCI Group Number
BCI GROUP NUMBER: 27
DIMENSIONS IN INCHES*: 12.00" 6.63" 9.06" LxWxH
Amp Hours (AH): 90

BCI GROUP NUMBER: 31
DIMENSIONS IN INCHES*: 12.9" 6.75" 9.27" LxWxH
Amp Hours (AH): 125

My tray measures 12-3/4 wide by 14-1/4 deep. I have about an inch of clearance above the the battery terminals.

I've been down in south Florida for 4 months and have spent zero for lodging.

Two 6-volt Trojan batteries worked well for me in all situations.

Bill

What am I missing?

Hey team. I have installed my new PD4655 Converter.

However, when I try to plug into shore power I get sparks when I try to connect the extension cord and the breaker for the power converter is blowing.

What am I missing? Maybe the older converter didn't need as much power? I have a Marinco 30A 125V power cord with an adapter to an 3 prong extension cord. The extension cord is a basic orange house hold extension cord. In the past I would plug the RV into this cord and everything worked fine. But I am guessing with the new power needs of the converter I need something different?

Any suggestions would be great!

Thank you!

--Kevin

I would double check your converter wiring and make sure nothing is touching where it shouldn't when the converter is shoved back in it's place.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have checked over the wiring.. not seeing anything out of the ordinary. So you think it is related to the wiring of the converter?,

Thoughts on if I just fried my power cord to death Here are some pictures. Looks a little melted..

https://content.screencast.com/users/Ke ... 001859.png

https://content.screencast.com/users/Ke ... 001860.png

Kevin,

It looks to me like the two 120 vac wires going to the new converter are shorted together. Make sure then is no shorting jumper at the two input terminals shoring the two terminal together. It has been quite a number of years since I installed my Progressive Dynamics converter so I don't know if its got ship with a shorting jumper or not. But in any case I think you have fried you shoreline power cable and should be replaced. Also the receptacle in the pedestal probably needs to be replace also.

If there is no shorting jumper installed, I would check the input resistance of the two converter terminals (with a low ohms reading ohmmeter) and if very low in resistance, I would then suspect a converter with a shorted input.

Thanks Bill,

In looking over the wiring in the panel I noticed this nick in a wire close to the place the wire comes into the box:

https://content.screencast.com/users/Ke ... 001862.png

Maybe this was the issue? I also installed a ATS and this was the power feed to the panel from the ATS. I am no electrician but I am guessing even just a nick like this in the wiring could cause a short, correct? I am working on getting a friend with meter to help me troubleshoot a bit more.

I agree the shore power cord looks like it might be toast. It had seen better days to begin with. IF everything was ok in the RV... and the shore power cord was fine.. then is there an issue just plugging into a house hold outlet with the adapter? I have done this in the past with an extension cord, just wondering it the new converter power needs should make me rethink this?

--Kevin

One more question...

Is this a suitable replacement cord for our Born Free? Seems more reasonable in prices then the Marinco options that are almost double the price.

Camco Heavy Duty PowerGrip 25' Cord with 30 AMP Male Standard/30 AMP Female Locking Adapter- Threaded Locking Ring Ensures a Weatherproof Connection (55501)

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-PowerGrip- ... R4XR1EC2WD

And adapter:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-PowerGrip- ... l_huc_item

Kevin, a good rule I forgot to mention is that it always is a very good idea to switch off the 30-amp breaker at the pedestal before plugging in your Born Free power cable into the pedestal. If you would have done that and then turned the 30-amp breaker back on, the direct short would have caused the 30-amp breaker to blow immediately rather than frying the terminals of your power cable and at the pedestal.

As far as replacing your original Marinco power cable with the Camco equivalent, that choice is up to you.

Update...

I made a bad mistake So I figure I would share here. I know, pretty dumb, I have been doing a lot of work on the RV this spring and I made an error. I wired the AC to the DC and the DC to the AC (it is a little confusing since the new charger has 2 sets of black and white wires - and the ones the line up under the AC section on mine are the DC wires and the other way around. I should have looked a lot closer. I think I fired the DC output, I have since replaced my old unit as I figure out what to do next. I am in communication with Progressive Dynamics see if I have any options. Just wanted to update here in case anyone reads this in the future.

Thanks!