The 20 Amp fuse on my RV's Converter-Charger blows when plugged into shore power.

by Anonymous

Why does the 20 amp fuse on the converter/charger blow when the trailer is plugged-in for external power? With the fuse removed, the lights, receptacles and fridge work. Could it be a bad battery?

ANSWER Greetings thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

It could be a bad battery or your charger could have a short in it. Here are my suggestions for what you should do.

1. First confirm that the fuse you are talking about is for the built in battery charger on your trailer. You can do this by looking at the owner's manual of your trailer, if the fuse panel is not labeled.

2. Disconnect your house batteries. Make sure that none of the battery cables are sitting on metal when they are disconnected. Replace the fuse and plug in the trailer; if the fuse blows again, we can pretty much eliminate the problem as being the house batteries. This means that the problem is somewhere in the charger itself or the wiring leading to the battery.

3. If the fuse does not blow when the house batteries are disconnected then the problem is with the house batteries or the wiring leading off of the house batteries. Have your house batteries checked for shorts, dead cells etc.

Even if you finally diagnose the problem, fixing it is another story. When it comes to most electrical problems in an RV, I prefer to refer RVer's to let a qualified RV Technician do the repair work. Unless you are real familiar with the workings of your RV's electrical system you may end up doing more harm than good in attempting to repair the problem yourself. Anytime you work on any electrical problems in an RV, there is always the potential of creating a situation where your RV can catch fire.

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Happy RVing

RVing Al