I need your Help!!! (or at least my trailer does)

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Jrljd

WM, Just saw that. We are at a friends home and there is a big red and black extension cord we are plugged into that plugs into the house. It is a heavy duty extension cord but it is pretty long 50FT?

Should I then just work on sealing all of the leaks and give it time to dry out?

Take a glance at the article link I just posted. Yes, 50 foot is most likely going to be too long and probably the wrong gauge..... but you stated you are on a 20 amp circuit, so there's not 30 amps being used on this cord.

You may have burned something up in this cord. Did you use this same cord to hook to the generator you mentioned?

[Broadway Joe]

You have a fuse panel for 12 volt systems, there are circuit breakers for your 115 volt systems usually in the same converter panel. See attched picture

[Broadway Joe]

[Jrljd]

WM, thanks I read it and it appears that I should not be doing what I am doing. I will seal the leaks and hope it dries out. My fear is that the problem will continue when we plug into a campground in a couple of weeks. I am not sure how to test it now. Any ideas how to check if the leak has caused the problem or the bad hook -up?

Any idea why it is overloading the generator now?

THANKS!


J

[Jrljd]

Thanks Joe will have to check that out tomorrow.

J

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Jrljd

Any idea why it is overloading the generator now?

THANKS!


J

Did you use this same 50 foot cord to plug into the generator?

On another note, does your water heater have the electric option.....and/or have you turned it on or burned out the electric heating element by accident?

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ore-36197.html

[Jrljd]

Have not used the water heater will have to check if is on?

No used the TT campground power cord directly.

J

[Jrljd]

Update, I have tried a 10 gauge extension cord and have a 20 amp house circuit. The AC kicks on and runs for several minutes and then just trips the circuit in the house. Without the AC running the power stays on just fine. I am hoping it is the house/cord and not the AC compressor, but figure the only way to figure it out is to plug it into a 30 amp circuit at the next campground.

Any thoughts or ways to diagnose that do not involve moving the camper to another location would be appreciated. Thanks to everyone for their help, I learned a lot and appreciate it.

J

[Leecountry]

Originally Posted by Jrljd

Update, I have tried a 10 gauge extension cord and have a 20 amp house circuit. The AC kicks on and runs for several minutes and then just trips the circuit in the house. Without the AC running the power stays on just fine. I am hoping it is the house/cord and not the AC compressor, but figure the only way to figure it out is to plug it into a 30 amp circuit at the next campground.

Any thoughts or ways to diagnose that do not involve moving the camper to another location would be appreciated. Thanks to everyone for their help, I learned a lot and appreciate it.

J

My guess is that it will work fine when you get to your camp site. The problem could be that at your aunts house where it was plugged in and working the outlet that it was plugged into was close to the electric breaker box. When you have it plugged into your house it could be further away from your breaker panel causing the breaker to trip due to a long circuit run to the camper.

If you must run your ac with 20 amp circuit you have to use a short heavy guage cord to prevent current drop and over load

[sherdep]

I would suggest going over the roof with the dicor lap sealant and seal it good.

Check around the antenna cord that goes into the roof - that is where I had my first and only leak. After that I sealed the roof and haven't had an issue since.

Also might be a good idea to get one of those devices that checks the voltage at the pole before you plug your camper into it.
I always check the pole to make sure it is ok prior to plugging in and i turn the power off (breaker) at the pole before plugging my cord in.

To your power problem - you could always disconnect the 110 coming into the trailer and disconnect the battery and then pull the power center out and check the fan - have heard that if the fan doesn't cool the power center it will draw more and could cause an issue like stated - just a thought to check is all

[Leecountry]

Originally Posted by sherdep

I would suggest going over the roof with the dicor lap sealant and seal it good.

Check around the antenna cord that goes into the roof - that is where I had my first and only leak. After that I sealed the roof and haven't had an issue since.

Also might be a good idea to get one of those devices that checks the voltage at the pole before you plug your camper into it.
I always check the pole to make sure it is ok prior to plugging in and i turn the power off (breaker) at the pole before plugging my cord in.

To your power problem - you could always disconnect the 110 coming into the trailer and disconnect the battery and then pull the power center out and check the fan - have heard that if the fan doesn't cool the power center it will draw more and could cause an issue like stated - just a thought to check is all

Not sure how you would check you fan other than seeing if its running when plugged into shore power. But your right if something is wrong it could draw more power than normal. My old power center drew about 3 amps with nothing on although it was probably charging the TT battery. If you try your AC again on 20 amp circuit make sure nothing else is on on your camper. ( stereo,lights,fridge,water heater) also try using Your ac on low.