Low setting on fan not working.

Bilcin · 07-05-2014, 10:36 AM

I have a2011 Wildwood 26tbss on the fan on the low setting stopped working. The high setting works but when I started to know it does not respond. The campgrounds I am at has a problem with the electric supply. The electric voltage varies I know this because I have a table fan that blows at different speeds according to the voltage coming in to the the trailer. will this change in voltage burn out the low setting on my fan motor ? I have a Dometic thermostat. Fan was on low when it stopped working.

Cypressloser · 07-05-2014, 11:08 AM

Short answer: unplug and move.
Voltage fluctuations are extremely hard on the equipment and shouldn't be taken lightly. That being said, the thermostat and the fan (I assume furnace fan) runs on 12 Volt DC. You could try and disconnect all power (batteries too) and see if the thermostat is able to reset itself.
Do not connect to campground power if it is not stable, it can cost you thousands.

Edit: A Voltage Regulator and a Surge Protector could be considered to avoid problems in the future.

Steelframer · 07-06-2014, 11:10 AM

I cringed when I heard your table fan was fluctuating its speed due to the electric problem......your fan is telling you that your playing a very expensive game of Russian roulette with your electronics....I know it's an expensive up front cost, but do whatever it takes to get a great surge/voltage regulator protection.

**Terier** · 07-06-2014, 11:28 AM

x3 on the surge protector. Mine came into play the second time I used it. I was staying at a new campground about a year old and didn't expect any problems.

Weezer · 07-06-2014, 11:58 AM

A surge protector should be like that credit card commercial;

DO NOT leave home without it.

(for that matter, we keep our 5er here at home, on shore power, and that surge protector is ON and protecting it right now)

So....

Surge protector; don't hook up without it!

ddschuman · 07-06-2014, 12:18 PM

Take this advice from someone who is currently unable to camp because voltage problems and damage it caused. We have appointment on the 16th to get the entire electrical system checked out. Don't allow your camper to stay plugged in if you are aware of voltage issues.

We were at a State Park last weekend when the electric company was replacing ground wires throughout the park. When they got to our site, they accidentally removed the neutral wire when taking the panel off. They didn't realize this had happened until we started having electrical issues in the camper. They had already left our site. I went and found them down at another site nearby and asked if what they were doing could be causing us problems? Reply was "no, we are finished with your site but we'll go see what's up". When they went back, they checked voltage and then removed panel and discovered the pulled neutral. They admittedly stated that they must have accidentally pulled the neutral when pulling the panel. They fixed the neutral and "we thought" all was ok. That was until battery died at 11pm. Main AC stopped because tstat is 12volt, lights were so dim, you could not see inside. Yep...converter got zapped with high voltage! We had 2 days left to camp so we bypassed camper battery (it was dead anyway) and connected straight to the truck. As long as we didn't run the lights inside the camper, there was not much drag at all on the truck battery and we were able to run AC. The next day, we discovered Microwave and Keurig coffee maker also took a hit. The remaining 2 nights, we used flashlights and battery operated lanterns for light inside. If I did find the need to run the camper lights, I would start the truck for a few minutes after. It is amazing how fast halogen lights will drain 2 truck batteries (within minutes battery indicator would go from full to nearly empty). Next step after repairs and voltage/surge protector is installed is to replace all halogen bulbs with LED's. Oh, another thing that will drain a truck battery is the power awning...rolled it in and it took truck battery from full to 1/3. This was definitely a trip for the memory book. A lot was learned on this trip. I can't wait to find out extent of all damage, get everything fixed and back on the road again!

B D HOWie · 07-06-2014, 07:10 PM

Sorry to hear your electric problems. Hope the electric company is going to take care of the repairs.

ddschuman · 07-06-2014, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B D HOWie

Sorry to hear your electric problems. Hope the electric company is going to take care of the repairs.

Thanks! Per their phone call to me along with follow up email, they are claiming responsibility and have initiated claim with their insurance carrier. I haven't heard from their insurance yet though so I am not certain. They took info from me that night after damage was discovered. They came out to our campsite and tried every way they knew how to get things up and going again. Unfortunately, it was too late as the damage was done as soon as they plugged us back in after the neutral had been pulled. We want things fixed as soon as possible so we can enjoy camping again so I expect that we will be out of pocket and hopefully get reimbursed. The fact that they initiated the call and email to me versus me having to contact them gives me a good feeling about the chances of reimbursement. Time will tell.

Bilcin · 07-07-2014, 09:52 AM

Thanks for the replies, after the low setting went out, I tried the high setting, it worked, but i shut it off anyway knowing someghing happened. Microwave and refrigerator still work. A surge protector, is that plugged into the cg outlet first, then my shore power plug? Will this also regulate the power spkikes or is that a different piece of equipment? Thanks

Cypressloser · 07-07-2014, 10:04 AM

It plugs into the CG power pedestal and cuts the power when a low voltage or high voltage situation is detected. Surge protectors can look like this, there are also other manufacturers as well as hard wired versions. A voltage regulator is a different peace of equipment and would plug into your surge protector, it will bump up or reduce the voltage as needed.

Cypressloser · 07-07-2014, 10:09 AM

Sorry, the pics didn't show up in my previous post.

Cypressloser · 07-07-2014, 10:11 AM

what the? this is a first.
Anyway, you can search Google for rv surge protector and rv voltage regulator.

Bilcin · 07-07-2014, 11:53 AM

Great! Thanks for the tips!

Ford Idaho · 07-07-2014, 11:58 AM

If you use the search feature here you will find a bunch of information on surge protectors both hard wired and portable.

Bilcin · 07-07-2014, 08:14 PM

Ok, well I unplugged the trailer from my house outlet, as well as the battery. I was hoping that the thermostat would reset upon me plugging the battery back in and unfortunately it didn't work. I put the fan on to low setting and about 5 seconds later I here a click but no fan.....I switch it to high setting and 5 seconds later the fan comes on at high speed. I then switch from high to low and the fan shuts off and 5 seconds later I here the click but no fan. Has anyone ever changed a fan or is this something only a qualified mechanic can do. BTW thanks for all suggestions!

rockfordroo · 07-07-2014, 08:23 PM

There's probably a resistor that gets put in series with the fan when on low speed. If it burns out, then only high speed with run. The clicking is probably the relay that switches in the resistor.

This used to be how the fans in cars were controlled before "electronics." Fan speed was controlled by switching in different sized resistors for each fan speed. It was common to smoke the resistors and end up with only high speed.

Check for a burnt out resistor.

RANGERBOB · 07-08-2014, 07:58 PM

Yes, first major expenditure on our rig was a surge protector this after reading horror stories on this forum.

VinceU · 07-08-2014, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilcin

Ok, well I unplugged the trailer from my house outlet, as well as the battery. I was hoping that the thermostat would reset upon me plugging the battery back in and unfortunately it didn't work. I put the fan on to low setting and about 5 seconds later I here a click but no fan.....I switch it to high setting and 5 seconds later the fan comes on at high speed. I then switch from high to low and the fan shuts off and 5 seconds later I here the click but no fan. Has anyone ever changed a fan or is this something only a qualified mechanic can do. BTW thanks for all suggestions!

Guessing the motor failed, there's most likely an open coil in the motor causing slow speed to be unavailable. It could be due to low voltage but not necessarily. People with very good help is Dometic, maybe call their 1800 line, have the model and serial if possible.

Bilcin · 07-08-2014, 10:15 PM

I will try try the customer service route, thanks

Bilcin · 07-18-2014, 12:49 PM

Just an update on my fan not working on low settings, Ok, before calling customer service, tried the low setting again ( I had already unplugged the battery and shore line to see if reset could work, it didn't) I hooked up the battery again on the shore line and it didn't work on low. I decided to put it on high settilineng then switch it to low, high setting, high shuts off, about 10 seconds later I hear the click for the low setting and again the fan did not go on. I tried it one more time from high setting too low setting, and this time the low setting worked? I then proceeded to turn it off wait 30 seconds and then selected the low fan setting and it works now, repeated this process three more times and all three times the low setting worked. I cannot explain this and all but if it works it works for me. I am going out purchasing the surge and voltage regulator for my next trip.

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