2006 sandpiper f37sp wiring short

xltguy · 03-01-2011, 10:11 PM

I bout a used 2006 sandpiper f37sp. When i bought it, it was plugged into a reducer to an extenson cord. Everything ran fine. All my 12v stuff works. Everything works off the onan genny. But when i run the 50amp service, it trips at the pad box. It sparks at the rv conection. It is not the cable. Bc i shut off the main 50 in the rv and it did not trip the outside. But when i flip the inside it kept tripping. I had a reg electric guy llok at it. He sad it seem to be a short in the breaker box or in the transfer box. But im unsure. He hard wired bypassing the transfer box and is just runing 30amp service.
Any input would help. And a wiring diagram would be great if i have to open it all up to find the short.

xltguy · 03-09-2011, 10:36 PM

So i have news on the topic! First off forest rivers sucks!

I was told that they do not even use wiring diagrams in the factory.
I was told that the unit is set up for only 30amp service.
And if i want to run both ac units i need to run one off the gen and one off the power?????? How do i do that.
But the sticker on the plug show 240 50amp service????
The power cord is a 50amp plug type.
The breakers for the main power are 50amp.

So i feel like i just bought a heap of junk and am very scared on what may come up next.

**KyDan** · 03-10-2011, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xltguy

So i have news on the topic! First off forest rivers sucks!
.....
So i feel like i just bought a heap of junk and am very scared on what may come up next.

Wow, you really know how to make friends in a hurry

You bought a 5 year old RV that has one problem and
you're ready to trash the entire line.

I'm sure someone here will post some things to check
but in the mean time chill a little. We're just owners
like you who gather here to chat and sometimes trouble
shoot someone elses problem.

If you have a 50 amp cord and 50 amp 220v breakers
in your power panel you probably have 50 service.
I don't have 50 amp so I'm not going to try to tell
you where to start looking.
I'll leave that up to someone else here who has experience
in 50 amp with genset.

A trip to RV repair shop that has a good electrical
guy in the garage sounds like a good idea to me......

cardinal4fun · 03-10-2011, 07:36 AM

Maybe its just me but I am confused on what you are doing. In your trailer you should have 2 fifty amp breakers. That would be for 50 amp service. When your electric guy hard wired to 30 amp what was he plugged into at the power post? 30 or 50? The reason I ask is for 50 amp when it gets to the breaker box one leg goes to each of the 50 amp breakers. The 30 amp is NOT 240v. its only 110. I am not sure what it is you are calling the "transfer box". He harded wired to what? Is it possable to talk to the person you purchased the unit from and ask them? Sometimes these units have a mind of there own and the past owner may give you some great insight.

xltguy · 03-10-2011, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyDan

If you have a 50 amp cord and 50 amp 220v breakers
in your power panel you probably have 50 service.
I don't have 50 amp so I'm not going to try to tell
you where to start looking.
I'll leave that up to someone else here who has experience
in 50 amp with genset.

A trip to RV repair shop that has a good electrical
guy in the garage sounds like a good idea to me......

The big problem is the breaker box has a 50amp breaker, the cord is a 50amp, then its posted in the owners manual. Oh also there is a fancy sticker on the outside male hookup thats states 50amp.

Yet Forest River says its not 50amp.

And if you stand behind forest river, why cant they produce a simple wiring diagram?

**KyDan** · 03-10-2011, 02:35 PM

It sounds like you have a 50 amp wired trailer.
Great. So you called some guy who said you
didn't. Forget it and move on. If I had a fit
every time some salesman told me something that
turned out to be wrong, I'd be mad all the time.

I "stand behind Forest River" because I LIKE mine.
I checked it out thoroughly before I took it home
and I'm happy 3 years later.

If you've already decided to hate your trailer, I'm sorry.
RVs need repair every so often. Any brand.
Especially a 5 year old one is going to need fixing
every once in a while.
Few if any RV manufacturers will give you a "wiring diagram".
Even if you had one that's not your problem.
You have a short. THAT's not in the diagram!!
If you're not electrical savvy then take it to a repair
shop and get it fixed. End of story.

Think of it this way, if you walked into a Corvette rally
and said, " I bought a used Corvette and it's crap.
I called the factory and they gave me bad info. They're
crap too." You're probably not gonna get a whole lot of
sympathy. If you call Forest River and talk to them
the way you're talking here, they aren't going to care
if you get help or not. My dear old granny used to say
"you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar".

You can run your trailer on 30 amp for now and get it
fixed when you can.
Good luck & Happy Camping!

jimh · 03-10-2011, 07:10 PM

My guess is the transfer switch. I'll see if I can find schematic when I get home in a few hrs. If u have access to an ohm meter, I may be able to come up with a couple test.
So that We r on the same page, the power cord has 4 prongs?
Adapted to 3 prong at the end that plugs into the utility Co.

jimh · 03-10-2011, 09:28 PM

i have some other thoughts, ur ok on the trailer. the supply is wired wrong.

this is my logic: the trailer works ok when adapted to 30 amp. the adapter supplies the single 110 volt supplied from the power company to each of the two 110 volt inputs to the trailer.
when u plug into a 50amp rv service, there are 2 supplied 110volt lines from the power source. (the reason for 220volt is that you have 220 volts between the 2 sources but only 110 volts from either of them to neutral (or ground)...like in ur home.

when u look at a 50amp rv plug or supply with the spades in a vertical position, you have 110 volts when measured from the spade on the right and the upper or lower (spade or rounded) prong. the spade on the left also has 110 volts when measured between it and the upper or lower pin. when wired properly, voltage between the far right spade and far left spade will be 220 volts.
all 4 of the wires going into the trailer are seperate. the neutral and ground are isolated from each other. when u measure voltage between the upper and lower pins (spade and half round) u should have 0. that 0 from the source is important, u do not want to see anything between these two.
with the breaker off in the trailer, all 4 wires remain seperate. when u set the breaker, circuits are made.

i have a 2002 cardnal. i have seen post that didn't think cardnal made a 50amp cardnal until after that date.
to me 110, 115, 120, and 125 are different ways of saying the same thing. depends on what era ur from. same is true of 220 and 240volts.

if u check the socket (campground or home) and it checks out to be ok, we can go from there. my thoughts are that the trailer isn't going to work when adapted to a standard 110 if there is a problem in the trailer.

**KyDan** · 03-11-2011, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimh

i have some other thoughts, ur ok on the trailer. the supply is wired wrong.

Jim that's a good idea! He doesn't say what he's plugging
INTO.
He should check that first! Just having the voltage isn't
any good if the pins are wired wrong!

(I've read stories where folks managed to plug a
30 amp RV into a dryer or electric range socket- frying
their refer control board and battery charger/converter.)

jimh · 03-11-2011, 09:13 AM

this is an adapter that combines 2 seperate 110 volt circuits to 1 50 amp socket. what i'm more interested in is that ur 50 amp power cord looks like it would plug into that.

this is the breaker box inside my trailer. if u notice there are 2 50 amp main breakers and they have a bar between them. if one trips, it is suposed to trip the other. any overload on one side will trip both. this is typical of a 220V circuit (although, as far as i know, the rv industry doesn't have anything that uses the 220V).
note that there is a white wire and a bare wire in there. also note that there is an insulator between the case of the breaker box and this white wire. now, the bare wire bus is attached to the trailer. this is probably different from what u would find in ur home. on a sup panel, the neutral and ground are isolated. in ur trailer, typically, they will use a black from one of those breakers, a white from one buss (neutral) and a bare wire from the bare wire buss to the round ground connection on the outlet.

in the wiring diagram (pfd) that i sent, each of the 110v diagrams omit that 4th wire probably for simplicity. but it is there.

ur supply cable between the trailer and the shore power is large and should have a plug that has 4 prongs. when u adapt, from 110 volt standard everyday outlet, the adapter takes that single hot lead and connects it to each of the 50 amp hot wires to the trailer. the adapter takes the round ground pin and connects it to the round or half round of the trailer. the spade pin directly inline and above is the neutral and is connected to the neutral of the travel trailer.

jimh · 03-11-2011, 09:37 AM

one other point, if u bought a standard off the shelf adapter to go between the 50 amp service of ur trailer to the 30 amp service at a campground (and then a standard adapter to go to the typical 110V 15 (or 20) amp outlet, they are made correctly. beware of homemade adapters.

itsa54 · 06-12-2012, 03:41 AM

Hi all.
Similar problem with my trailer. When I plug 4 prong cable into house AC, I get mild a electrical shock if I touch anything metal - chassis, stairs etc. I've checked all hot and ground wires into the fuse and circuit breaker panels and any other places I could find, but can't find the problem. It's like I'm missing a gorund somewhere - until I step on the stairs in bare feet. Any ideas?

jim

jimh · 06-12-2012, 12:42 PM

a missing ground is all that i can think of. i wish i could tell u that i don't have that problem but i do. found the ground missing on the outlet that i plugged into and thought i had it. unfortunately, it's still there. i have killed the main and the problem goes away.
next i killed all breakers except the main and no problem.
it gets a little tricky when i start turning on the individual breakers. the breaker that causes the problem to come back isn't consistant. it seems to switch around.

if i remember right, some have found the problem to be the element in the hot water heater. personally, i believe the ground (bare wire or round pin on the outlet) is the problem. but i haven't been able to prove that yet.

there is a circuit tester that plugs into the outlet and has 3 lights on it. it makes it easy to see if an outlet is miswired or has a missing ground. i bought mine at Harbor Freight but u should be able to find one at a Lumber yard.

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