No Power

davemoore99 · 07-30-2015, 12:17 AM

Went to get trailer ready for this weekend to head up into the mountains. Found out I have no power in the trailer. I'm plugged into shore power. All the outlets work and the microwave works, thats it. No lights, No AC, No fridge, Slide out-no. I checked all the breakers and all the fuses and they all seem ok. Is my inverter/converter bad? Any help would be appreciated. I have a WFCO WF-8955AN, thanks!

bruceatlam · 07-30-2015, 09:51 AM

Did you check your battery? Is it fully charged?? Battery disconnected??

**Flybob** · 07-30-2015, 09:58 AM

If it sat for a while without power, battery probably went dead. If you plug in with a very dead battery, you can blow the two reverse polarity protection fuses as the initial current from the convertor is too high. Open fuse panel in convertor and check two large fuses 30-40 A. They are usually separate from others and are dark yellow or orange.

clr · 07-30-2015, 10:02 AM

From your description it sounds like you have no DC power. The converter should be producing DC for the unit and to charge the batteries when on shore power. So I would ensure that I did not hook up the battery backwards. The Red lead should be going to the positive of the battery and the white lead should be going to ground. If it is installed backwards you may have blown the reverse polarity fuses in the converter. In the converter there are two reverse polarity fuses either 30 or 40 amps. Use a multimeter on dc volts and check the output of the converter with the battery disconnected it should read in the range of 13.6 - 13.7 volts if the converter is working properly.

davemoore99 · 07-30-2015, 10:17 AM

Flybob I did check both a 30 and 40 amp fuse inside the panel where the rest of the fuses are. They were ok and not blown. Are there any other "hidden" fuses somewhere that I can check? I used the camper about a month ago and everything was fine, I've had it plugged into shore power this whole time while sitting at my house.

clr I've had this trailer for several years now and this is the first issue I've had with the electrical system. The battery is wired correctly so I don't think wrong wiring is the issue.

I'm worried that the converter is toast.

Thanks everyone for the help.

clr · 07-30-2015, 10:23 AM

Well the converter may well be toast that is why I would recommend that you use the multimeter to determine if it is producing any DC output.

davemoore99 · 10-01-2015, 01:52 PM

Ok Update on this problem I'm still trying to solve. Before I drop $200 on a new converter I want to make sure I've checked everything. Keep in mind I'm no electrician but very handy so excuse my naivety!

Here's where I stand on my rig: I'm plugged into shore power, all of my power works - AC, Furnace, Fridge, Radio, Lights, Outlets BUT the power seems to be coming from my battery. That is I can slide in my slide-out, turn on AC and I can visually see the lights dim and hear the motor working harder etc. Plus I can monitor my battery on my panel and it decreases to a low battery.

Here's another reason I think the culprit is the converter. And correct me if i'm wrong but shouldn't you be able to disconnect the battery on the camper, plug into shore power and still have power to operate the campers electrical system?? Mine doesn't, as soon as my battery is disconnected, snap, no more power.

I'm confused as to how I can run my AC, assuming I'm not getting any power from the shore connection side? How can my battery handle this?

I've checked the GFCI on my shore power and it's good there, I've checked all fuses (that I can find) and haven't come across any blown ones. I've checked the breakers on the breaker panel and none have tripped. I've checked the 2 large fuses on the breaker panel as well and they are ok.

Thanks everyone for the words of wisdom!

clr · 10-01-2015, 02:08 PM

I think that we are somewhat confused here as to what is powered by AC voltage and what is powered by DC voltage. The AC is only powered by the AC voltage but some controls such as the thermostat require small control voltage of DC voltage to operate properly. Some DC powered items such as the lights only require DC voltage. Some items such as the AC outlets only require AC voltage to operate properly. If you can run your air conditioner you have shore power AC voltage into the RV. Your RV in all probability only has a converter a converter changes AC voltage to DC voltage to charge the batteries and for use in the DC voltage system.
Use a multimeter on dc volts and check the output of the converter with the battery disconnected it should read in the range of 13.6 - 13.7 volts if the converter is working properly. Or you can leave the battery connected and measure the DC voltage with the shore power on and then off. If the converter is not producing DC power to charge the battery you will only see 12.6 volts or less. Let us know what the reading are.

**Flybob** · 10-01-2015, 02:22 PM

To try to clarify. There are two components in the enclosure normally referred to as the converter. One is the power distribution panel which contains the fuses(DC) and breakers(AC). The second it the converter which converts 110VAC to 12VDC. The 110VAC enters the RV and goes to the power side of the breaker panel. The AC continues thru the breaker panel breakers to the various AC appliances ( AC side of fridge, water heater. microwave) and outlets and to the converter. The converter, converts this to 12VDC and which then goes to the input side if the fuse block and through the 30-40A fuses to the battery. If the converter is defective, it will not generate 12VDC and will not charge battery or provide DC power to the fuse block. If the 30-40A fuses blow, the converter will not charge the battery nor will it allow the battery to run the 12V appliances in the RV.

KansasFR3 · 10-01-2015, 02:35 PM

And I think you need to have the battery in the circuit, whether good or bad, to make the DC side of the system work. I follow CLRs advice and check the voltage at the battery with shore power disconnected vs plugged in. You should see a voltage difference. If so, you know your charger is in good shape. Then start suspecting your battery at that point.

And reason your seeing the lights dim while the motor is working hard is the charger can't put out enough amperage to keep up. With a good battery in the loop, it acts like buffer when your running those 12v electric slide motors.

davemoore99 · 10-01-2015, 02:43 PM

Thanks clr, Flybob and KansasFR3! You guys rock and I appreciate your quick response and info on the matter. I'm going to do some poking around the next few days and see if I can solve this. Kansas you got me thinking about my battery, it's only a year old so I was removing it from the equation. I think I'll head down to my auto parts store and have them test it to see if it may have went bad somehow. if it's ok I'll get it on a charger and bring it up to 100%. Where I'm confused and why I suspect the converter is b/c when it's plugged into my shore power it should theoretically be trickle charging my battery. Unless there's an issue with the charging portion of the wfco hence why I suspect it in the 1st place. I understand most of the AC/DC and how it all works (for the most part).

davemoore99 · 10-04-2015, 10:42 AM

Update: Ok solved my issue this weekend, had my dad come over with all his electrical testing equipment and we determined that the main board on the PC is no good. Didn't have any volt leaving the board. Now just gotta figure out which Progressive Dynamics unit to go with. I'm kinda leaning towards the PD9260C. The pricing to replace the main main board on the WFCO 8955 is not much cheaper than just going with a new PD unit.

Any recommendations?

Thanks once again for everyones input!

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