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Old 07-08-2012, 11:37 AM   #1
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Power converter issue

I'll try to be brief but some background info first--want to change my Coleman Mach thermostat to a Hunter digital so I went to my Dad's (retired electrician) so we could hook up to 30 AMP power to make sure everything would work right when we changed out thermostats.

Dad ran his 30 amp extension cord from his power panel in the garage and I plugged my standard TT power cord to it just like I would to the power pole at any campground. I heard a pop and went to my power panel in the Windjammer. A 15 amp breaker marked "GFI CONV" tripped and a little bit of smoke was hanging in the panel area. Flipped the breaker a couple of times but no power. One by one I reset every breaker from the main down through the entire panel. No power. Hooked the battery back up and now have power. Disconnected the battery and tried shore power again. Nothing. Pulled the breaker (the 15 amp that tripped originally) out of the panel and Dad put his meter to it. Got the proper readings and turned the breaker off and power was cut. Flipped the breaker on again and got readings again. So the breaker isn't fried and put it back in the panel. Put my 30 Amp to 20 amp adapter plug on the TT power cord and went to a standard outlet. Nothing. Hooked the battery back up and have power. Drove the TT home and seek advice. Did we fry the circuit board itself? Dad was a 40 year + working electrician and we have blown his mind as well as my trailer power.
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Old 07-08-2012, 12:03 PM   #2
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Plugging a 110 volt camper into a 220 volt socket will do that.

"certified electricians" have destroyed more campers than anything.

Hopefully you will only be buying a new converter and not a new air conditioner as well.

Sorry,
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Old 07-08-2012, 01:12 PM   #3
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Herk, just called dad and sure enough--the cord was hooked up for 220. The a/c was not turned on so I hope that was salvaged. The lights, fridge, etc. all seem to work off the battery. I would like to check the a/c before running it back into the shop. Can I turn on the a/c just for a moment to check it from the battery or hooked to my TV?
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Old 07-08-2012, 02:12 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by herk7769 View Post
Plugging a 110 volt camper into a 220 volt socket will do that.

"certified electricians" have destroyed more campers than anything.

Hopefully you will only be buying a new converter and not a new air conditioner as well.

Sorry,
I agree with Lou's statement about "certified Electricians"

I have ran into a few that really make ya wonder how they passed there exam - its kinda scary if ya ask me.

a/c runs on 110v so that would not be possible

you could pull the cover from the inside of the trailer and hard wire the a/c to a cord to test it if you really want to cut the end off of your extension cord.

forgot to add this - make sure the cord is "NOT" plugged in when you cut the end off so you dont get shocked or better yet hurt from the spark it will put off.

Most likely you fried the converter board and hopefully thats all that needs to be replaced.
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Old 07-08-2012, 06:17 PM   #5
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OK,

Here is what I would do at this point.

1) You know the converter is bad so turn the CONV circuit breaker off.

2) Plug into a 30 -> 20 amp adapter and plug it into a house duplex with NOTHING else on the circuit. If it is not alone just unplug as much as you can

3) Turn off all CBs in the power center. BUT make sure you have a charged good battery.

4) Turn on the CB for the air conditioner and then go to "COOL" setting the thermostat so it will try to start. If it starts and blows cold air you have dodged a major bullet.

5) Turn off the Air CB and turn on the Fridge CB. Turn the valves on the propane OFF. Press the "ON" button on the fridge the auto light goes on (a charged battery is needed for this step). If the CHECK light stays OUT and it starts to cool on AC you dodged another bullet. If the CHECK light comes on it means your AC is not working in the fridge. There is an AC fuse you might check.

6) The last big item is your TV. Check it to make sure it works OK.

Good luck, and hope it is just the converter.
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Old 07-08-2012, 07:17 PM   #6
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Thanks Herk. Looks like the air conditioner is okay. Television may not have been so lucky. The fridge is still undecided. The "auto" light on the fridge is on and there is another light on as well. It is marked "check gas when flashing". The gas is turned off at the propane tanks and the light is not flashing. Going to check again in awhile to see if the fridge starts cooling at all. Looks like all the fuses are in tack.
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Old 07-08-2012, 07:28 PM   #7
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not sure what TV you have but could be as simple as the power supply or the latter part - TV.

I would try plugging the tv into an extension cord just to make sure, Which TV do you have?
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Old 07-08-2012, 08:17 PM   #8
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Toshiba 32 and it will not work on the extension cord either. Thanks for the tip!
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Old 07-09-2012, 07:32 AM   #9
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OK, the check light on with no propane is what you want as you are checking the cooling from AC only.

A thermometer in the freezer will let you know pretty quick if the ac portion of the fridge controller got fried. If it will not cool on AC; there is an AC fuse that "hopefully" blew and saved the control board and heater.

Once you determine if the AC is good or not; press the "GAS" button; turn on the propane and make sure the range burners light. Soon after, the check light should go out and the fridge hopefully will stay (or start) cooling on propane and battery,
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Old 07-09-2012, 08:17 AM   #10
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u may want to check the fuses or breakers on the converter...u may get lucky.
don't understand how u r loosing 12v when u plug into 110v; my old trailer would drop the battery out when i plugged in but the one i have now keeps the battery in the circuit when pluged 110.

the television usually stays on so that it can sense the remote signal. u may want to check a fuse there as well.

all ur circuit boards (except on the microwave and converter) come form the battery. hopefully, that protected u.
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Old 07-09-2012, 08:28 AM   #11
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i have an older frig (10 years) and it works a little different.

if u have 110v to the frig and the check light comes on, turn the frige off and back on. the check light should not come on if there is 110 present. the check light comes on when 110 isn't present and the gas doesn't light.
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Old 07-09-2012, 02:26 PM   #12
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Took the trailer into the shop this morning--not who I bought it from since they couldn't touch it for a month. Took it to another place that has great reputation in this area for service and sells the same brand as my unit. Will get to it late this week or first of next week.

I didn't lose 12V power--just 110. Tried connecting the television to an extension cord bypassing the trailer all together and it won't come on. Checked all circuit breakers and fuses--all are functioning as they should.

Guess I'll know more in about 10 days or so. Checking with insurance and my extended warranty folks. Hopefully some help will be out there somewhere.
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Old 07-09-2012, 03:31 PM   #13
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It's funny that you mention this problem. I just went through this on my Sierra when I was in Iowa in my Uncles' driveway. I needed to have a 30 amp breaker and recep installed in his panel so I could run at least one a/c unit. Well I nor my uncle have ever wired for a trailer so when I went to Menards to buy the necessary supplies, purchased the wrong breaker and brought home a 30amp two pole breaker. Well we installed all of it and plugger her in and went to reset the breaker in the trailer adn guess what happened......nice pretty yellow flame and then a bunch of smoke leaked out of the converter. So we did a little digging on the net and pulled up a wiring diagram and low and behold....we wired it for two hot legs and a ground instead of one hot leg with a ground and neutral and a single pole 30 amp breaker. So we fixed the wiring problem at the panel and I pulled the converter out. It just so happens that my other uncle repairs electronic components for a living so I drilled the rivets out of the top plate of the converter and the problem was immediately evident. A capacitor had blown its top and leaked out all of its smoke. So I handed it to my electronic uncle and he brought it back to me the next day all repaired with new capacitors soldered on the board. He also told me he pulled the board out of the converter and found lots of "cold" solder joints which he repaired. I reinstalled the repaired converter and all is well....woohoo. So long story short....maybe you can get your converter repaired instead of having to buy a $300 unit to install. My uncle saved me a bunch!!!!
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Old 07-09-2012, 03:43 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by Old car
Took the trailer into the shop this morning--not who I bought it from since they couldn't touch it for a month. Took it to another place that has great reputation in this area for service and sells the same brand as my unit. Will get to it late this week or first of next week.

I didn't lose 12V power--just 110. Tried connecting the television to an extension cord bypassing the trailer all together and it won't come on. Checked all circuit breakers and fuses--all are functioning as they should.

Guess I'll know more in about 10 days or so. Checking with insurance and my extended warranty folks. Hopefully some help will be out there somewhere.
You want/expect warranty to cover this?
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Old 07-09-2012, 03:52 PM   #15
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You want/expect warranty to cover this?
Don't know how it could be covered by warranty as nothing failed, but maybe insurance.
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Old 07-09-2012, 04:19 PM   #16
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Expect warranty to cover? No--but I'm going to ask. Worst thing they can do is say no. Also have filed the insurance claim. These are things I pay for so I am at least going to try.

djorgensen--glad things worked out for you as they did. Did any of your appliances get damaged? My television wouldn't come on even when I hooked it up to an extension cord run from my garage.
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Old 07-09-2012, 04:31 PM   #17
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Folks forget that TV's are "ON" even when they are "OFF" (Instant on comes at a price).

220 Volts will cook anything that is "ON" that is not 220.
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Old 07-09-2012, 04:59 PM   #18
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old car, i hope the problem isn't as bad as it sounds.
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Old 07-09-2012, 05:15 PM   #19
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Thanks jimh. My dad really feels bad about all this. He assumed a situation and turns out it was the wrong choice. When he saw the plug on the trailer and the required female receptacle, and the size of the power cord--he assumed 220. I didn't even look at his breaker box to see how he hooked up the custom extension cord since he's the electrician. I wouldn't have known even looking at it anyway. You know, things happen in life and this is not a life and death situation. Yes, it's going to cost money to repair but at least the trailer didn't burn and no one was hurt. I didn't check everything "electrical" in the trailer but I do know the Create a Breeze still works. I did not try the microwave or water pump. The tongue jack works so I hope the electric stabilizers do too. Guess I'll know more early next week.
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Old 07-09-2012, 06:48 PM   #20
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converter fix

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Expect warranty to cover? No--but I'm going to ask. Worst thing they can do is say no. Also have filed the insurance claim. These are things I pay for so I am at least going to try.

djorgensen--glad things worked out for you as they did. Did any of your appliances get damaged? My television wouldn't come on even when I hooked it up to an extension cord run from my garage.
Nope. All appliances work just fine.....thank God!! The only thing that got hurt a smidge was my pride...lol. I should have researched it first since I had never had to do it before.
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