HELP!! I've lost power in most of my RV Solved

Sperb · 06-02-2012, 07:55 AM

First time poster here. I own a 2004 Surveyor 261T and lost power to most of my camper. Last night everything was working great and all of the sudden the lights, water pump, radio, hot water heater and refrigerator quit working. All of my outlets work (even the one that the fridge is plugged into) and the microwave works. I checked the breakers and fuses and everything looks fine. I pulled apart my cord coming from the power box just to make sure the connections were all good, which they are. I don't have a marine/RV battery bc we've never needed one. My chief concern is our furnace. It got down to 50 degrees in there last night and my furnace won't kick on now. My questions are this:

Has this happened to anyone?

If I go get a new battery (I doubt it will be charged though) will it provide the necessary backup pwr I need to get the fridge running on propane backup and get a spark to the furnace and h2o heater?

I don't notice the fan noise that usually comes out of the inverter (I think that what it's called. It's located just under my fuse panel)

What are some troubleshooting steps I should take?

Thanks in advance.

Sperb

donn · 06-02-2012, 08:02 AM

How did you check the fuses? Visual or with a VOM?
Visual inspection is not going to cut it. You must check them with either a VOM. I suspect you lost a couple of fuses since all of your 120VAC side works your problem is in the DC side. Have you checked the main breakers? There should be two or three 30amp main breakers and probably one of those is tripped.

Sperb · 06-02-2012, 08:12 AM

Unfortunately, I don't have a voltage meter w me. None of the breakers are tripped. There is a large gauge red wire that goes to the fuse panel that's not showing any power when I put an electrical tester on it. Could that be my problem? I don't know where it emanates from or else i'd try and trace it back to see if it was loose or something.

sherdep · 06-02-2012, 08:43 AM

you are getting 110 power but not low voltage 12v power?
Like Donn said - either a breaker is tripped - did you try turning the breaker off then back on? have found sometimes a breaker will trip but doesnt appear to be that way and when you reset it - that fixes it.

another option is to take the fuses out one by one and physically look at them - do you happen to know what Inverter you have?

could be that if you do not have a battery - one of the leg's shorted to ground and popped the fuse or possibly with your new battery you have the + and - backwards on the battery

LadyWindrider · 06-02-2012, 09:00 AM

You have a converter, not an inverter. Since you have AC power, it's not the main breaker. One of the other breakers, feeds the converter. Also the two bigger fuses feed all the DC stuff, so check them. Otherwise sounds like your converter went out. Make sure your battery leads aren't touching anything, since you don't have a battery. Good idea to tape them up so they can't touch. Can blow a fuse, even when not plugged in.

tmmar · 06-02-2012, 09:18 AM

Did you try resetting all of your GFI outlets? Could be one of them is tripped.

sherdep · 06-02-2012, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmmar

Did you try resetting all of your GFI outlets? Could be one of them is tripped.

He is having issues with the Low Voltage side not the 110v side - says the 110 side works.

unless they went thru the GFI and then back to the converter - I doubt the GFI is going to be his problem.

it is either going to be a Fuse, Breaker, Battery or the converter istself

mblanks2 · 06-02-2012, 10:21 AM

Converter or fuse for it.

Indy Steve · 06-02-2012, 10:54 AM

This happened to me with our previous trailer. My converter went out while on a trip. I just plugged it into my running truck occasionally to keep the batteries charged and all worked until I got home to replace it. You will need a battery though.

Sperb · 06-03-2012, 07:39 AM

Thanks for all the input and replies. After calling Tom Raper RV's in Fairfield OH and speaking to Ron in service we figured out it was indeed the converter that went out (actually "we" didn't figure it out, Ron did the figuring and I just shook my head yes and tried to follow what he was saying). He hooked me up w a new battery and a trickle charger to keep the battery powered via the 110 outlets that were still working fine. Ordered a new converter and panel (the Elixir brand has a one piece unit so unfortunately the entire thing needs to be swapped out instead of just the converter) and it should be in and installed by next wknd. Can't say enough about the help that I got from Ron at Tom Raper.

Sperb

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