Electrical question

[KnightsTale]

This weekend was our first camping trip! We have a 2021 Cedar Creek 5th wheel equipped with solar panels and an inverter. We're confused about where the power is actually coming from and why our batteries drained overnight while we were plugged in to the campsite's 50 amp outlet. When we woke up our heat, water pump and lights wouldn't work. Any advice or info would be appreciated!

[MO311fan]

Did you turn the breaker on after hooking up shore power?

[Mr. Dan]

Do you have a battery disconnect switch and have it in the wrong position?

[KnightsTale]

The battery disconnect switch is turned to the ON position.

[KnightsTale]

We assumed the breaker was on. We haven't touched the breaker at all.

[MO311fan]

Often the breakers are in the “off” position when you arrive at the campground. Go check it.

[rsdata]

A little too late now, but this is why many suggest driveway camping until you learn your systems...

You may not have a 50 AMP plug to plug into at home, but there are adapters so that you can plug into a home socket.

Another thought... when you plugged into power pole did you try the microwave? That is one of the appliances that requires 110 VAC power that your trailer battery will not supply. The furnace, the fridge, lights, the radio will all work off of battery power, but the microwave does NOT run off battery. So if the microwave does NOT work then something is wrong with the AC hookup like maybe a breaker or a bad connection. The power pole also has a breaker in the box that needs to be turned ON. I can always tell that I am connected because the microwave beeps ONCE when conneted to AC power at the pole.

[NavyLCDR]

Originally Posted by KnightsTale

We assumed the breaker was on. We haven't touched the breaker at all.

It should be off before connecting or disconnecting shore power. So, if the previous camper knew what they were doing, they would have turned off the 50 amp breaker, unplugged, and left the breaker turned off. Both my shore power cable, and the jack on the side of my trailer have blue lights to indicate power is turned on. But, like the previous poster suggested, power to the microwave is 100% certain that you have shore power.

[CHICKDOE]

any update?

yes checking for lights on the microwave is a great verification that you are getting 120 volt power from the pedestal. or more specifically from at least one leg from the pedestal on a 50 amp unit. getting a 12 volt meter or indicator will also help to verify that the converter is actually charging the batteries.

[MO311fan]

I viewed many YouTube videos before buying my new camper. One of the first items they always suggested (or said was required) is a surge protector. Having one that you plugged in and didn’t light up at all would have been an immediate “red flag” that there was an issue.

I bought mine Amazon Prime for about $85. It is an Eaton brand, 50 amp. Eaton is a recognized name in the electrical world (25 year Journeyman Electrician here.)

[KnightsTale]

We were plugged into shore power. The breaker was on. We had a surge protecter connected. Being new to RV life we have a few questions.
1. Should the inverter be on when connected to shore power?
2. We have a solar panel, does it charge the battery when you are connected to shore power?
3. What items drain the battery when in use?
We thought when connected to shore power you could run everything and not worry.

[phipps33]

Originally Posted by KnightsTale

We were plugged into shore power. The breaker was on. We had a surge protecter connected. Being new to RV life we have a few questions.
1. Should the inverter be on when connected to shore power?
2. We have a solar panel, does it charge the battery when you are connected to shore power?
3. What items drain the battery when in use?
We thought when connected to shore power you could run everything and not worry.

1) Yes, the converter should be on. It also distributes the power.

2) I’m not familiar enough with solar setups to say for certain, but I would think so.

3) furnace, water heater LP side, water pump, lights, refrigerator controls, slide outs

Yes, when on shore power you “should” be able to run everything without worrying. I say “should” because that is based on what amp hookup you’re using and how many high demand appliances you have, ie you probably can’t run 2 AC units and a microwave on a 30A hookup but you’d be fine on a 50A hookup.

Good luck!! Hopefully it’s something simple like a breaker.

[CHICKDOE]

wow. there are quite a few issues here. i'll try to clear up some of your questions.

you know some devices get powered from 120 volt shore (or generator) power and some can be powered from the 12 volt battery. there is one device that spans both power sources and that is the converter. it takes 120 volts shore power and converts it to 12 volt power. it's primary function is to recharge the batteries, but it can also serve as a 12 volt power supply by itself should the batteries be disconnected.

you said that several devices did not work when you woke up in the morning. (heater, water pump, lights). these are all 12 volt devices. i am assuming that they were working then night before. if you were hooked up to shore power the converter should have been supplying power to these devices and they should have worked in the morning. the fact that they weren't leads me to believe that they were working on battery power the night before and the battery got drained overnight. the converter does not appear to be supplying 12 volt power. one very easy check its to test the reverse polarity fuses on the converter. these may have been blown and if so they would keep the converter from supplying 12 volt power.

this could be due to a couple of reasons and it is just a guess as to which one it is. people have suggested that the breaker on the pedestal was off. you say you had a surge protector installed in the incoming shore power path. is it a surge protector only or a full EMS system? did the indicator lights on this device come on (indicating that it is
sensing shore power from the pedestal)? if a full ems did it sense any error condition and interrupt the incoming shore power?

you seem to be saying that you were plugged into shore power and the pedestal breaker was on. you need to know if that power was actually making its way inside to the power panel. people have reported loose or broken connections in the receptacle that the shore power cord plugs into or even within the electrical panel itself. this may be a defect from the factory. but it needs to be tracked down.

can you hook up an extension cord to the trailer at home or where you store it? you will need to have an adapter to connect the extension cord to the 50 amp shore power cord. the fact that you are 50 amp makes it likely that you have two air conditioners and they will be on separate legs of the 50 amp circuits. if you can plug an extension cord or generator in try to turn on each a/c one at a time. you don't have to run them more than a few seconds. if they start that says you are getting shore power on both legs.

i this was a bit wordy but your issue could be one of several different things. i guess the process to resolve it is to identify what does work and eliminate as many possible causes as possible. the symptoms you describe point to the converter not providing 12 volt power.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by phipps33

1) Yes, the converter should be on. It also distributes the power.

2) I’m not familiar enough with solar setups to say for certain, but I would think so.

3) furnace, water heater LP side, water pump, lights, refrigerator controls, slide outs

Yes, when on shore power you “should” be able to run everything without worrying. I say “should” because that is based on what amp hookup you’re using and how many high demand appliances you have, ie you probably can’t run 2 AC units and a microwave on a 30A hookup but you’d be fine on a 50A hookup.

Good luck!! Hopefully it’s something simple like a breaker.

The question was about the INverter. Sometimes members confuse the two... but sometimes members want to know if the INverter should be on when it's not obvious if it would be needed.

[rsdata]

Being new to RV life we have a few questions.
1. Should the inverter be on when connected to shore power?
2. We have a solar panel, does it charge the battery when you are connected to shore power?

Mr Dan points out in RED above the confusion of INverter and CONverrter...

INverters take battery power and change it into 110 VAC power, which then operates usually the 110 VAC residential fridges that come in larger RVs.

I like to think that everything in my RV ( except TV, AC and microwave) works off battery power. And the batteries are continuously re-charged with the CONverter that charges the battery when plugged into the power pedestal.

Batteries typically only last a day or a night ( or maybe a full day or two, depending if you have multiple batteries in a bank)) if not being (re)charged. In your case with solar they are being charged with the solar panel(s), but probably not enough to keep them at 100% unless you are frugal with your use of energy.

Finally YES, (qualified) the solar should be constantly charging, but only in the BEST of conditions with no shade on the panels and at optimum noon sun. Angled sun at this time of year is NOT optimal, unless maybe in AZ. Your solar charge controller SHOULD tell you the state of charge of the battery and whether or not the panel IS in FACT charging the battery.

Numerous youtube videos on every facet of solar, batteries, and electrical in your RV. I suggest some search on youtube, EVEN model specific will certainly help with your understanding your electrical situation.

[PhilFromMaine]

Originally Posted by KnightsTale

We were plugged into shore power. The breaker was on. We had a surge protecter connected. Being new to RV life we have a few questions.
1. Should the inverter be on when connected to shore power?
2. We have a solar panel, does it charge the battery when you are connected to shore power?
3. What items drain the battery when in use?
We thought when connected to shore power you could run everything and not worry.

As others have said:
1. The inverter is producing AC power from your battery bank and
should be turned off when hooked up to campground power. The converter does the exact opposite. It is essentially a battery charger. It takes AC power from an AC electrical hookup and charges your battery bank. It is usually always on unless you turn it off at the RV breaker panel.

2. In most cases that I have seen, the solar panel is always charging if there is sun.

3. Most of the small wattage electrical items run off 12 volt DC power. Any large wattage item runs off AC power that is either supplied by the inverter that gets power from your battery bank, or through shore power (campground pedestal or a generator). Look at your electrical panel. All the small clip fuses are for DC and in many cases will be labeled as to what the device is. AC devices will have standard (like home) breakers that should be labeled.

Almost everyone new to RVing will kill their first set of batteries, at least I did. There is a lot to learn. However, there are a ton of good videos out there to educate yourself with.

[phipps33]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

The question was about the INverter. Sometimes members confuse the two... but sometimes members want to know if the INverter should be on when it's not obvious if it would be needed.

Oh shoot....I wasn’t paying attention....I totally read that as CONverter. I do know the difference between the two. My apologies to the OP for that screw up!

[Mandog]

Find breaker panel on trailer and check the breaker. It’ll be a a larger one....

[jbflag21ds]

The answer to #1 depends on the inverter.

If it has passthrough/bypass then it can be on.

If it does not have that feature, then you need to decide if you need the AC power the inverter would be producing from DC battery power (such as a residential fridge or any outlets on that circuit). As long as your converter can keep up the battery charge your inverter is using, then you are fine over time. If it can not keep up then use it sparingly.