No 12V power this morning

[AntonJ]

Woke up this morning with no 12 volt power in my 5th wheel. We are boondocking and the critical piece is it has the fridge/freezer off. Batteries are tested and fine. Battery switch is ON. Call is in to Cardinal tech help. Thanks

It is a 2015 Cardinal 3875FB

[Flybob]

Did you check the resettable breaker under the frame near the hitch?
Is this the original Battery?
How are you testing the battery?

[Daycruiser]

Volt meter working from the battery toward the distribution panel until you find the open circuit. Could be a resettable fuse, hard fuse, loose connection, bad battery switch, bad ground, any number of fun things to check. What is the actual battery voltage? If you fire up a genny do you get 12 volts back from the converter?

[CedarCreekWoody]

Being a fifth wheel the resetable breaker will likely be in or near the battery compartment, not near the hitch. It will have a button push.

[5picker]

As mentioned, start at the battery, testing with a voltmeter and work your way towards the power distribution box.

You have to start with the basics.

[AntonJ]

I tested the batteries with a volt meter. Also, my solar controller agrees they are at 12.65 I do have 12volt power with the generator running. I don't know what the resettable breaker looks like. Anybody have a picture?

[fonzie]

Originally Posted by AntonJ

I tested the batteries with a volt meter. Also, my solar controller agrees they are at 12.65 I do have 12volt power with the generator running. I don't know what the resettable breaker looks like. Anybody have a picture?

Here it is....

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...et-154141.html

[AntonJ]

As a confounding or maybe illuminating factor, I had let the propane tank run out. Could that have tripped something with the refrigerator and water heater continuing to try to reignite the propane?

[AntonJ]

I cannot find the resettable breaker so far. Also, I wanted to insert an image to show you all what the gizmo in front of my battery bank looks like, but I don't know how to do that. The insert an image icon requires a URL and I cannot do a simple copy/paste. Feeling particularly dumb this morning...

[Bama Rambler]

if you're on a PC can click (or touch) the 'Go Advanced' button at the bottom of the Quick Reply window and you can add pictures from there by searching your local device.

[CedarCreekWoody]

Read here to post photo. Post 7.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...html#post49621

[AntonJ]

I'll see if the image loaded.

[Bama Rambler]

Did you test that fuse with a meter?

[CedarCreekWoody]

Yes that is a fuse, not a circuit breaker. Test it as recommended above, and keep testing a you go downstream until you find the break. Your circuit breaker is apt to be covered by the red rubber shield as pictured above. Peel that back to test the power or access the reset button the side.

[AntonJ]

OK, Thanks for all your help. And thanks to Don McWilliams the Cardinal rep at Forest River. In the close up pic, the knife breaker on the left was the culprit. The one on the right controls the hydraulics. It was not fully tripped, but I thought I had tripped and reset it in an earlier attempt to resolve the issue. But, when I did it a second time it reset the system and all is well that ends well. The crazy thing is when it is fully tripped it is really easy to see, but it was not visibly tripped yet responded to a reset.

[Bama Rambler]

Thanks for letting us know what you found. I'm glad it was as easy as resetting a breaker, even if it was a bit of a challenge to find.

[AntonJ]

Also, thanks to the folks that held my hand through the picture posting part too.

BTW: I don't know, but I do suspect the running the system out of propane had something to do with the breaker tripping. After spending a decade (the '80's) in Law Enforcement, I am deeply suspicious of coincidences.
Maybe the frig or the hot water heater continuously trying to reignite?

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

Thanks for letting us know what you found. I'm glad it was as easy as resetting a breaker, even if it was a bit of a challenge to find.

Things like that are always easier to find the next time

This would be a nice thing to add you a new RV PDI/Checklist.

Location of ALL circuit breakers and hidden fuses. ALL OF THEM.

[AntonJ]

I was definitely the tree for a while this morning!

[Rich McF]

There is a thermal fuse located in the refrigerator someplace near the propane ignitor. Mine was attached to a red wire that had some heat shrink on it. I had the same problem and was able to replace it and fixed the problem. Fuse type SF152E. Ordered on Amazon for $7.41 for a package off 10.