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Old 04-05-2012, 09:00 PM   #1
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Only rant so far.

2012 30QBSS: Went out tonight to prep for a trip in 2 weeks, slowly de-winterizing it. Battery dead. Oops left something on the other day and no big deal, so I think. Plug in the shore line and nothing. Realized when I winterized I turned off all the breakers. Oh crap. There is no access to breaker panel unless the slide is out. Had to manually crank it out to get to the power box. What a pain in the butt. Never thought of it before but why did FR put it there. I could think of 2-3 other places that are easily accessible so this can be avoided. Now I'm part to blame for turning the breakers off but still. Need a beer now. That is all. Good night.
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Old 04-05-2012, 09:15 PM   #2
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Sounds like you need checklist in addition to the beer.
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Old 04-06-2012, 06:57 AM   #3
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Might have been easier to hook the TV to the camper and used the TV battery power thru the light cord to open the slide with the switch instead of cranking????
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Old 04-06-2012, 07:10 AM   #4
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As mentioned checklists are GREAT but I sometimes forget to check
the checklist (Sometimes I need someone to check the
checker!)

A battery disconnect switch somewhere that is accessible with the slide
in would be a great idea.
And yeah, those guys at FR and most any other brand you'd care to name
too often don't think this stuff through.

Hope this is your only a.s. this season!
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Old 04-06-2012, 07:39 AM   #5
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I'm laughing about it now. If I weren't so impatient I could have just pulled the battery and charged it, but with my work schedule I have limited time to work on it. I still think the design could be better but I still love the TT.

And I never thought to use the TV battery. That's a good idea.
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Old 04-06-2012, 02:45 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffK View Post

And I never thought to use the TV battery. That's a good idea.
Maybe.
I'm thinking you could blow the battery fuse in your TV.
Those slides use a bunch of juice.

Or it might work
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Old 04-06-2012, 03:15 PM   #7
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JeffK, I completely agree that the placement for the panel was a very bad design. I have the same TT and my issue is that the bunk room is a place for my kids (2 and 5) to have their own space. I set up a tv in there and they love to use the small dinette to eat, color, play games etc..Problem is, my 2 year old is always trying to get the panel door open. He actually opened it on the last trip and started throwing breakers. I am worried that he may get shocked. If anyone knows of a mod to put a lock on that panel, please let me know.
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Old 04-06-2012, 04:32 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bearcat55
JeffK, I completely agree that the placement for the panel was a very bad design. I have the same TT and my issue is that the bunk room is a place for my kids (2 and 5) to have their own space. I set up a tv in there and they love to use the small dinette to eat, color, play games etc..Problem is, my 2 year old is always trying to get the panel door open. He actually opened it on the last trip and started throwing breakers. I am worried that he may get shocked. If anyone knows of a mod to put a lock on that panel, please let me know.
Good point. My kids are 1 1/2 and 4 so I might be in the same boat as you.
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Old 04-06-2012, 05:21 PM   #9
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I want to know how you turned the breakers off if the slide was closed?If I understood right you couldn't get to the breakers with the slide closed.
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Old 04-06-2012, 05:37 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdefeo1
I want to know how you turned the breakers off if the slide was closed?If I understood right you couldn't get to the breakers with the slide closed.
I was on battery power when I did it then removed the battery for storage. I was able to open and close the slide off the battery power alone and never realized I turned the breakers off til yesterday.
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Old 04-06-2012, 05:47 PM   #11
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Oh I thought that when you kill the breakers it wouldn't work at all. My bad
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Old 04-07-2012, 06:44 AM   #12
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Pardon me if I ramble a bit here......

Talking about my power center/voltage converter/battery charger/fusebox.
What we call "breakers" are circuit breakers.
In MY trailer those are all 120v AC.
There are also fuses in there and those are all 12v DC

So if you shut off your breakers you shut off stuff like the
AC to your roof air conditioner and refrigerator and water heater and
wall outlets AND the power to feed your battery charger/voltage converter.

Now with the breakers all off, when you plug into shore power you get
nothing except if your battery is still good and connected you will have
12v stuff still working. So you would still have lights and fans and slide
motor working.

The OP said he'd removed his battery so with the breakers off he
had no power of any kind and couldn't work his slides even if he plugged into
shore power. Remember the slide motor is 12v DC.

I'm wondering why shut off all the breakers in the first place??
Just curious.
And while I'm rambling, we recently looked at a new trailer at a dealer
and the slide would not come out on shore power alone.
The converter did not have enough 12v DC output (or it was not wired
with large enough wire) to run the slide motor. It tried but lights dimmed
and the slide moved about a half inch and that's all.
They went and got a battery and stuck in there and the slide worked fine.
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Old 04-07-2012, 08:06 AM   #13
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I don't know why I shut the breakers off but from now on I will leave in the on position. This way if it happens again and the battery is dead the 12v converter will work.

I'm still on the learning curve here and maybe my experience will help others from making the same simple mistake.
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Old 04-08-2012, 04:55 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KyDan View Post
Maybe.
I'm thinking you could blow the battery fuse in your TV.
Those slides use a bunch of juice.

Or it might work
It blew the fuse on my Ram.
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