2012 Rockwood Freedom 1940ltd Tent Trailer

[Chicker12]

Hey everyone!

I have a 2012 Rockwood Freedom 1940ltd Tent Trailer and I am having issues with fuses popping when I connect the battery. There was a circuit breaker on the battery but is has gone missing. Could this be the issue?

Does any one have or know here i can find a wiring schematic for this model.

I am going to try and troubleshoot this myself before bringing it in for a repair.

thanks!

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Chicker12

Hey everyone!

I have a 2012 Rockwood Freedom 1940ltd Tent Trailer and I am having issues with fuses popping when I connect the battery. There was a circuit breaker on the battery but is has gone missing. Could this be the issue?

Does any one have or know here i can find a wiring schematic for this model.

I am going to try and troubleshoot this myself before bringing it in for a repair.

thanks!

No schematics available, but these units are pretty simple.
First question: What colors are your battery cables? There are two schemes used:
1) Red=Positive, Black=Negative
2) Black=Positive, White=Negative
Are you connecting the battery correctly?

Second question: Are there a bunch of accessory cables at the battery terminals? What happens if you leave those off and just connect the heavy cables?

Third question: There's a breakaway switch as part of the trailer hookup: a piece of flexible cable connected to a plastic stub. If that stub is pulled out of the breakaway switch, the electric trailer brakes will go full on, drawing 16 amps. Is your breakaway switch pulled?

Fourth question: What circuit breakers are tripping? Most of the circuit breakers in the power center are for 120 volt AC plug-in power, not 12 volt DC battery power. There is one circuit breaker, picture attached, that's in the main battery positive circuit, picture attached. Is it this one?

[Chicker12]

Hi Larry,

Thank you for your response.

I am pretty sure that the there is a Red and a Black cable and that I have them on the correct terminals.

I believe the fridge and the furnace are hooked up to the battery as well.

I don't think the breakaway switch is pulled out, but I will check it anyways.
I have moved it a few times and the brakes don't seem to be engaged at all.

When I hook the battery up it is tripping the main 30 Amp fuse in the control box but I do not have the pictured circuit breaker. I had one but it went missing! Could that be the main problem that I am having??

Thanks!

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Chicker12

Hi Larry,

Thank you for your response.

I am pretty sure that the there is a Red and a Black cable and that I have them on the correct terminals.

I believe the fridge and the furnace are hooked up to the battery as well.

I don't think the breakaway switch is pulled out, but I will check it anyways.
I have moved it a few times and the brakes don't seem to be engaged at all.

When I hook the battery up it is tripping the main 30 Amp fuse in the control box but I do not have the pictured circuit breaker. I had one but it went missing! Could that be the main problem that I am having??

Thanks!

The circuit breaker I showed is usually between the battery and everything else. If it is missing, the battery will only be connected to a few items that are wired directly to it--with other cables than the heavy red and black ones. For a tent trailer, that might be the tongue jack.

Tell me more about the missing circuit breaker. How do you know it's missing? Where was it located? Do you know what two things it connected together? What has happened to the two dangling wires?

I should have asked this earlier. Is the trailer also plugged into power?

"Tripping the fuse" confuses me. Fuses are a one-time disposable item. Circuit breakers are resettable. Sometimes someone replaces a fuse in the fuse panel with a circuit breaker that has the same dimensions. If that's what you have, it could be the main fuse. What other fuses are present and are they labelled? Posting a photograph would be helpful.

Do you have other fuses

[Chicker12]

Hi Larry,

By tripping fuses I meant blowing the fuse. Reading it back I see how this could be confusing!

Sorry!

The circuit breaker was attached at the Positive battery terminal.

I will get some pictures tonight and post them.

I am not connected to power when this is happening.

Also when connected to 120V, nothing works.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Chicker12

Hi Larry,

By tripping fuses I meant blowing the fuse. Reading it back I see how this could be confusing!

Sorry!

The circuit breaker was attached at the Positive battery terminal.

I will get some pictures tonight and post them.

I am not connected to power when this is happening.

Also when connected to 120V, nothing works.

Okay, I'm starting to get it. Essentially the circuit breaker at the battery has been bypassed. When you attempt to connect a charged battery, a 30 amp fuse at the power center blows. Is that right?

I am not very familiar with tent-trailers. Does it have "power center" with four or five fuses, and a couple of 120 volt circuit breakers?

If so, are the fuses labelled? Can you tell what each one does?

Have you made sure that everything is turned off?
Lights?
Fans?
Refrigerator?
Water heater?
Furnace?

Maybe post a picture of the area where the blowing fuse is, and one of the fuse board in the power center--if you have one.

To post pictures:

• Take pictures with the "shutter" button on the right.
• Put them on your computer, in a folder (e.g., Pictures, Downloads, Desktop, etc.) where you can find them.
• In this posting editor, click the paperclip icon at the top.
• In the popup, click the first "Choose file" button, navigate to the picture you want, and click Open.
• Repeat the above step using the next "Choose File" button, up to four more times.
• Click Upload.
• When the upload completes, click "Close Window".
• You won't see the pictures until you click "Submit Reply" or "Preview Post".

[Chicker12]

"Okay, I'm starting to get it. Essentially the circuit breaker at the battery has been bypassed. When you attempt to connect a charged battery, a 30 amp fuse at the power center blows. Is that right?"

This is exactly what is happening!!

As soon as I connect the battery it blows the fuse.

There is a panel with fuses as well as 1 breaker switch.

I will try and connect the circuit breaker like it was before and see if that helps!

[Bob414]

Check the connections to the battery are correct. If you have a multimeter, with the battery disconnected and NO shore power ie no AC connected to camper. Connect the meter to neg battery connection cable and the other to the metal frame (no paint or rust) with the meter set on ohms. You should have very little resistance on the meter if it is indeed the neg battery connection. Check the other battery connection the same way, just to be sure.

Reverse wiring will definitely blow the main fuse on Converter.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Bob414

Check the connections to the battery are correct. If you have a multimeter, with the battery disconnected and NO shore power ie no AC connected to camper. Connect the meter to neg battery connection cable and the other to the metal frame (no paint or rust) with the meter set on ohms. You should have very little resistance on the meter if it is indeed the neg battery connection. Check the other battery connection the same way, just to be sure.

Reverse wiring will definitely blow the main fuse on Converter.

Actually, that's not so. Connecting the battery backwards blows the "Reverse Polarity" fuses on the fuse panel. This isolates and protects the converter, but battery power is still available to the appliances in the RV.

I've been asking the OP for a picture of his fuse panel, so I could see whether the "30 amp fuse" is the reverse polarity fuse or a fuse for some short-circuited appliance. For some reason, he's not posting the picture.

[flyerdp]

Originally Posted by Chicker12

Hi Larry,

By tripping fuses I meant blowing the fuse. Reading it back I see how this could be confusing!

Sorry!

The circuit breaker was attached at the Positive battery terminal.

I will get some pictures tonight and post them.

I am not connected to power when this is happening.

Also when connected to 120V, nothing works.

The circuit breaker at your battery was for the electric winch roof.