Intermittent electrical problems

[txfireguy2003]

Hi all, I'm having trouble with my rig right now and hoping someone here may have the answer.

The wife and I have been staying in our travel trailer since Thursday night in preparation from this morning's deer season opener in Texas. What's happening is, the air conditioner and all lights will randomly go out, but the rest of the 110V circuits seem to be fine. The first time it happened, I reset the breakers in the camper (none were tripped, but I tripped them and reset them anyway) and everything came back on! It ran fine after that for several hours. Since that first time, the breakers inside don't restore power though. It's happened several times this weekend. Sometimes it will restore itself on its own, orget times i have to go reset the power at the pedestal, but once it's working again, it usually runs fine for hours, then randomly shuts off again. This morning, while getting ready to hunt, it did it again, I went outside and unplugged the trailer, plugged it back in, and all was fine, for about 15 minutes, and now, even disconnecting it and reconnecting it to power isn't fixing the problem.

Here's my thoughts:
I have 1 circuit on 110ac power that's cutting out, the air conditioner circuit, as well as at least one 12V circuit for the lights.

First thought was power converter, but why would that effect my A/C?

I have a battery, so why don't the lights stay on, even if the power went out.... they used to.

Now I'm leaning toward it being something electronic like a circuit board going bad, and resetting power "reboots" it.

For reference, it's plugged into a 30 amp RV outlet.

Thanks in advance guys.

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[Tinner12002]

Have you tried isolating the 2 circuits, AC and the one 12v and then see if things will come on and stay on? Maybe shut them both off at the breaker...just a thought.

[txfireguy2003]

I haven't done that because it seems to be only those circuits affected. The microwave, fridge, all the outlets seem to be fine.

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[Tinner12002]

Originally Posted by txfireguy2003

I haven't done that because it seems to be only those circuits affected. The microwave, fridge, all the outlets seem to be fine.

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Sorry I guess I misunderstood, thought that after several resets that you didn't have anything coming back on, that's why I suggested isolating those two so maybe you'd at least have the rest of your power on.

[txfireguy2003]

Originally Posted by Tinner12002

Sorry I guess I misunderstood, thought that after several resets that you didn't have anything coming back on, that's why I suggested isolating those two so maybe you'd at least have the rest of your power on.

Oh yeah, that makes sense.

If it helps any, I should probably mention that it's been misting rain here for a few days. Wouldn't be a big deal, we've had rain before, except that sometime between the last time I was here and his weekend, my skylight over the shower got broken, so I've had a leak. It all seemed to be draining into the shower, but I'm afraid some may have gotten into the ceiling and causing a short or something. Any thoughts?

Another strange thing I noticed last night, when I trip the breakers inside the camper to try and reset the system, the lights will flash on for half a second them back off..... this happens when I flip the breaker OFF, but not back on. Also get a beeping sound when I flip the breakers.

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[hankaye]

txfireguy2003, Howdy;

The Beeping is probably your propane gas detector, usually located somewhere near the floor. I got nuttin' for the rest of your problems.
Wish I did, I just don't know much about electricity.

hank

[txfireguy2003]

Thanks. The beep is not like an alarm, more like a chirp from an appliance coming on. The more I think about it, I'm thinking outs coming from the A/C unit, and it's doing like the lights are, just a quick flash of power, then cuts out again.

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[chuckster57]

As a rule all the wiring is in the underbelly until it comes up where needed. If you had water leaking, no telling where it may have travelled.

Roof AC wiring usually goes straight up from breaker panel then through roof to vent/unit.

[txfireguy2003]

Well, the rain has stopped, so I'm going to repair the skylight first, then it'll be on to trying to diagnose this electrical problem.

Am I wrong to think the lights should stay on, even if the power went out or the voltage converter went out? Shouldn't they operate off of the battery?

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[PARAPTOR]

Am I wrong to think the lights should stay on, even if the power went out or the voltage converter went out? Shouldn't they operate off of the battery?

Yes majority if not all lighting will be 12V DC, therefore if you loose shore power, which will disable you converter, your battery if charged will power those lights. Make sure if you have a battery disconnect switch that it is in the correct position to have your battery connected to the power distribution panel

[txfireguy2003]

I'm pretty sure there's no disconnect, but I'll certainly check. That being said, none of that should effect the 120V air conditioner, right? This problem seems to be knocking out the A/C circuit and the 12V system all at once, but the rest of the 120V stays working fine.

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[JRTJH]

This is just a guess, especially since I have no reliable information on what kind of trailer, it's age or what specific electrical system (30 amp or 50 amp) it might have. I'm guessing from your first post that you have a 1995 Zepplin with a 30 amp electrical service. If that's correct, my "SWAG" would be a loose terminal either on the circuit breaker panel or the circuit breaker. Those connections are "screw in" type connectors and do vibrate loose with travel. Another possibility is a bad 30 amp power cord. Back in 1995, many "umbilical cords" were permanently attached and shoving them in/pulling them out of the "mousehole" will flex the wire enough to eventually cause it to fatigue and break. Also, there's a potential that the 30 amp plug that you are plugging the trailer into might be faulty (loose connector)....

My bet would be a loose neutral (white) wire inside the circuit breaker panel on the trailer. BE SURE TO DISCONNECT SHORE POWER BEFORE TAKING THE COVER OFF THE PANEL !!!!!!!!!

[hankpage]

Is your water heater on electric or gas??? 30amp is not enough to run a/c and water heater at the same time. Switch water heater to gas and see what happens.

[txfireguy2003]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

This is just a guess, especially since I have no reliable information on what kind of trailer, it's age or what specific electrical system (30 amp or 50 amp) it might have. I'm guessing from your first post that you have a 1995 Zepplin with a 30 amp electrical service. If that's correct, my "SWAG" would be a loose terminal either on the circuit breaker panel or the circuit breaker. Those connections are "screw in" type connectors and do vibrate loose with travel. Another possibility is a bad 30 amp power cord. Back in 1995, many "umbilical cords" were permanently attached and shoving them in/pulling them out of the "mousehole" will flex the wire enough to eventually cause it to fatigue and break. Also, there's a potential that the 30 amp plug that you are plugging the trailer into might be faulty (loose connector)....

My bet would be a loose neutral (white) wire inside the circuit breaker panel on the trailer. BE SURE TO DISCONNECT SHORE POWER BEFORE TAKING THE COVER OFF THE PANEL !!!!!!!!!

You are correct, 95 Zeplin, 30 amp system plugged into a dedicated 30 amp service which I just tested. Pedestal reading 122.5V as expected, now moving down the power distribution chain to find the fault(s).

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[flybouy]

Originally Posted by txfireguy2003

Well, the rain has stopped, so I'm going to repair the skylight first, then it'll be on to trying to diagnose this electrical problem.

Am I wrong to think the lights should stay on, even if the power went out or the voltage converter went out? Shouldn't they operate off of the battery?

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That's correct on the battery powering the lights. The 12v DC system and the 120v ac system are separate systems that connect at the converter. As previously suggested a floating ground, or loose neutral connection can cause havoc. A 12v battery with a shorted cell can also create issues on both systems when plugged into shore power.

Do you know how to use an volt-ohm meter? Google it if you don't and you will find it easy to use. If you don't have one they can be purchased at Walmart, home improvement stores, Harbor Freight, etc. for under $20.

If you are uncomfortable with electricity then stop here and have a professional check it out.

I would start by unplugging the shore power cable and disconnecting the battery negative cable. Take a voltage reading at the battery. This should be 12volts dc. A low reading could indicate a bad connection, a defective battery, or a defective converter. Take an ohm reading from the negative battery cable to the frame of the trailer using the 1x scale. This should be zero or no resistance. Any high reading on this test could be a defective cable or corrosion where the cable bolts to the frame.

Time to check the ac side (Alternating current not air conditioner). Disconnect the power cable from the shore power! If your shore power cable is connected permanently ie thru a "mouse hole" then put the plug end of the cable thru a window and pull it to where the wires connect inside. Take the meter and go to the connection or converter and find where the ac input is from the cable. Set meter to ohms and check from the line side to the black wire, the neutral side to the white wire and the ground to the green wire. All readings should be zero or near zero on a 1x scale. If all is well here move on to deeper checks in the converter and the circuits from it. I won't go into this any further at this point to save space. Search this forum for converter issues and you will find many helpful posts.
Hope this helps.

[Steve/]

Just a guess is the thermostat running on 12 volts that would then turn off air.
With 12 volt light turning off thinking something in 12 volts circuit. Check for loose wires at the battery and any screws with wires.

Edit
Wait you said only some 12v circuit were off so battery wiring OK has to be where the light wiring/circuit is connected to main source or after.

[txfireguy2003]

Okay, I just pulled the panel apart, found a couple of connections very slightly loose, tightened them up. They weren't loose loose, but not tight tight either. Also found one screw on the ground bar completely backed out, not certain what that ground went to, but possibly the A/C, wires were tough to trace in the tight confines and no light. I replaced it and tightened all connections, checked for blown fuses sand found none blown.

Now, outside the trailer, I found that the battery was essentially dead, 2.6V, but the wires hooking to it read 13.6V between them when the battery is disconnected. I checked and found rust and corrosion on the ground side terminal, so I cleaned it up pretty week and reattached. Voltage reading across the terminals is 11.4V with the battery hooked up. Makes me think either the battery hasn't been charging due to the bad connection, or the battery is bad. It's only 2 years old, but in these Texas Summers, that don't mean much, especially since I know it got drained completely dead several times last year. I still don't see how that would be causing a problem for the Air Conditioner though. BTW, the thermostat is not hard wired, it's a battery operated remote, takes AAA batteries.

The only other thing that comes to mind as a possibility, is that I can't recall hearing the cooling fan that cools the power converter this weekend. Does that sound plausible? The fan isn't kicking on for some reason, so it's not cooling the converter, so the converter shuts down until it cools down to a reasonable operating temp, then kicks back on. Still don't see how that has any effect on the A/C, since I can see the main power wires attaching to the main breaker, then the rest of the 120V breakers attach to the bus bar below that.... that portion of the system seems super simple.

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[dwall]

I had the same problem about a year ago. I thought the converter was going bad but it turned out to be a bad battery.


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[txfireguy2003]

Originally Posted by dwall

I had the same problem about a year ago. I thought the converter was going bad but it turned out to be a bad battery.


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I may take the battery out of the equation for tonight and see if that stops the issue, if so, I'll take it back to Wal-Mart angs get a new one, I think it's still under warranty.

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[KevinW]

We just purchased a 2017 Cougar 326RDS 5th wheel. Been having issues with the lights flickering off/on, and the fridge was doing the same. I tightened all the ground wires, both inside and in the basement. (made sure I unplugged the unit prior to doing that by the way!) So far, it has seemed to help. Not sure if that might be part of your problem or not, but was fairly easy fix.