2005 keysone cougar fridge, furnace, range hood quit working

[troyndixie]

I have a 2005 keystone cougar fifth wheel. The gas furnace, frige, range hood, and light above the sink stopped working all of the sudden. No control panel lights on the fridge light up. I am on a 30 amp plugged in to shore power. I believe it is a 12v issue. I checked all the fuses with an ohm meter, and they are good. Strange thing, I closed the access door where the battery is stored in the front and everthing started working again, but then went off 30 minutes later. I will mention that I was enclosing the rv with skirting, and fastening a vinyl j-channel to the frame and thought maybe I had drill into a wire or something, but I was only using 1/2" self tapping screws. I removed the underbelly covering and examined the wiring harness coming from the battery all the way back to the axles, about where I got to with the underpinning, but cant find where I could have caused any problems because the screws are so short they barely made it into the frame. Anyway I think I will have to start with the furnace and work my way back tracing. I just have no experience with rv electrical, everthing is hidden and runs in different directions.
I appreciate any help!

[JRTJH]

Your comment: "Strange thing, I closed the access door where the battery is stored in the front and everthing started working again, but then went off 30 minutes later" may be the clue to your problem.

It sounds like you have a battery cable connection problem, either at the battery terminals or at the small self tapping screw that grounds the negative cable to the frame. If not that, then check the connection terminals on the 12 volt 30 amp circuit breakers located on the trailer frame just behind or next to the battery box. They are usually capped with a red rubber protective cap and look like this picture.

My guess is that you'll find your problem at or near the battery.

[sourdough]

John is right. Sometimes there are coincidences, or strange things, but when something like that happens with electricity it is pretty much telling you where the problem is.

[ctbruce]

I'm banking on a loose connection in proximity to the battery compartment. A little bit of checking and tightening should make you good to go. Be sure to comment back what you find. It will help us and others down the road.

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[troyndixie]

I checked the battery terminals and they were loose, so I cleaned and tightened them. Thought maybe just maybe, but no joy. Checked the breaker terminals in the pic, they were snug. I don't understand why only the furnace, fridge, range hood, and one light wouldn't come on though, when the rest of the lights work. If breakers were tripped how would I reset them? Would Need to replace them?

Thanks for all your help? It is greatly appreciated!!

[ctbruce]

I checked the battery terminals and they were loose, so I cleaned and tightened them. Thought maybe just maybe, but no joy. Checked the breaker terminals in the pic, they were snug. I don't understand why only the furnace, fridge, range hood, and one light wouldn't come on though, when the rest of the lights work. If breakers were tripped how would I reset them? Would Need to replace them?

Thanks for all your help? It is greatly appreciated!!It would be fuses since it is the 12 volt DC side, not the breakers, that's the 120 volt AC side. Something's not sitting tight.

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[troyndixie]

Yes seems to be the 12v system. So the breakers John mentioned are 12v at least that's my understanding. The inside breaker box where the converter is holds the 120v ac breakers and the 12v dc fuses which I checked, and none were blown according to my ohm meter. I checked the 12v system hot and grounds. All we're good. Thanks for the reply!

[ctbruce]

Yes seems to be the 12v system. So the breakers John mentioned are 12v at least that's my understanding. The inside breaker box where the converter is holds the 120v ac breakers and the 12v dc fuses which I checked, and none were blown according to my ohm meter. I checked the 12v system hot and grounds. All we're good. Thanks for the reply!Breakers are AC and fuses are DC. Your problem is on the 12v side. Maybe a loose wire? You could turn everything on then start pulling fuses. When nothing changes, that's where the problem is. Loose wire, bad fuse, ghosts......

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[JRTJH]

On most trailers there are two of those 12 volt DC auto-reset breakers next to the battery. One is for the slides/leveling system, etc and is "before the cutoff switch". All components wired to that breaker are "always on".... Then, there is a 8 ga jumper wire from the hot side of that first breaker that goes through the battery cutoff switch (if you have one) or directly to the second 12 VDC breaker. From the load side of that second breaker, the interior lights, furnace, refrigerator, etc are wired. So, if you found one and it was OK, keep looking, there's a second one (at least on all the trailers I've worked on) within a few feet of the first.

The easiest way to determine if the DC breakers are resetting (or conducting power) is to use a voltmeter and measure from one terminal to ground. You should get 12 volts. Then move the voltmeter to the other terminal, if it's closed (conducting) you'll get 12 volts there also. This is normal and indicates a functional breaker. If you get 0 VDC from the second terminal to ground, the breaker is open and power is not flowing through it.

The 12 VDC "can" breakers have a history of failing at the worst time and are not as reliable as we'd like them to be. Typically they last longer on a fifth wheel (out of the weather) than on a travel trailer (mounted under the A-frame tongue) but they will fail when in a humid environment, which is almost all travel trailers.....

[troyndixie]

I don't have a disconnect switch but I did check the breakers. I have 12 VDC on both sides.
I have 12 VDC coming off of the converter on both sides of all the fuse terminals. I have checked and have 12 VDC at each of the wires coming off of the converter. Traced one to the hot water heater, found one going from the converter through a wall up into another wall beside the fridge that I couldn't trace. Suspect maybe the problem is somewhere in there. Not sure what I should be reading at the furnace. There are 2 smaller wires maybe thermostat wires and 2 larger wires which I couldn't get a voltage reading on. There is 12 VDC on the leg off of the fridge fuse, but it snakes up into that wall metioned.

Thanks for the clarification on the breakers. I appreciate everyones help. This is a valuble forum, I hope to be able to contribute to!
I called a repair tech to come out (It's too cold here in Bama, and I have too much on my plate right now to continue troubleshooting this). I will post back the results.

Thanks again!

[troyndixie]

It ended up being a wire nut came loose from over the range hood feeding power to all the above-mentioned appliances. Wow. Strange way to run wiring.
Anyway thanks for all help!

[ctbruce]

Great! Glad it's fixed. If you think that's weird, you ain't seen nothing yet.

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[notanlines]

Troy, imagine that! Two big wins in one week. Monday night's game AND you
found your electrical problem. Looks like you AND Coach Sabin found the problem just in time.....