Raptor 429 Norcold no AC

[P & T]

I walked in to the rig today and heard the refrigerator beeping with "no AC" flashing. Turned on the propane and the refrigerator started working. Did some digging and unplugged the refrigerator from the plug (located through the outside access panel) put a volt meter to it and zero volts. No breakers are tripped, cycled them anyway. I'm plugged into shore power (30 amp plug to my 50 amp cord).

My AC works and I have 110 volts at my GFI's. Is there a sub panel or separate breaker to that refer plug? I feel like it should get power from the inverter but not 100% sure. The fridge has been working with that 30 amp power source for the past 5 days. Any thoughts?

[BigBobIa]

Unplug the 50a cable from your rig. Do you have 120 v from both the side slots to the end slot?

O
I…….I —-Do each of these have it to
I —-To this

If not the dog bone is not a good one.

Sorry it keeps removing my spacing to make O and I’s look like a plug.

[P & T]

Yup. 120 volts to each side. Checked all my plugs and I have 120 volts everywhere except the fridge. The two plugs above my nightstands are inverted and I have 120 volts there too.

I see some romex that feeds that fridge plug. It disappears under the belly but I don't know what it connects to (breaker?).

The Norcold literature shows an 8 amp AC fuse or breaker somewhere, but that looks internal to the fridge. I need to keep digging

[travelin texans]

Sounds a GFCI is tripped somewhere.
Should be one near any sink, probably one outside somewhere & possibly in the pass thru area.

[flybouy]

Turn of the power and remove the fridge receptical. Inspect wires and restore power. If the wires are live then the connection in the receptical is bad. If no voltage at the wires then test the output side of the breaker.

[P & T]

I've been digging all morning.

There is a black flex cable coming up through the fridge slide and then it goes to romex. The romex feeds the fridge receptacle and the coffee bar receptacle (turns out that is dead too). I disconnected the romex connector and the flex cable end is dead. So no power coming through that cable but there is no breaker or gfi for that. I need to find out where that black cable is coming from next. I opened up the main fuse/breaker panel but I did not see that black cable.

I have breakers for AC1, 2 & 3, Fireplace, generator, microwave, convection, and GFI's. Nothing labeled for other plugs so they must be scabbing from something.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by P & T

I've been digging all morning.

There is a black flex cable coming up through the fridge slide and then it goes to romex. The romex feeds the fridge receptacle and the coffee bar receptacle (turns out that is dead too). I disconnected the romex connector and the flex cable end is dead. So no power coming through that cable but there is no breaker or gfi for that. I need to find out where that black cable is coming from next. I opened up the main fuse/breaker panel but I did not see that black cable.

I have breakers for AC1, 2 & 3, Fireplace, generator, microwave, convection, and GFI's. Nothing labeled for other plugs so they must be scabbing from something.

That black flex cable will come out of the underbelly where another connector is used to connect it to the romex.

[P & T]

I scraped away the foam at the underbelly and I can see the connector where the black cable goes back to romex. It is taped up and the romex goes forward toward the breaker panel. I'm hoping there is an area where that romex is scabbing power (bundle of wire nuts or j-box) if the next step doesnt fix the problem. I'll have to cut more of the belly away to take that connector apart and check for power.

All of the breakers have 120 volts at the screws so something is interrupting that power, but it sure would be nice if Keystone had a conceptual wiring diagram to go by...I would love an as-built, but I know that is asking way too much.

[chuckster57]

Don’t cut the coroplast. Just take out the fasteners. If they are nails you can replace with stainless steel self tapping.

[P & T]

The coroplast was already cut and folded when I removed the foam. I'm thinking I'm just going to reseal this hole and wait until I get it back to the dealer. I'm in the middle of the country and 1500 miles from home. Not sure if I feel like removing the screws (gas line and separate wire harness would have to come down too).

I have a separate power cord that the fridge is plugged into, so I know there is not a problem with the appliance. Maybe at my next stop, I'll start pulling apart gfci receptacles to look for something obvious. I'm iritated but it's an opportunity to make things better for the future.

[JRTJH]

That plug, the "Molex" connector is a "problem child" for many people. It is a very reliable plug, when it works, but sometimes it simply doesn't make a good connection. I'd suspect that plug before doing any extensive "tear down to access the Romex.

Also, since you know the refrigerator is working, why not just run an extension cord to the refrigerator plug and continue on your trip and let the dealer "deal with it" when you get back home???

[P & T]

I can run a short cord from my outdoor gfci to the fridge cord at each stop and run propane while driving, no problem. I will enjoy the rest of the trip but I'm going to get curious during downtime, it's in my nature.

The molex under the belly is wrapped with a lot of electrical tape. Maybe to keep moisture away or maybe it was a loose connection on assembly (or both).

Thank you all for the insight, I'll keep you posted.

Side note: there are other posts here that were giving me clues, so hopefully this thread might help the next person out too.

[sourdough]

Another thought if you don't have it; if you are cutting, or have cut the coroplast underbelly, and it is, or will be, taped, get a roll of scrim tape for when you have to do some underbelly repairs.

[P & T]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Another thought if you don't have it; if you are cutting, or have cut the coroplast underbelly, and it is, or will be, taped, get a roll of scrim tape for when you have to do some underbelly repairs.

I did not know what scrim tape was but I will definitely get some. When I cut away the foam to see the molex connector, the flex cable went rhrough the coroplast where it was cut already by others. I was going to try some Gorilla tape to temporarily patch it (i have expandable foam too) but scrim tape needs to be in my hardware bin. Thanks!

[chuckster57]

Use the scrim tape when your done. It sticks instantly and for YEARS!!!