Project trailer help

[metreen]

Hi All,
Im about midway through rebuilding a project trailer which was attacked by a tree. Currently trying to sort out some electrical issues, perhaps due to some parts missing, lack of wiring diagram and or broken parts.

Could someone post a picture of the front wiring at the batteries? They were stolen and the wiring was messed up.

My issue is i have no power at the slide switch.
On shore power i only have 12.8v from ground to 110 breakers.

12v side of panel seems ok.

[wiredgeorge]

Not sure what 12.8V to the 110 breakers mean. Where are you measuring 12.8V?

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

Looks like you’ve taken on quite the project. First off the 120AC and the 12VDC are two separate circuits and don’t intermingle. Wiring at the tongue has nothing to do with the shore power, except for the charge leads from the converter.

You need to start at the shore cord and verify voltage at the main breaker first. After that you can check the converter for output voltage. Post your findings and we can go to the next step.

[metreen]

Ok, checked the circuits again.
Shore power plugged in and reads 116.8v between common and breaker. (Black and white) but only reads 16.8 between ground and breaker.. same setting on mulitmeter.

At the batts, 13.5v and also 13.5 at the converter. This leads me to believe the converter is pooched but it doesnt explain why there is no juice at the wires for the slide motor switch.

I feel like im missing a connection somewhere... a wiring diagram or picture of wiring at the tongue would really help.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by metreen

Ok, checked the circuits again.
Shore power plugged in and reads 116.8v between common and breaker. (Black and white) but only reads 16.8 between ground and breaker.. same setting on mulitmeter.

At the batts, 13.5v and also 13.5 at the converter. This leads me to believe the converter is pooched but it doesnt explain why there is no juice at the wires for the slide motor switch.

I feel like im missing a connection somewhere... a wiring diagram or picture of wiring at the tongue would really help.

Let's break this down. First the ac side. From what you are saying it sounds like you have a ground issue. The DC side, 13.5 vdc at the converter and battery while plugged into shore power tells me the converter is ok. Have you checked the DC circuit breaker on the positive side of the battery? How about the ground from battery to frame?

[metreen]

Originally Posted by flybouy

Let's break this down. First the ac side. From what you are saying it sounds like you have a ground issue. The DC side, 13.5 vdc at the converter and battery while plugged into shore power tells me the converter is ok. Have you checked the DC circuit breaker on the positive side of the battery? How about the ground from battery to frame?

The frame ground by the batts is clean and tight, voltage checks out.
Where would i find the dc circuit breaker on positive side of batt.. remember i am trying to rebuild a mess and if its a switch it may be missing

[metreen]

What i did have for spare parts are these.
They look like they could be a breaker but no pin or switch to speak of.

The other pic with the black and black/white wires... where do these go?

[chuckster57]

Top pic is a resettable circuit breaker. If there isn’t a small red pin to push in its automatic. Bottom pic? Could be tongue jack, can’t tell by just looking up close at 2 wires.

Your AC side. Something isn’t right because you should be reading 110-120VAC with the VOM set to AC and the red lead on the black wire of the main breaker and the black lead on the ground bar.

I would unplug and test for continuity from the ground bar to the frame, and ground to neutral. With you stating you have 13.5 at the battery and converter, that means you are getting 120VAC to the breaker panel. The converter is powered by the AC side of the power distribution panel.

[B-O-B'03]

Originally Posted by metreen

What i did have for spare parts are these.
They look like they could be a breaker but no pin or switch to speak of.

The other pic with the black and black/white wires... where do these go?

On an RV 12 volt system the black wire is positive and the white wire is ground. If the trailer has been connected to a battery other than that way, even momentarily, the reverse polarity fuses have blown (they are usually located on the main power distribution panel and on my trailer are 40 amp fuses.

The 2 red things in your picture look like the remains of the 2 reset-able circuit breakers that are on the frame of my trailer, right aft of the battery box.

On my trailer, the red circuit breakers are in series, with the slide, tongue jack, brake system breakaway switch and second breaker connected to the first one and the rest of the trailer (through the converter) connected to the second one.

What year model is the outback?

I can take some pictures if you like, just let me know.

-Brian

[metreen]

Hi Brian,

We sorted out most of the wiring issues today, still have to install a new reset breaker.
On another note after we go the slide motor to work i noticed the top of the slide has a gap and maxing out the adjustment in the bracket didnt solve it. Any ideas here?

Please do send a pic of your tongue wiring, hope its close to my 2004 outback.

Cheers
Jamie

[chuckster57]

What type of slide and what bracket did you adjust? Is the gap there when retracted or extended?

[metreen]

I believe the slide is a lippert although it has no markings.
The gap is visible when retracted. See pics below, any of these look like adjustment hardware?

The middle pic is upside down, fyi...

[chuckster57]

Hard to tell, but in the second pic, if that bolt holds a bracket, I would move it up a little and see what it does.

[metreen]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Hard to tell, but in the second pic, if that bolt holds a bracket, I would move it up a little and see what it does.

Thats the bracket i adjusted. It gave me a little but i ran out of slot. The only other thing i can think of is shimming the mounts at the edge which should push the top of the slide further in on the gasket.

[chuckster57]

Your on the right track. You need to raise the outer edge.