Electrical Issue On 2011 Cougar 27SAB

rob in windsor · 01-29-2012, 02:56 PM

I purchased a 2000 watt inverter generator for camping and from the get go, it would trip out every time I plugged the 5th wheel into it. So I plugged everything else known to man in this genny and it worked fine. So I figured it must be the trailer. Took the trailer to service center and told them of the problem and they checked it over and I was informed that the electrical was fine and needed a bigger generator.
I bring the trailer home, unload it and store it for winter. Company comes over for New Years, warm outside so I set up the 5'er for company. Plug it in to the house and pops the breaker in the house. I shut off all the breakers in the rv and reset the breaker in the house. Then I open the rv breakers 1 by 1 until I get to the one supplying the converter, which pops the one in the house again. So with the converter breaker off, and the trailer plugged in, all I have in the rv is the electrical outlet above the sink and the LED on the microwave. No lights, no tv, nothing.
Anyone have any ideas or suggestions as I am totally stumped and the warranty runs out in April?

Terrydactile · 01-29-2012, 03:23 PM

If you have a battery in it then you should have lights whether or not if the converter is powered up. Couple of things come to mind...Your battery is shorted out or the wires are shorted out that run from the converter to the battery. If you have a battery in it, disconnect the wires from it, being careful to not let them touch each other or the frame, set the breaker for the converter again. If ok then your battery is bad. If you don't have a battery in it then maybe one of the battery wires is touching the frame or one another. Just some thoughts.

chuck&gail · 01-29-2012, 03:32 PM

But don't buy a new battery before you get that one tested!!! If the battery was very discharged, it might be normal operation DEPENDING on the capability of the house circuit you plugged into. What SIZE was the breaker that tripped in the house, and what else is on that circuit?

Note it only takes a few weeks for the propane detector to discharge a TT battery if left running with no shore power connected. Many of us install battery cutoff switches for just that reason.

rob in windsor · 01-29-2012, 04:05 PM

The breaker in the house is a 15 amp with nothing else on it. I even made certain that the Christmas lights were unplugged. All last summer, that circuit ran the rv as well as the pool pump with no problems.
Tomorrow, I will disconnect battery and see what happens.

Bob Landry · 01-29-2012, 04:59 PM

Someone help me out here. I keep reading posts refering to the "breaker that feeds the converter". Unless I'm really missing something, the only breaker that "feeds" the converter is the 30A double breaker that is fed by the shore power cord. That double breaker feeds the set of smaller breakers that supply current to the individual circuits, so the only way to turn off the converter is with the double breaker. What am I missing here?

f6bits · 01-29-2012, 05:35 PM

My converter is a 15A breaker in the row of other 120V breakers. My top breaker is the 30A main, and my bottom one is my 15A converter.

rob in windsor · 01-29-2012, 06:06 PM

On the panel that houses the main breaker , also breakers for the microwave, H/W heater, GFI, etc, there is also one marked CON### (3 digit number). When this breaker is made, that is when the house or genny breaker trips.

f6bits · 01-29-2012, 07:20 PM

Now that the problem seems narrowed to the converter circuit, does your 12V system (lights, furnace, fridge, pump, etc) work when you’re not plugged into shore power?

rob in windsor · 01-30-2012, 01:40 AM

Not anymore. It did up until it was serviced.

**hankpage** · 01-30-2012, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob in windsor

Not anymore. It did up until it was serviced.

I would be willing to bet that your battery or battery cable is shorted to ground. JM2¢, Hank

**hankpage** · 01-30-2012, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

Someone help me out here. I keep reading posts refering to the "breaker that feeds the converter". Unless I'm really missing something, the only breaker that "feeds" the converter is the 30A double breaker that is fed by the shore power cord. That double breaker feeds the set of smaller breakers that supply current to the individual circuits, so the only way to turn off the converter is with the double breaker. What am I missing here?

Bob, most panels will have a breaker marked for converter or CON/Recep. (the outlet that the converter is plugged into) ... Hank

Kunkler · 01-30-2012, 11:31 AM

If your pluging into the house you may want to find a larger circuit 15amp by code should only have 14 guage wire to it. personaly I would not plug a camper into a 15amp breaker. Im sure thats not your problem here but something to think about later....
"just sayin"

Bob Landry · 01-30-2012, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hankpage

Bob, most panels will have a breaker marked for converter or CON/Recep. (the outlet that the converter is plugged into) ... Hank

I went out and looked at mine today. The bottom breaker is marked GEN. I don't have a generator, so I turned off the battery switch, turned on the overhead lights and then turned off the GEN breaker. The lights went off, so that answers my questions. My converter isn't plugged into anoutlet, at least according to the schematic in the owner's manual. It's all internally hard wired. I guess we learn something everyday.

Hunter757 · 01-30-2012, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hankpage

I would be willing to bet that your battery or battery cable is shorted to ground. JM2¢, Hank

I would agree with Hank check out your connections at the battery. What did you have serviced this might help narrow the search even more?
Let us know what you find, good luck.

rob in windsor · 01-30-2012, 05:22 PM

More times than not, when I tried to run off of the genny, the genny would trip as soon as I would plug the rv in. So I took the rv in and told them of the problem. They told me they checked it out and all was okay, except my 2000 watt genny was not big enough to run anything on that rv.

rob in windsor · 01-30-2012, 05:24 PM

I was hoping to get at it today, but 12" of snow in 3 hours affected my plans.

Terrydactile · 01-30-2012, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob in windsor

They told me they checked it out and all was okay, except my 2000 watt genny was not big enough to run anything on that rv.

Your 2000 watt genny will run a lot of equipment on your camper. Granted it might not run the micro, or AC but if you are careful you can do many things with that genny. You should certainly be able to run the converter and subsequently the 12 volt DC items. Your dealer is pulling your leg.

I still think you may have a shorted battery or cables. Hopefully your weather will improve so you can do some more checking. Lets us know what you find as we all learn from this forum.

rob in windsor · 01-30-2012, 06:01 PM

I really appreciate all of the feedback and hope that's the problem.
It's frustrating to no end to have a problem such as this on a 9 month RV.
Again thanks to all for any help. And now, how do I find an electrical short??

**hankpage** · 01-30-2012, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob in windsor

I was hoping to get at it today, but 12" of snow in 3 hours affected my plans.

Look on the bright side .... Your 2000w genny should start your snowblower. .... and I agree it should run everything in your trailer except A/C, water heater and possibly microwave. (should do micro if nothing else is on) Start looking with battery cables and go from there. Good luck, Hank

Bob Landry · 01-31-2012, 07:37 AM

Now that I've cleared up my misconception on how the converter is fed, I would recommend this to narrow it down.

Forget the Gennie for the time being. I'm assuming you plug into the gennie when you need it and are not dealing with a transfer switch.

Turn the converter breaker off. That removes it from the picture, and even if you had a battery cable shorted to ground, the converter will be off and it won't care and the only result would be a dead battery or a cable welded to the frame.

Turn all of the appliance breakers off and, plug into shore power, turn on the 30A breaker. All that should be happening there is that there is 110V to all of the circuit breakers, but it's going no further. If you still trip the main breaker, the problem is somewhere between the AC Distibution and the shore power source, and at that point, I would see if the dealer crossed hot and neutral at the converter when he did the service. This basic troubleshooting and is called dividing the halves in half. The best part is that often this lets you narrow down a problem without having to even disconnect anything.

If you are still good after turning on the 30A breaker, turn on each breaker one at a time and see if the problem is associated with a specific circuit. If you do these steps, and if you have to return the trailer to the dealer for service, he will have a really hard time arguing with what you found, and will have no choice but to fix it. Hope this helps.

I would agree with a previous poster in that it would be beneficial to know what you took it in for originally.

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