Mystery electrical problems

[Noobie]

hey guys,

So moved my 2014 Laredo 274rb to a new spot in the park three days ago (I'm permanently parked for the moment) Saturday I came home around 4pm and noticed my fridge light was off, my regular lights were extremely dim, and my AC was just barely getting by. Park power is working just fine, tested with a meter.

I tested the battery and it was low. Tested the power cables coming in from the converter and there was no power there, so I'm thinking my battery isn't getting charged from the converter. At the moment I've hooked up battery up to a charger so I can run my AC (it's 85 degrees here) my lights work right now but just barely. I can't quite find a smoking gun here. A fellow camper mentioned that perhaps I had a reset switch on the converter but I can't find the converter. I also feel that the converter must be working if the lights go on? Not sure.

Does anyone at all have any insight on the problem? I'm pretty new to camping/electrical so I may be missing something obvious.

Thanks for any help!

[TLB]

Did you say that you can run your AC on battery?

I was told that I needed to be connected to a 30A service to run the AC.

[Noobie]

Well technically I'm connected to my 50 amp service at the park no problem. But if I'm not mistaken the condenser runs off that power and the fan runs off the battery. Which is why my AC was making a labored noise, the condenser was running but not the fan.

[HappyCamperMN]

Check all elements of the AC supply.

Start with your power pole
Check the breaker
Move in to the electrical panel in your trailer
check the main breaker
check the breaker for your converter
check the remaining breakers
Do any of your AC appliances have power?
Fridge
Microwave
Etc...?

Do you own a multi-meter and know how to use it?

Sounds like you have lost power to your trailer.

[Noobie]

Checked the tower. All good there. My 120v outlets work perfectly even when my overhead lights are not.
Microwave is fine.
Fridge is an issue. Should be running off the power from the park but it's not. It will automatically switch to gas but requires 12v for the pilot. It goes on and off.
I do have a multimeter and used it correctly, that's how I determined the battery problem.
None of my breakers were tripped including the one for the converter.
None of my fuses are blown.
I'm so frustrated at this point it's getting worse, I'm having someone out to look at it in the morning but I can't figure out the problem. My guess is still the converter.

[Festus2]

There are some items that require 12VDC to operate - the fridge, for example, even though you are plugged into shore power needs 12VDC to work properly. The interior lights obviously need 12VDC as well as the water pump, the furnace fan, slides and a sensor. One possibility is that your converter is not charging your battery or your battery is suspect.

[jtyphoid]

Originally Posted by Noobie

Well technically I'm connected to my 50 amp service at the park no problem. But if I'm not mistaken the condenser runs off that power and the fan runs off the battery. Which is why my AC was making a labored noise, the condenser was running but not the fan.

The entire air conditioning system runs off of 120V AC, including the fans. The only fan that runs off of 12V DC is the furnace fan.

That means that if your A/C was "struggling", then either the 120V supply was low or there's something wrong with the A/C system.

Campground power can experience brown outs, where the voltage can drop under load. Was your A/C on and struggling when you checked the voltage? I've seen the voltage look fine under no load but drop significantly under load.

The other symptoms that you mention, however, are indeed indicative of a problem with the 12V DC side. But, because the converter starts with 120V AC, I recommend starting there. I may have missed it, but if you have a 50A system, have you checked the voltage of both 120V legs under load?

[frankyb01]

You definately have a battery issue. You need to locate your converter. Some are incorrperated into the load center, others are separate and may be hidden. Mine is behind the load center. When you find it check the fuses on it. There should be two reverse polarity fuses on the back of it. If they are blown you won't have any 12 VDC out put from it. As far as the air conditioner, it does infact run on 120 VAC. How ever, if you have a separate thermostat controlling it, that is sometimes controlled by 12 volt DC. I found that out the hard way with mine. Without 12 volt dc for the thermostat, the AC wouldn't run.

[Scttw]

Hi,

If you do NOT see any 40amp fuses in your panel, your converter is separate in your trailer and you need to locate it.

Directly behind your panel do you have a storage compartment? This was the case with mine. I had to pull off the side wall closest to the back of the fuse panel and there was the converter - about the size of a small sub woofer. In the back will be 2 40amp fuses. I bet they are blown. If they are you wil get no charge on your battery. Your fridge and furnace control center will not work. Also your gauges will not work - neither will your HW heater on gas. I would take a look for the converter. BTW if you pull out the fuse panel you should see it which might help to determine how to access it. 4 screws on the door and 4 holding it in place.

Scott

[Noobie]

Update!!

Found the converter: it was behind the fuse and breaker panel so I had to remove that whole thing. Both fuses were intact but the whole converter is bad. Making it the culprit of the problem and the mystery solved. Going to get my new one right now and get it all going. Now hopefully there isn't a larger underlying problem; I still find it odd that it went out when I moved the camper. But I can cross that bridge when I come to it.

Thanks for everyone's help I knew it had to be something simple I was missing. Another camper mishap under my belt for experience.

[bobbecky]

When you go to purchase the new converter, if you don't already have one, purchase a good surge protection devise, either one you can plug into the pedestal or a hardwired one. We use a Progressive Industries Model SSP-50 plug in style, but there are others that will do the job. It's possible, in the move, something happened that damaged the converter, and possibly, a surge protection unit may have saved your converter. Fuses and breakers do not protect against high voltage, only high amperage. You need a surge arrester to protect against high voltage.

[Scttw]

Good to hear you figured it out. GL with the install.

[RJKLSK]

We had a similar problem with our cougar fifth wheel. After going through three converters we found finally that the circuit panel was never grounded from the factory. It burned up our microwave and caused an identical issue to what you're having.