No power with shore line

[margaret.w.k]

Hi, I am a novice to all things RV, but I am most confused about the electrical systems. Please forgive me in advance for stumbling through the terminology. I have a 2014 Cougar 280 RLS. I am getting it ready for my first outing. I was using the shore line (50 amps) through a series of adapters to plug into an outdoor outlet at my home (20 amps or maybe 15). Yesterday everything was good. I left two fans (one was the small bathroom fan which I think is 12 volt) and the refrigerator running so it would be cold enough to put food into. Tonight - no power. the battery was almost drained 3.6 Volts and nothing would turn on. None of the breakers were thrown and the fuses seemed good. Any ideas what happened or what I should do to troubleshoot the issue? Thanks,

Maggie, Missoula Montana

[busterbrown]

First thing that comes to mind would be your home 15/20 amp circuit and breaker. Did it trip the breaker? Check another circuit to see if 110 volts is being supplied to your trailer. Sounds like you have a voltage hog active on board your coach. Start there and let us know.

[ctbruce]

X2 what Busterbrown said. I'd start at the house. Also, if you are using a GFI plug at the house, try a different non-GFI outlet. Just a couple of random thoughts before coffee.

[notanlines]

You've been given good advice so far. Once you've plugged the cord into a positively active receptacle check your voltage at the last adapter that your 50 amp cord from the trailer plugs into to make sure that the trailer is actually getting juice. Make sure you use the heaviest cord possible from the house to the trailer. Once this happens get back to us.

[margaret.w.k]

The line from the house has a 12 gauge cord and when I plug it into a charger that charger works. I put it on the battery last night. I don't understand if there are two separate systems 12 Volt and 120 Volt - do 12-volt items - like the bathroom fan pull only from the battery? Is that what could have drained the battery even though the shore line was plugged in?

how do I check the adapters? I have both a 15 to 30 and a 30 to 50 plugged into a very long 50 amp cord (the anaconda of cords) and that is attached to the RV.

Also, I noticed that once there was a little power in the battery the radio lights were all on but I could not turn it off. When I hit the radio power button nothing happened. So I just turned off the main power key.

[chuckster57]

Everything that is 12V will run off the battery if your NOT plugged into shore power. If your plugged in and have power then everything 12V will draw from the converter, which is also charging the battery. This only happens with the disconnect switch key IN and turned.

Your fan drained the battery because you didn't have power going into the coach.

Checking adapters: UNPLUG them, then use an Ohm meter to test for continuity, and short. Same thing with your extension cord.

The 50A adapter goes from 4 conductor to three so that it may take a bit of explaining, and I'm on my phone trying to type with 1 finger.

Depending on radio brand, some are lit all the time and the display is brighter when the radio is "on".

[canesfan]

"So I just turned off the main power key."

Doing that disabled the converter from charging the battery, so the 12V items running were draining the battery and it was not recharging.

And just how long is your "anaconda of cords"? along with your 12 G extension cord?

[margaret.w.k]

I did have the shore line plugged in while the battery drained and I didn't turn off the disconnect key until I started to charge the battery with the charger.

[ctbruce]

Originally Posted by margaret.w.k

I did have the shore line plugged in while the battery drained and I didn't turn off the disconnect key until I started to charge the battery with the charger.

If you turned your disconnect off, then the battery will not charge.

[margaret.w.k]

Is that true even when I have a charger directly connected to the battery?

[Goose]

Originally Posted by ctbruce

X2 what Busterbrown said. I'd start at the house. Also, if you are using a GFI plug at the house, try a different non-GFI outlet. Just a couple of random thoughts before coffee.

Yeah, those GFI outlets are very sensitive. I even avoid them during Christmas time when putting up my Christmas lights.

[NealBlue]

Originally Posted by margaret.w.k

Is that true even when I have a charger directly connected to the battery?

No, if you're hooked up directly to an outside charger the battery will charge, assuming the battery is good.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by margaret.w.k

Is that true even when I have a charger directly connected to the battery?

Charger hooked directly to the battery posts will charge the battery(s)

[sourdough]

A couple of thoughts;

You have a 2014 trailer. Do you know the history of the batteries? Have they always been checked and topped off? If not, they may be defective.

You said you have the "anaconda" of "cordS" plugged into a 120vac plug somewhere. How long is that cord? How many adapters etc.? What gauge is the "cord"?

It sounds to me like you have a 120v supply issue.

[bobbecky]

Besides the 12 volt fan running along with the converter trying to charge your battery, you may have also had the water heater turned on to 120 volts, and possibly also the fridge. When you are connected to a 15 amp circuit, you have to turn off everything that runs on 120 volts. If you want type fridge working, turn it to propane only, and that goes for the water heater too. You should just plan on just the converter charging the battery and some lighting when plugged in to a small 120 volt circuit. Even if that circuit is using #12 Rolex, if the outlet isn't 20 amp rated, and nothing else is using that circuit, you can't expect to draw more than 15 amps from it, or you can expect to damage that outlet.

[sourdough]

I'm afraid we may have thrown more info at the OP than they can absorb. Hopefully they can post back and let us know how it's going.

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I'm afraid we may have thrown more info at the OP than they can absorb. Hopefully they can post back and let us know how it's going.

Especially considering that some of the information given in this thread is just wrong.
For openers you don't have to turn off everything when on a 15A outlet, you just have to manage your loads so that the circuit is not overloaded.
Outlets are not rated for amperage, the wiring is. The only reason for the "T" slot is to indicate that the wiring is capable of handling 20A and a 20A device can be plugged in. Otherwise, they are physically and electrically the same.

[bobbecky]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-1...-00W/202066670

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-2...-0WS/100356852

You will see most homes wired with 15 amp outlets on both #14 and #12 Romex circuits. If the outlet is rated 15 amps, that is all you can load that outlet with. If you have a 20 amp line, #12 wire, going to a 20 amp rated outlet, you can load it with up to 20 amps. Look at the prices of the two outlets and you will see why they typically use only 15 amp outlets.

[lt_cowboy]

Another thing to check is the reverse polarity fuses on the power converter. I had a very similar event occur with my alpine. Plugged in to shore power, everything fine, all my 12v stuff not working. I checked everything. Had to dismantle the basement to get to the converter. Two 40A fuses blown from the dealer, so the batteries would not charge.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[margaret.w.k]

it turned out that the problem was a bad converter. When we pulled it you could see the damage. We replaced it and everything ran fine for a week. Today all of a sudden the air conditioner turned off. It was the only thing running, but i checked the breakers anyway - no problem. but everything 120 shut down. the same as before -