FEMA 2006 cavalier electrical issue

Okay, the person I purchased this camper from said the AC worked. They said they had connected a brown wire that was disconnected at the hot water heater and the AC and front half of ceiling lights stopped working(no power reading). I am getting a 120v reading on the AC unit.  Now the rear ceiling lights all work.  The inverter and fuse panel issue: the inverter fan does not cut on. The fuse that reads "bed"(which i am assuming is the front half ceiling lights) blows what ever size fuse you put initial. If you disconnect the purple wire to hot water heater, the fuse stops blowing...

As for the LP GAS hot water heater, it has an electrical panel with electric ignition.  I have to go out side and unplug the "wire cluster" plug and plug it in, in order for the hwh to c ut on.  It will heat the water but after that.it shuts off and i have to start process again for more hot water. Also the switch under wall cabinet is missing and NO wiring for the switch is present.

I talked to 2 rv repairmen here and the both said it sounds like the "converter" but said its not the "inverter".  They said the converter is cheaper than the inverter.  Is there an actual difference...  If the inverter Is converting 120v to 12v doesn't that mean the inverter Is working?  I even hooked a battery up and got the 13v reading from it.

Also the owner used an exstention cord while attempting to.fix.the.camper.

A converter converts 120 volts (shore power) to 12 volts dc. An inverter does the opposite, turns 12 volt dc to 120 volt ac. It sounds like there are a few different issues and without eyes/hands on it would be hard to determine what you have going on.

A CONverter and an INverter are two different devices, though both can be coupled with a battery charge function. It is extremel;y unlikely that a FEMA trailer has an inverter.

Your lights run on 12v power but the AC runs on 120v, so you have at least two separate problems. I have no idea what the "brown wire at the water heater" may have been.  Sounds as though somebody has messed with the wiring on this thing - you may need professional help.

Gary RV Roamer said:

A CONverter and an INverter are two different devices, though both can be coupled with a battery charge function. It is extremel;y unlikely that a FEMA trailer has an inverter.

Your lights run on 12v power but the AC runs on 120v, so you have at least two separate problems. I have no idea what the "brown wire at the water heater" may have been.  Sounds as though somebody has messed with the wiring on this thing - you may need professional help.

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There is 12v running to the AC. I connected gator clips to the line and to my battery and the compressor and fan cut on but the heater fan also cut on.  I surely did a bypass some how.

barricade said:

There is 12v running to the AC. I connected gator clips to the line and to my battery and the compressor and fan cut on but the heater fan also cut on.  I surely did a bypass some how.

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The air probably has 12 volt control circuitry for the thermostat, but the ac itself would be 120 volts. It sounds like you jumped the fan wire in the stat and both the heat and air are on the same stat.

Yes, the thermostat is 12v powered and it feeds a 12v line to the a/c controller circuit board to signal that cooling is needed. It does the same for the furnace, so either the furnace is controlled from the same board (common on heat pump models) or the circuit back-fed to the furnace's own controller, which it sees as a demand for heat.

So if that is working, where do you guys think the issue lies?  I changed out the thermostat thinking that may be the problem.  I also had the thermostat on cool when the furnace and AC both cut on.

I did connect directly to the 12v and just the AC ran.  Also there is 120v power supplied to.the AC.

Several times I've been told my air unit runs off of shore power. It doesn't. I am in need of a inverter so when battery is low the air quits.
Also I have to allow for a stream of water to run when heating water. If I forget to do this my toilet line leaks where line meets toilet tank. Also have had a vanity pipe break from pressure of water heating.
Want to replace all flex pipe with pc.

What year/make/model of RV is this, StarrG?  Forgive me, but I am still skeptical that your a/c runs on anything other than shore power or genset power. However, if it has a wall thermostat, it needs 12v power as well or it won't ever start.

I  don't understand this comment either:

I am in need of a inverter so when battery is low the air quits.

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Not sure what having an inverter has to do with low battery, unless the inverter is also a battery charger. Is that perhaps what you meant? No charging?  You can handle that with a converter/charger, or even an inexpensive car battery charger from Walmart.

StarrG said:

Also I have to allow for a stream of water to run when heating water. If I forget to do this my toilet line leaks where line meets toilet tank. Also have had a vanity pipe break from pressure of water heating.
Want to replace all flex pipe with pc.

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Welcome to The RV Forum, StarrG!

Water expands when it's heated.  In a stick house the extra volume just backs up a bit against the incoming cold water.  An RV has a check valve at the city water connection that stops water from flowing out when you turn on the pump and also stops the backflow from the warming water, so the expanding water has no place to go.  The expansion raises the pressure in the water system until something leaks and relieves the excess pressure.

Installing a small accumulator tank anywhere in the RV's cold water system will eliminate the need to dribble water while the water heater is operating.  They're available for about $30 at most hardware stores.  Usually they're installed as part of a hot water heating system, but in an RV they're installed on the cold water side.

Gary RV_Wizard said:

What year/make/model of RV is this, StarrG?  Forgive me, but I am still skeptical that your a/c runs on anything other than shore power or genset power. However, if it has a wall thermostat, it needs 12v power as well or it won't ever start.

I  don't understand this comment either:Not sure what having an inverter has to do with low battery, unless the inverter is also a battery charger. Is that perhaps what you meant? No charging?  You can handle that with a converter/charger, or even an inexpensive car battery charger from Walmart.

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thank you for your help. I understand now. My roof air quit and now have a window unit. The roof air worked so much better. I'm dealing still with the water heater causing pipes to burst. But am told to get a accumulator tank that will help take pressure off pipes while heating water.

StarrG said:

Several times I've been told my air unit runs off of shore power. It doesn't. I am in need of a inverter so when battery is low the air quits.

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You need a CONverter, not an inverter.  A Converter creates 12 volts from shore power to charge the battery and run your 12 volt lights and appliances.

The roof air runs on 120 volt shore power, but if you have a wall mounted thermostat instead of having the controls on the air conditioner itself, the thermostat uses 12 volts to control the air conditioner.