transfer switch

Gary RV Roamer said:

I believe the Forest River problem was faulty installation rather than a fault in the Iota transfer switch itself.

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That was exactly the reason for Monaco's recall of the Iota Transfer switch. It was a failure to torque the lugs to the correct tension - nothing was wrong with the Iota Transfer Switch. I discussed this with the person at Monaco who handled the recall. I was concerned because my coach was not tin the recall. Monaco's answer was that when my coach was built the correct procedures were being followed.

ken

Gary RV Roamer said:

Uh, George, could you tone down the font size and typeface a bit? That's pretty glaring, almost like you are shouting at us.

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Oh, okay.  Sorry.  Not shouting...ha ha

Thanks everyone for the help but still haven't found ATS on my 94 coronado, I have looked everywhere and the local dealer told me where to look and it was nowhere in sight. is it possible it could be under the MH 

As stated, it is likely in either blind cabinet or, as in my case, under the refrigerator and behind the circuit breaker panel for the coach. Typically the transfer switch and the delay relay will be in that area if so equipped.
I just got my coach back, I had exactly your problem, generator would run but no latch in of 120v to coach. I thought it might be the transfer switch or the delay relay, it turned out to be the voltage regulator on the genset. I had all the Onan manuals but they were very confusing to me as it would appear that, if the genset would run well, its components would be OK. That turned out not to be the case. (I had read the VR put out a reference voltage back to the genset and it would shut down if mismatched, not so.)
Every install that I have seen puts ATS and delay relay behind electrical panel of motorhome. Good luck in finding it. (If not immediately behind, very very close....follow wires from breaker panel would be one way to locate, I would think.)

Rich
Green Bay, WI

chuckm, where are your 12v house fuses and breakers located?  It's probably a panel with a few breakers for the major things (house power, roof A/C, house outlets) and then a row of 15-amp fuses or smaller breakers.  Wherever THAT is, there is a good chance the ATS is attached to the back of the whole thing.  The ATS doesn't look like anything special, it's just a metal box and the important stuff is inside (kinda like the converter). 

After removing a few screws/bolts from the housing around my 12v power center, I was able to carefully pull it outward (wires still attached) and see the ATS box back behind the fuse/breaker panel.  Like I said, with mine it only took a little jostle to get it switched and working again. 

The sure-fire way to find it is to follow the shore power cord - it has to go right to it, where it then combines with the generator output power wires. As Scotty says, it won't look like much, and if it is part of the load center (breaker box), it may be either inside it or a bump on the back of it. That was a common location in older Rvs.

Wow what a great group of people, thanks for all your help, the ATS was behind the breaker panel, my coach batteries are old and not taking a charge would that cause the ATS not switch from shore to generator power.Don't ya just love us rookie RVers lol

My 2004 Fleetwood Tara doesn't have a transfer switch, in fact, I have a friend who has a transfer switch but dose it manually.  He doesn't trust the switch.  I usually keep it plugged into the generator power unless of course I have shore power available.  I then unplug it from the generator power and plug it into the shore power.  Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the advantage of a transfer switch.  It another thing to go wrong, and it's an added expense.  You still have still have to plug and unplug to shore power. 

I am really confused.  Three days ago my generator was slow to "transfer" power to my coach, but did after the second start.  Eighteen hours into my trip, my a/c shut down, my batteries were dead, but the gererator was running.  I shut it down to check what I could and could not get it started due to the low batteries.

I returned home and have been emailing Just Lou back and forth.  I plugged into shore power (30 amps) and the batteries charged and everything worked as designed including both a/c units.  I unplugged my shore power, the gen started and "transferred" in 10 seconds or so as it did before....I do not know how to check and see if it is charging the house batteries.

Lou suggested I recycle my 20 and 30 amp breakers on my Onan 5500 generator...which I did but could not tell if they had tripped.  The wife fired up the hot water heater and washed up the dishes with no problem.  The propane gas circuit works, but stopped when the batteries went dead.  Batteries charged and all works fine. 

There is a glitch somewhere, but I can not find it...the transfer switch is working now as well as the gas and light systems.  I found it, but did not do anything to it...it was behind the circuit breaker panal as you folks said.

Need to go on another five to six day trip, but I am gun shy about starting off to the unknown.  I can not take it to my dealer and say "I don't know" when they ask what is the problem....what to do  what to do.

chuckm said:

Wow what a great group of people, thanks for all your help, the ATS was behind the breaker panel, my coach batteries are old and not taking a charge would that cause the ATS not switch from shore to generator power.Don't ya just love us rookie RVers lol

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The batteries would have NO effect on the ATS. 

George Lewis said:

I unplugged my shore power, the gen started and "transferred" in 10 seconds or so as it did before....I do not know how to check and see if it is charging the house batteries.

Lou suggested I recycle my 20 and 30 amp breakers on my Onan 5500 generator...which I did but could not tell if they had tripped.  The wife fired up the hot water heater and washed up the dishes with no problem.  The propane gas circuit works, but stopped when the batteries went dead.  Batteries charged and all works fine. 

There is a glitch somewhere, but I can not find it...the transfer switch is working now as well as the gas and light systems.  I found it, but did not do anything to it...it was behind the circuit breaker panal as you folks said.

Need to go on another five to six day trip, but I am gun shy about starting off to the unknown.  I can not take it to my dealer and say "I don't know" when they ask what is the problem....what to do  what to do.

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George,  The 30amp generator breaker may have been tripped, or the normally open contacts within the ATS simply failed to transfer, when your generator was running during your trip.  It is not unusual for this to happen if the generator is stopped or started under load.  It sounds like the situation has corrected it self for the moment.

I wouldn't cancel any trips because of it.

You should get yourself a voltage meter to check for battery charging from the converter during generator and/or shore power usage.  (less than 13vdc = not charging, more than 13.2vdc = charging)

sluggermike said:

My 2004 Fleetwood Tara doesn't have a transfer switch, in fact, I have a friend who has a transfer switch but dose it manually.  He doesn't trust the switch.  I usually keep it plugged into the generator power unless of course I have shore power available.  I then unplug it from the generator power and plug it into the shore power.  Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the advantage of a transfer switch.  It another thing to go wrong, and it's an added expense.  You still have still have to plug and unplug to shore power.

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Mike, yes you do still have to plug and unplug from shore power with an ATS (unless you can get the wife to do it).

I can't figure out how, or what, your friend is accomplishing (safety or other wise) by his (so-called) manual switch.  The ATS still has to complete the switch from one power source to the other.  Your friend is just adding extra effort and wear to the cable connections each time he plugs and unplugs after the initial connection.  The switch contacts still bear the brunt of the power transfer.

The advantage of an ATS may be observed when you lose shore power during a thunderstorm.  I don't get wet while my ATS switches to generator (or when it switches back after power is restored).

The biggest advantage is that the DW isn't in my face saying "don't just stand there, do something".

A volt meter will show you at the house batteries if they are being charged.  Check the batteries with the generator not running and then when it is running.  When the generator is running it should show an increase at the house batteries to 13vdc or more.

Lou and Slugger.  I talked to a friend and he said the same thing you guys said.  I have a volt meter and will check the charging in the morning.  Do I just take the readings at the +/- battery terminals or somewhere else?  He said to remove the cables and clean the terminals too.  I will do this.  All systems worked as the should today.  Thanks.

Take the readings right at the battery posts.

Hi all, newbie here. Hopefully this is not too off topic. I don't seem to have the outlet to plug my shore power cord into, to allow the generator to power the ac outlets. Is there anywhere else I can look? Please Help!

Welcome to the forums, Dee. You don't mention what RV you have (it makes a difference). Many RVs have an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) so don't need that plugin. However if you have the needed jack it will likely be somewhere near where your power cord is, perhaps inside a small door or in the utility bay, depending on the specific layout.

I had a generator once that was running to slow putting out about 100 volts. No battery charge. Another one i cranked up to 140 volts could then charge real fast but would watch batterrys let them bubble a bit every several months to equalize all cells

Just Lou said:

George, on your Bounder, the transfer switch is attached to the backside of your main circuit breaker panel.  it is can be rather difficult to change since it is so integrated with the panel, but it can be done.

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Thank you for answer that.  I am looking at mine, and was not willing to pull out the circuit panel, till I found out.  larry