Power issue - help appreciated

[Fin27]

I?m plugged into 50 amp service and my surge protector shows I don?t have any power issues. My fridge, microwave and outlets are working fine but the coach and chassis batteries have drained.  I can?t start the RV and can?t start the generator.  Has my inverter gone bad?  I thought maybe my power cord was the issue  but since some things are working I?m assuming the cord and my power transfer switch are working ok.  I thought the shore power should have still charged the coach batteries but they slowly drained (first noticed the lights getting dimmer and dimmer).  Still not sure why the chassis battery drained but it is. 

Any ideas or suggestions?

Luckily I?m sitting near the Keys so A/C and heat aren?t a big issue right now.

Thanks in advance

 

[Gizmo100]

Sounds like the converter is not working..

I would start by resetting the 120 volt breaker to the converter...Then check fuses, Both in the panel as well as on the converter.(If it has any)

On a side note your fridge likely uses 12 volt to run the control board. So it will likely quit as well. Unless you have a residential unit.

 

[Prior member]

I second what Gizmo said

I just had the exact same problem in my trailer and in my case it was the 120 volt breaker that feeds the Charger/converter.  I had inadvertantly tripped it while working on another electrical problem.
If they breaker is OK then if you can get at the converter/charger, check the fuses.

Jack L

 

[Old_Crow]

x3 on the converter.  That's exactly how my coach acted when the converter died the day before a big snow storm rolled into where I was.
My first experience with Amazon Prime.  Ordered the converter at 11am one day, delivered to my coach at 10:30 the next morning.  Just in time for me to get it installed before the snow started falling.

 

[Fin27]

The breaker didn?t appear tripped but I reset it just in case.  I didn?t see a fuse for the inverter in the fuse box and I don?t see one on the inverter itself but I?ll look into that further.  I?m going to try to reset the inverter once I look into how to do that further.  It has a little reset button but didn?t seem to do anything, maybe I?m not doing it right.

My inverter is a Xantrex pro 1800 xm if anyone has experience with it

Another question, can I jump start the chassis from my Jeep Wrangler just like I would a car?  I tried last night but it didn?t seem like it was getting enough of a charge.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Your Hurricane may not charge the chassis battery while on shore power - some brands or model years are not designed to do that.  That would explain the inability to start engine or generator.  The house batteries, though, should have stayed fully charged, which makes the converter/charger suspicious.

Your Xantrex pro 1800 xm is not a battery charger, so you have another unit (a converter/charger) somewhere that provides that function. Possibly part of an integrated power center that combines 120v breakers, 12v fuses, and 12v power source. Please find it and let us know what it is.


Yes you can jump start it just like a car. If the chassis battery is totally dead, it may take awhile to bring the battery up enough to get adequate cranking voltage. Run the donor vehicle at high idle to increase alternator output and let it go for 10-15 minutes or so before trying to start the coach.

 

[Fin27]

Update - I had a service guy out here to jump the chassis battery which quickly started up once he hooked it up.  Once the engine was started the main lights popped right back up to normal and the Xantrex went back to looking normal.  I started the generator thinking I'd leave it for a couple hours to charge the house batteries and hope for the best. 

Once we returned the generator was off (wasn't sure why) and the lights were out again (I assume house batteries dead).  The engine started right back up luckily and the lights popped right back on like before.  I started the generator (staying here with it) and turned the engine off.  After about 20-30 minutes the lights started dimming significantly (remember I'm plugged into 50 amp shore power and the generator is on).  I killed the generator, started the engine and they came right back to normal again.  During all this, the things running off of 120 like fridge, microwave and outlets work just fine.

So, taking Gary's advice I took the cover off the bed area and took the pictures below to show what I have.  I am going to start reading now about what these do but I'm assuming the WFCO 55amp Power Converter may be what's supposed to charge the batteries??  Is one of these not working to take shore power or generator power and make it do what's its supposed to do? 

WFCO 55 amp Power Converter model WF-9855, Input 105-130FAC,950W. Output 13.6VDC 55amp
Furrion 50 amp Automatic Transfer Relay Switch F50-ATS
- I don't know what that third thing is, just added the picture since its in there.

If it also helps with the situation, when we arrived here and I was hooking up power I had plugged the surge protector in, waited until everything was good and then plugged my power cord in.  it made a glowing pop in the head of the power cord which once I took it apart I saw that one of the hot wires had pulled out of the attachment that hooks to the receptacle pin thing.  I believe the pop and glow was just a quick arc between the wire and the terminal.  I fixed that, then it worked fine until this mess.  Not sure if that pop affected anything.

Thanks for the help.  Definitely a learning experience.

 

[Fin27]

Figured I'd add these too.  Many things I read suggested checking a fuse or resetting a breaker.  I didn't see any fuse in this panel that related to this (there are some under the bed but I have no idea what they do).  The only breaker I saw was the converter breaker but I reset it without any change and it didn't appear tripped. 

 

[Henry J Fate]

Gary is more than likely correct. The power converter is not charging the house batteries and maybe not working at all.

The chassis engine will charge all of your batteries. This is why the house lights up when the chassis engine is running. The chassis engine uses the engine alternator to do this. The chassis engine does NOT use the power converter.

The power converter is used for all your house 12 volt appliances and battery charging and like Gary mentioned, it is likely that the power converter does NOT charge the chassis battery.

The power converter is energized when the generator is running or if you are plugged into pedistal /shore power.

It is possible the transfer switch is bad or not working properly but start looking for power at the power converter while plugged into pedistal/shore power or with the generator running and be sure the chassis engine is OFF while looking for the problem.

 

[Gizmo100]

I believe you will find 2 12 volt fuses on the bottom of the converter. They will be close to the 12 Volt output on the converter.

I would them a check.