I am experiencing intermittent trouble with the AC power when swithing over to generator.It requires me to start then stop then restart generator to powerup the motorhome using the generator,sometimes more than once.Seems worse in cold weather .I am thinking there must be a time delay relay somewhere but I am not sure where the change over box is or the relay for that matter..anyone having troubleshoot experience with this issue welcome your advice...thanks in advance.
1998 fleetwood southwind 32V change over box location?
- Thread starter Oran42348
- Start date
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I have a 1997 Fleetwood Bounder that is probably wired pretty similar to your Southwind. My "change over box", commonly called an automatic transfer switch, is located on the back side of the main circuit breaker panel.
There is, in fact, a built in delay in the transfer switch action, designed to allow your generator to attain proper operating speed and voltage output. The normal delay is approximately 30 seconds, but can vary.
Are you saying that it will never switch, until you cycle the generator ON and OFF, or are you just maybe being impatient and not waiting for the delay to expire?
There is, in fact, a built in delay in the transfer switch action, designed to allow your generator to attain proper operating speed and voltage output. The normal delay is approximately 30 seconds, but can vary.
Are you saying that it will never switch, until you cycle the generator ON and OFF, or are you just maybe being impatient and not waiting for the delay to expire?
PancakeBill
Well-known member
I have a 97, usually takes about 60 seconds or so.
You should be able to hear a solid click behind the breaker panel when the time delay expires, if the relay is closing, even when the power does not come on. That would indicate it's a contact problem.Oran42348 said:
No click and no power means the relay coil is not energizing after the delay.
You can check it in a couple of ways.
[list type=decimal]
[*]You can open the switch (when you locate it) and change the little slider switch setting to defeat the time delay, if you think that's the problem...... or.....
[*]clean the switch (relay) contacts with fine emery cloth or diamond contact polisher.
[/list]OOOPS! I see you added another post while I was typing. Your latest comment tends to point to dirty switch (relay) contacts within the switch box.
Good luck
Thanks Lou..after further troubleshooting I have notice that when the switch fails to make contact..(as in hearing it click in)..that is when the power fails to turn on while running the generator..When i hear the switch click ..the power comes on normally..I still havent located the relay switch even tho i hear it click behind the circuit breakers..wher in tarnation is it? ..behind the doorunder the fridge i find 4 circuit breakers ..is the relay behind the circuit breaker box mounted to it ? also sometimes i hear two clicks coming from the circuit breaker panel area..any idea as to the fix greatly appreciated.
You have to remove the whole panel to get access to the switch mounted on the back side.
Remove all 120vac power from the coach (unplug from shore and stop the generator).
The panel wiring should have enough slack in the wiring to pull the whole thing out far enough to at least see the back side. The switch is the part screwed to the back with the large power wires entering from the power cord and the generator. I'm suspecting a problem with the time delay portion of the relay or a loose connection. Check them all. You can also remove the face plate of the breaker panel and see where the wires come through a hole, from the rear of the panel, to your main breaker
There is another loose transfer switch box in that area, with wires labeled shore power and generator, but that is for selecting dual air conditioner power when running on the generator. Let's leave that one for another discussion. It's NOT the one you want for your current problem.
Remove all 120vac power from the coach (unplug from shore and stop the generator).
The panel wiring should have enough slack in the wiring to pull the whole thing out far enough to at least see the back side. The switch is the part screwed to the back with the large power wires entering from the power cord and the generator. I'm suspecting a problem with the time delay portion of the relay or a loose connection. Check them all. You can also remove the face plate of the breaker panel and see where the wires come through a hole, from the rear of the panel, to your main breaker
There is another loose transfer switch box in that area, with wires labeled shore power and generator, but that is for selecting dual air conditioner power when running on the generator. Let's leave that one for another discussion. It's NOT the one you want for your current problem.
Thanks Lou...I think you are correct...time delay problem...excellent advice you have given..after exercising the the generator on off many times troubleshooting the problem i find that is what it is doing ..the relay is not always kicking in when it supposed to...however the exercising of the switch seems to have helped correct the problem on its own..many thanks..
Exercising the switch will sometimes self clean the contacts. In the future, try to make sure there are no operating heavy loads (i.e. air conditioners, water heaters or space heaters) active when switching power sources. Of course, that's hard to control when the problem is a sudden loss of shore power.
Let's hope you can beat the odds and the thing has self healed for a good period of time.
Let's hope you can beat the odds and the thing has self healed for a good period of time.
