MAYDAY ELECTRICAL

[grashley]

We are camped in a great little RV park across the street from Lincoln's Birthplace. FHU. When we arrived L2 voltage was very low (85V) so I got the doggone and connected to 30A. All was fine last night and today. This evening, we were running a couple electric heaters, different circuits, and all was well. Not thinking, I warmed a cup of water in the microwave. LOST ALL AC POWER. Sure enough, I had tripped the breaker. Reset, no problem. Back inside, I still have no AC. The load shedder shows I am connected to 30A, which is correct. The EMS is allowing power to pass. No Power in camper. I turn inverter on. No Power to inverter connected items. I trip breaker outside. No change. Inverter still not working. 12VDC seems fine.

HELP!!
Gordon

 

[Lou Schneider]

Did you check the breakers inside the motorhome? The handles will only move a little bit, not all the way to off if they trip. Turn them all the way off and then back on to reset.

 

[krazeehorse]

Onboard breaker(s) tripped?

 

[grashley]

on board breakers are all OK
After having the breaker off half an hour, I started the generator. Still no power.
On a wild hair, I turned the outside breaker back on. EMS says power is good. Lo and behold, Front A/C Heat Pump kicks on!! Microwave has power. GFCI circuit has power. No power on any circuit going thru inverter. This means rewiring CPAP to bathroom rec. for tonight??

A blown fuse on the inverter could explain no inverter plugs, including both TV do not work.?

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

All questions answered with a voltmeter. Time to break that out and find where power is and isn't.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[krazeehorse]

GFCI open somewhere?

 

[Kirk]

A blown fuse on the inverter could explain no inverter plugs, including both TV do not work.?

Probably not. Did you turn the inverter off? What about the condition of the battery?

 

[John From Detroit]

Volt meters and test lights are your friends

But in RV electrical you have lots of suspects
Park breaker (There are 2 0r 3 but normally just the pedestal)
Auto transfer switche(s) you may have two one for the inverter or one 3-way)
RV Main breaker.
Branch feeding inverter
Inverter breakers May be lever or post type, may be hard to find
Post inverter breakers

And of course GFCI outlets or breakers

And finally..... Bad connections







0)

 

[RayIN]

Since the MW and heat pump are running on shore power, the problem is in your RV. Approach this logically, what is the incoming voltage measured at each breaker in the main breaker panel?? To measure that the front panel must be removed to expose the electric connections, BE CAREFUL!

 

[grashley]

Once again, you have come through! Your answers made me rethink and reanalyze the situation. It was a simple fix.

The situation was:
Connected to 30A, but no issues to date. I was running 2 space heaters, which had both been on for a couple hours, one in each end of the coach. We were watching TV. A/C heat pump was on, but not running. I heated up a cup of water for tea, then (in my mind) we lost ALL AC power. The breaker did trip, and was reset. However, TV still off, both heaters off. All 12V was fine (lights)
The real truth:
The heaters were in opposite ends of the coach, but both ran through the inverter, as did the TV. I tried several different things, ending with the power turned off at the pole. I turned the genny on. I heard the ATS clung, but still no power. With genny off, I tried to run the inverter . No error messages and the main display was normal, but no power out. I went back out and turned power back on, and SHAZAM! the roof air / heat pump kicked on! The camper had cooled enough to demand heat from this system. DW noted the night light in the bathroom (120V) was on. It was 11PM and my energy was long spent. As I think through things, with your help to look harder, it occurs to me.... all the inoperable things were on the inverter circuit. Microwave clock was on. Bathroom & kitchen GFCI circuit was good. Only inverter circuit was dead. The battery minder showed power available to the inverter. No errors on inverter display. The only possibility was a blown fuse on the inverter. I looked in the manual to identify fuse location, to discover it had a breaker. The next morning, I puller the protective shield, reset the breaker, which had tripped, and all was well again.

Thanks again for the support.

 

[John From Detroit]

Thanks for telling us... Yes they hide those breakers.