Pdi

I am angry.

I have owned this trailer for slightly over a month. We are in the first week of a three week trip. Last night I noticed that the battery level was decreasing even thought I knew we were connected to shore power. This morning it was in the red zone. I checked the battery connections and circuit breakers and finally called a mobile service company to get this fixed.

He got here in 15 minutes, checked what I did and opened the converter pannel. He checked all the fuses with a multimeter and sure enought it looked like the converter had failed. He removed the cover plate to look at the wire connections. The input wire was scorched and 1/2 inch of the insulation was burned. The terminal was so loose that it was amazing that it stayed in place. The output terminal was also barely attached.

This was a idiotic factory error compounded by a poor PDI by the dealer which could have caused a fire. This is the same dealer who incorrectly wired a new brake controller before this trip. The result was that I had not regular braking for the trailer for the first 700 miles of this trip. The thought of those 6 and 7% downgrades in the rain on the way here (Las Vegas) will give me nightmares for a while. That dealer will remain nameless until I see how they handle my rant today on the phone. Two serious errors, either of which could have ruened our day, is quite enough but the treatment by the sales rep during our purchase means that there is still some grace left.

Finally, anyone buying from Heartland need to check simple things like the wire connections themself and, im my opinion, not trust these people.

Neff said.

David:
First of all thank your for your service to our freedom and the many sacrifices you had to make over your military service years.

2nd of all, I am an advocate of comprehensive PDI's, but no PDI short of complete dissasembly and inspection of every system in the trailer could have probably found the problem you had with the convertor. Loose connections can touch enough to pass a voltage output test, and the ride from the factory to your dealer probably shook the connection screws more loose to the point of failure. I'm sure that you are aware that RV's aren't made with the level of quality control, retesting, and oversight that the warbirds you flew are. Its kind a a given that with as many systems there are in a trailer, in a competitive industry that is trying to stay ahead of its competition in price and productivity, that there will be defects. Its not the world we want, but the world that is.

I am concerned about your brakes. Was the braking system checked with the manual trailer brake switch when you first hooked up? This is a standard "pre-flight" test of both the brakes and the hitch coupling. I am glad everybody is OK, and wish you happy RVing in your future.

Thanks for your kind words. Every aircraft has what is called a 481 manual which is a history of maintenance on the aircraft. It is often a long list of ongoing problems but none of them are "safety of flight" issues. These two problems I wrote about ARE safety of flight (drive) items and that is what drove me over the edge (so to speak). I fully expected to have some issues but not something this unsafe. As to the terminals being loose I can't imagine that is was other than a failure at the factory.
Yes, when the Prodegy was installed they had me drive around the lot setting the manual control to the proper level (just short of locking). As I undestand it, maintenance should have checked with a voltage meter that the actuation of the brake pedal actually activated the trailer brakes.

Iver:
Thanks for your enlightment on the braking issues. Here I sit all smug that the manual switch brake test is an ABSOLUTE indicator that your trailer brakes are working normally, when in fact they could still be non-functional on the road. My brake controller has braking level numbers on its display that give me feedback that braking is happening when I press the brake pedal (or activate the manual switch). I THINK that these only appear when braking current is TRULY being delivered down the trailer brake wire. I know that this display is blank when the trailer umbilical is disconnected.
Your loose wiring connectors just gave my maintenece checklist for this year another item. Many people have reported AC electrical problems over time from vibration loosening the compression screw connections at the breaker switches and bus bars. I need to check that all of these are tight. Maybe when I crawl in the access space to change out the black tank sensors with the "supersensors" I have on order, I will make a quick foray into the convertor and check wiring connection screws there, too.