Cyclone - No Electricity

jenerics

Member
My wife and I just purchased a used 2009 3950.
We took it on our 1st trip and lost our electricity on the 3rd morning. We were hooked up to 30amp service. We tripped the breaker at the box twice while running both ac’s and the fans. We turned off the fans and that took care of the breaker problem. We woke up the next morning with no electricity. We reset the breakers on the box and in the trailer and still no electricity. We even plugged in to another box next to us with no luck.
Having to leave we fired up the generator and everything worked fine. Just no electricity when we are hooked up to the box.
Is there another breaker somewhere we’re missing?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Re: ATF: Cyclone - No Electricity

Hi jenerics,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I don't know for sure, but I think there is a breaker or something in the change over box (whatever it's called) for the generator. I'm sure you will get an answer soon from one of our other family members.

Enjoy the forum and your Cyclone.

Jim M

I am moving the tread to a different area where I think you will get faster response and good info from other owners.
 

ziggy

Retired Oregon HOC
Re: ATF: Cyclone - No Electricity

If you were running both AC on 30 amp, that might explain the breaker trip. We use 50 amp with no problems and we got the Onan generator that would handle 2AC just because we knew we might need it when we eventually got a second AC. We got it for this season, so we're set, I hope.....

Kristy
 

traveler44

Well-known member
Re: ATF: Cyclone - No Electricity

We like using the 30 amp most of the time too. But you do have to play--"Green Acres" -- That is you can only have one appliance or air conditioner on at a time that draws a lot of amperage. You have to shut the air conditioner off long enough to use the microwave. The breaker at the c.g. post will tell you if you use too many amps- by kicking out. Some parks don't like having their breakers kicking on and off. After about a year we learned what has to be shut off to run what. We very seldom trip a breaker any more.
 

Jimmy

Well-known member
Sounds like your "Transfer switch" is not resitting properly to your regular hook up, someone will chime in soon...
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
I agree with the breaker on the transfer switch. I have heard about it but have no knowledge of it.
But first things first. Did you check the receptacle at the park pedestal with your multimeter to be sure they were actually giving you power?
And the breakers in the coach sometimes will look like they are not tripped. Did you turn off then on again the main breaker in your breaker panel?

Peace
Dave
 

jenerics

Member
Thanks to all that have replied so far!
Everything works just fine with the generator running.
Guess I’ll spend the weekend hunting for the elusive “transfer switch”.

Thanks,
​Eric & Jen
 

sdrubrecht

Active Member
Transfer switch will be behind panels in basement. Usually a small grey box about 6"square. It will have large wires from the shore power, genset and breaker running in to it. It will be live if the genset is on or you are plugged in!!! Contacts, springs, and solenoids should all be checked if fried, damaged, or broken. Might need a new one. While in there, most of us have found a ratsnest of wires and plumbing and trash. Do yourself a favor and clean it up now and inspect all your systems and you will make future troubleshooting a lot easier. Also, most of us had our converter under the toilet where a plumbing leak will also take out the converter. Some have even reinstalled the panels with hinges or quick release features to make future access easier.
Good luck with your repair.Enjoy your Cyclone, we love ours.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Jenerics:
You say that you think you are onto the problem due to the fact everything is O.K. with the generator. Well, if your generator is 4000 watts or bigger, that isn't a valid test. 30 amps times 120 volts equals 3600 watts. Each of the air conditioners pulls around 15 amps, add the fans, battery charging convertor, possibly the electric water heater, the electric element on the refrigerator, and you are way over 30 amps. Also, pedistal breakers that have been tripped repeatedly seem to trip easier than new ones.
Bottom line is, that you are on the edge with just those 2 air conditioners running on a 30 amp service. You MIGHT get away with it if you turn your fridge and water heater on propane, don't use the microwave with both AC's on, and flip the breaker for the power converter (but then you won't be charging your 12 volt batteries - your convertor should pull 7-10 amps maximum, less than 1 amp minimum). 2 Air conditioners is why they came up with 50 amp services.

Happy RVing!!!
 

sdrubrecht

Active Member
Eric and Jen, I dont want to make this sound too easy. Just a word of warning, if you dont truely understand 110/220 volt systems, please seek qualified help. Mistakes here can be life threatening.
Good Luck.
 

jenerics

Member
Again, THANKS to all that have responded.

I have learned a valuable lesson. Don’t get in a HURRY and FREAK OUT.:mad:

My wife and I pulled our trailer over to the dealer Saturday morning (while Flagstaff was in the process of getting a foot of snow). They pulled it right into a bay and plugged it in with our cords and EVERYTHING WORKED JUST FINE. :eek:

If I had just waited for the park maintenance people to show up and check their box I wouldn’t have been freaked out all week about our trailer.

THANKS ALL,
Eric & Jen
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Eric:
I'm glad your problems are resolved. If you don't allready have one, a Digital Volt Ohm Amps meter is a valuable troubleshooting tool. I like this one as it has a clamp-on function for amps draw - you can just clamp over a wire or cable (like your battery cable):
http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-clamp-on-multimeter-95652.html .

An easy to use quick tester just to see if the power is on is one of these "monkey face" testers:
http://www.harborfreight.com/electric-receptacle-tester-32906.html
 
Top