ATF: Landmark - Refrigerator 4 Door

FordMan1966

Well-known member
My 2013 Landmark will blow a fuse every time you plug into 50 amp service at a Campground. I have a 30 amp plug at my house that I convert the 50 amp cord down to and it will not blow the fuse. Why and what would cause this?
I have an appointment to get the dealer to look at it in a few weeks.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Which fuse is blowing?
Are you sure that your 30 amp adapter is feeding both legs of the 120 going to the coach.
I have seen some that only supply power to one side.
This may be why you don't blow fuses at home.

Peace
Dave
 

FordMan1966

Well-known member
No everything works fine while plugged in at home to 30 amp. The fuse to the Refrigerator ONLY is the one that blows when I hook up to 50 amp service.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Fordman,

When you say the fuse blows, are you actually talking about one of the fuses, or about a circuit breaker?

Also, does the same thing happen regardless of whether the refrigerator is set to run on LP or on Electric (Auto)?
 

FordMan1966

Well-known member
It blows a FUSE not a Circuit Breaker. I keep it on Auto so when the RV is plugged into a 50 amp it blows this FUSE.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Let me see if I'm following.


  • It's set to AUTO and when not plugged into shore power, it runs ok, meaning the LP operation on 12V is ok in this scenario.
  • You plug into 30Amp shore power at home using an adapter on your 50A plug. The refrigerator switches from LP to 110V operation and works ok.
  • You plug into 50Amp shore power. The refrigerator switches from LP to 110V operation and blows the 12V FUSE for the refrigerator.

I'm not an electrical expert, but this seems like it might be a problem with the neutral or ground on your 50Amp cord or at the pedestal.

Has the problem occurred in more than one location? If it just started at this campground, maybe you can try another pedestal.
 

FordMan1966

Well-known member
It has happened at 4 different Campgrounds while plugged into the 50 amp.

Let me see if I'm following.


  • It's set to AUTO and when not plugged into shore power, it runs ok, meaning the LP operation on 12V is ok in this scenario.
  • You plug into 30Amp shore power at home using an adapter on your 50A plug. The refrigerator switches from LP to 110V operation and works ok.
  • You plug into 50Amp shore power. The refrigerator switches from LP to 110V operation and blows the 12V FUSE for the refrigerator.

I'm not an electrical expert, but this seems like it might be a problem with the neutral or ground on your 50Amp cord or at the pedestal.

Has the problem occurred in more than one location? If it just started at this campground, maybe you can try another pedestal.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
It has happened at 4 different Campgrounds while plugged into the 50 amp.
Ok, not a problem with the pedestal. If you haven't already done so, try using your adapter to plug into 30 amp at the campground, which would rule out any confusion factor if your home outlet was wired funny, hiding the problem.

I think the main thing that happens when the refrigerator switches to 110V is that part of the control board turns on 110V to the electric heater. There's probably a relay involved. But it shouldn't be drawing much DC current. Blowing the fuse suggests something shorted in that area.

Maybe remove the lower vent cover and take a look at the control board for the frig. See if a screw has fallen out and shorted something that is powered up when it switches to 110V operation.

I know that wouldn't by itself explain why it doesn't fail on 30Amp. That's why I was wondering about ground and neutral wiring.
 

Willym

Well-known member
I think that Dan's thought on the neutral may be right. 50A supply comes from from a centre tapped transformer winding, such that there is a 240V potential difference between the two ends. When on 30A supply, both sides of the breaker panel are fed from one end of the transformer. On 50A supply, if the neutral is open or has a bad connection then a higher than normal voltage can occur on one side of the breaker panel when fed from a 50A supply. How much the voltage can change depends on the panel loading side to side If the converter is on the high side, then it's output voltage may rise causing a fuse to blow. To check this, open the converter input circuit breaker before connecting to the 50A supply. If the fridge fuse cooperates, then turn on the converter and see what happens. You could also check the voltage on the 12volt bus and compare the 30 A supply reading with that when on 50A supply. You may have a bad neutral connection where the shore power enters the trailer (possibly at the power cord reel if you have one) or at the power centre.
 

wildwolfproducts

Well-known member
Check your wires for the striker that starts it when on gas. My Okangan Truck camper was doing that. The hot wire for the spark was shorting out.
Pete
 

FordMan1966

Well-known member
Well our power went off yesterday while the Landmark was plugged in at home and the Refrigerator was turned on and it blew the fuse. We arrived at the campground this afternoon and when I got here the refrigerator was still on using LP, when I plugged into 50 amp it blew the fuse for the refrigerator. Getting disgusted with this problem.
 

porthole

Retired
Have you tried the 30 adapter at the campground that was suggested?

But from your latest, the fuse blowing when you lost power at home suggests a 12 volt DC issue and just a coincidence with the 50 amp. That and it sounds like only one leg in the 30 amp adepter connected.

When you have it at home using the 50 to 30 amp adapter do ALL the 110 circuits work in the trailer?
 

FordMan1966

Well-known member
Well I left the campground today and traveled about 40 miles home. When I disconnected the 50 amp the refrigerator switched to LP like it should before I hooked up to 30 amp at home I looked inside the camper and found the 15 amp fuse had blown while just on LP this time. My dad had a Winnebago a few years ago that did the same thing and a heater on the refrigerator had a short in it and was replaced and all was well. I have an appointment to take it in on Wednesday. I will post there findings after it is fixed.
Just read another forum where someone else is experiencing the same problem.
 

FordMan1966

Well-known member
Well I picked the 2013 Grand Canyon up from the dealer this afternoon and it appears that the problem with my refrigerator was the wires coming into the bottom of the slide out were coming thru too far into the slideout and the gasket around the slideout was pinching the wires. They had skinned the insulation off of the wires and were shorting out. The dealer re located the wires and the problem appears to be fixed.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
I thought instead of starting a new thread, since I had so similar a problem, I would just add it on here.

I came back from the Canyonville, Oregon rally 2 weekends ago on a Sunday, and enroute through the 100+ degree heat of the Northern California Sacramento Valley, I noticed at one of my rest stops the refrigerator supply "off door side" 12 volt DC supply fuse had blown. This really puzzled me. Later that evening, I disconnected the 12 volt supply wires to the refrig. and thought I had the problem isolated to the refrigerator circuit board. This also puzzled me, as the board has fuses on it that didn't blow. I got a new Dinosaur Electronics brand improved board, installed it, but still was blowing the ODS supply fuse. Finally I seperated the 2 wires going into the fridge, knowing one was 12 volt supply, and the other extended that circuit to other devices. I connected the 12 volt supply,then the refrig worked, and the fuses didn't blow.

I established that the 2 12 volt lamps over/near the stove did not now work, so those must have been supplied by the disconnected power wire. I disassembled those 2 fixtures, and found a probable short of the power switch to a metal shield on one. I trimmed the metal shield and insulated the switch and shield with tape.

I reassembled the wiring, and everything works O.K. now.
 

alaska dodge

Well-known member
I would check the 120 outlet the frig plugs into for any wiring issues then maybe unplug it and plug into 50 amp to see if it will blow the fuse and if not, then plug the frig in. This will help you isolate the problem, also see if the ground and neutral on the outlet are isolated as well as in the panel.
 
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