2011 Sundance 3200RE, help locating inverter

D-Var

Member
I have a 2011 3200RE, and I can not locate the inverter. I pulled 3 panels off inside the basement storage compartment, looked under the sink, removed a panel in the kitchen cabinets, and removed the counter extension, and still can't find it, the area behind the counter extension has a lot of the electrical stuff back there, including the back of the fuse/ circuit breaker panel, but I can't locate the inverter. I suspect it's bad, I have the lights flickering, and dimming, and as I read, I turned off the breaker for the inverter and the dimming stopped. I need to find it to get the information off it for a new one. I had a 2002 Fleetwood that the inverter went bad on and it was easy to find, this one not so much! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!
 

123camper

Well-known member
We have the same year and model 5er. Our converter is mounted on the back side of the stair. Open the door side basement door and it is behind the first panel.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
I have a 2011 3200RE, and I can not locate the inverter. I pulled 3 panels off inside the basement storage compartment, looked under the sink, removed a panel in the kitchen cabinets, and removed the counter extension, and still can't find it, the area behind the counter extension has a lot of the electrical stuff back there, including the back of the fuse/ circuit breaker panel, but I can't locate the inverter. I suspect it's bad, I have the lights flickering, and dimming, and as I read, I turned off the breaker for the inverter and the dimming stopped. I need to find it to get the information off it for a new one. I had a 2002 Fleetwood that the inverter went bad on and it was easy to find, this one not so much! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

Not trying to be a smart aleck but I think you are talking about the Converter. The Inverter turns 12 V DC to 120 V AC. The Converter turns 120 V AC to 12 V DC and acts as a battery charger too.
 

D-Var

Member
123camper, thank you for the reply, I had stopped by the dealer this morning, and they told me the same thing, so I went to where the camper is set up and took that wall out and there it was, the only problem, it appears that you have to remove the steps from the inside to take it out, (or even see the front of it to get the model information). It is a pretty stupid design, it is mounted on two uprights made out of 2x2s, they could have easily mounted it on the back side, and it would have been much more serviceable. It appears the steps may come out, I located 3 large screws near the top of the second step, and removed them, but the the steps were still pretty snug, there does appear to be a seam between the top of the second and the bottom of the third step, but I couldn't get them out. What I ended up doing was using a hack saw blade, I cut the nails that attached the 2x2s to the frame, and remover the converter with the 2x2 attached, I'll just toe nail them back in with screws, which will hold the in better that the little brad nails they used from the factory
 

123camper

Well-known member
Never had any trouble with ours. I only found it I redid that whole wall when I removed the hallway heat vent and created more space in the basement. Our hallway heat vent blew straight up on our thermostat. The furnace would not run long enough to heat the living room. It just kept cycling on and then would shut off. Heat rises so our bedroom stays plenty warm without it. Good luck with your project.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
You can call Heartland customer service and have your VIN # ready, they can probably tell you the model # for the converter and also sell you a new one. If you are a Heartland Owners Club member, you'll get 10% off.

We were in a bind when ours was going bad this winter in below freezing weather. I found and ordered a new one on Amazon with free two-day shipping, expedited to one day for only $9.95.
 

D-Var

Member
Bob & Patty, the lights started dimming, and flickering every now and then, I did a search for those symptoms, and it pointed to the converter, when I checked the output with a meter, it was way out of specs, ordered a new one with a surge protector and installed them today, everything is back to normal.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Glad if fixed your issue. BTW, did you check the battery condition?? A bad battery might cause the same issues.
 
Top