Converter wiring

Gary521

Well-known member
According to the wiring diagrams posted in the "tools" section ( above ), the power converter supplies 12v power to the battery and the 12v circuit breaker panel. If the manual reset fuse trips, power from the converter is still supplied to the 12v circuit breaker panel. How is this wired? Does the wire from the converter go directly to the manual reset fuse or does the wire from the converter go to the 12v circuit breaker panel and then another wire to the manual reset fuse? The diagram shows a wire from the manual rest fuse to the 12v circuit breaker panel? I only have one wire on my manual circuit breaker fuse. I had a dead battery the other day and everything was dead ( no 12 volt lights ). I do not think the 120 volt breaker to the converter was tripped. ( not exactly positive it was not tripped as I reset it anyway and it did not feel as if it was tripped ) I pushed the manual reset fuse by the battery and heard/felt a tiny click. The reset button was not sticking out - is it supposed to if it is tripped or not? I checked the converter and it is working properly.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Gary,

The wiring may differ across the Heartland product line. On my Landmark, the Power Converter has 2 hot wires attached. One goes to the fuse box and the other to the manual reset 12V DC mini-circuit breaker on the buss bar near the battery. It's possible the junction might also be found on some rigs at the fuse box. It could also be at the mini-circuit breaker as the diagram shows, but the more I think about it, the less likely I think that would be the junction point.

As for the reset button on the mini-circuit breaker, I don't think it 'pops' out when reset. To me it feels like it's got a light spring load and just returns to rest after you remove your finger.

If you're on shore power, and the 12V DC mini-circuit breaker trips, the classic symptom is that when you unplug from shore power, the lights inside all immediately go out. That's because when unplugged, the Power Converter is not supplying 12V DC to the lights, and the tripped mini-circuit breaker keeps battery power from getting inside the coach, even if the battery still has a charge.

When the 12V DC mini-circuit breaker is tripped, the battery won't get recharged from the Power Converter and over time will lose it's charge.

If you have auto-leveling, the control panel has a mode that displays DC voltage. On shore power, truck disconnected, if everything is ok, it should read between 13.2 and 13.6V. If less than 13.2V, there is a problem getting the output of the Power Converter to the battery.

If you shut off shore power, or shut off the 120V breaker to the Power Converter, the control panel will show the battery voltage. A fully charged battery will read 12.6V DC, or maybe 12.5V. 12.4V or less indicates a possible problem.

If on shore power, when you switch the battery cutoff switch OFF, the lights inside should still work. If not, you have a Power Converter problem.
 

Gary521

Well-known member
Thanks for the replys. It appears that on my trailer ( Bighorn ) the 12v breaker box inside the trailer is supplied by the 12v buss in the battery compartment. That means that if the manual reset fuse is tripped, 12 volts power is not supplied to the inside breakers ( fuses ) by the converter. Wonder why they are different on the different models?
 

danemayer

Well-known member
...That means that if the manual reset fuse is tripped, 12 volts power is not supplied to the inside breakers ( fuses ) by the converter.

I don't think this is very likely - at least the way it came from the factory.

For it to be correct, the output of the Power Converter would have to be wired to the battery side of the manual reset breaker. That would defeat the purpose of the manual reset and would create a failure scenario that is unlike what is commonly experienced when that breaker trips.

But if the 12V DC system has been worked on by a dealer or by a previous owner, there's no telling what may have been done.
 

Gary521

Well-known member
The manual reset breaker is connected to the buss in front with all the other auto reset fuses. The manual reset breaker is configured such that if the breaker is tripped, it does not supply power to the battery OR the other auto reset fuses on the buss. The wiring diagram in the tools section shows a wire coming from the manual reset breaker where the converter wire is connected. I do not have this wire. This means that the power to the inside 12v system comes from the buss and one of the fuses there. I just called Heartland Customer service and the guy I talked to said it looks like it was wired that way. He said that the wire from the converter goes directly to the manual reset fuse.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Perhaps this alternate drawing from the Electrical user guide might produce a better understanding of how most trailers are wired. Of course, there's no guarantee that yours is this way. But if there's only 1 wire attached to the manual reset breaker, perhaps this is the explanation.

If your trailer is wired like this drawing, when the manual reset breaker is tripped:


  • the Power Converter will not be able to charge the battery
  • the battery will not be able to supply power to the fuse box
  • exterior components like the slides and level-up will continue to work as long as the battery has a good charge, because the battery power still flows to the breakers on the buss bar.
  • interior lights, water heater, furnace will continue to operate as long as you're on shore power because the fuse box gets power from the Power Converter.
  • when shore power is disconnected, interior lights will immediately go out.
 

Attachments

  • 12V block diagram v2.pdf
    19.4 KB · Views: 29
Top