My husband and I left our home state of TX in early April with our new 2012 Elkridge. We stayed in some campgrounds in TX, stopped for a while in a campground in OK, and stayed at campgrounds in KS and CO. We planned a long leisurely trip to the Pacific NW for the spring/summer months. While in CO the morning was a little chilly so I went to turn on our fireplace and we had nothing. Noticed later that we had no microwave either. We called Heartland to get the names of some dealers here in the Denver area to take our rig. Finally found someone who could get us in before June but said it will take two weeks for repairs. They have had it a week today, called my husband and told him that the fireplace, microwave, and converter all needed to be replaced. Also told my husband that it could take 10 days for Heartland to get the parts to them so I decided to call Heartland. Dealer also told my husband that all of the repairs were going to be covered under warranty. I called Heartland to see about getting faster shipping and now am being told that the warranty might not cover it? Sooooo confused and frustrated. We have friends who have children that live in the Denver area so we are staying in the basement of their home but this eating out is getting expensive along with the inconvenience. I don't understand how it can be covered one minute and then not covered the next? Also was told that we would have to pay the cost of expedited shipping. Am beginning to wonder if we should have just kept our Winnebago...
Help, obviously something electrical...
- Thread starter dansha45
- Start date
jimtoo
Moderator
Hi dansha45,
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 if needed.
It's really hard to believe that all three appliances need to be replaced. I would be inquiring a little more at the dealer and also Heartland Customer Service. If all three are bad, I would think you maybe were hit by a power surge, which would not be covered by warranty.
Hope you get your problem resolved soon. Keep us informed as to repairs and progress.
Jim M
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 if needed.
It's really hard to believe that all three appliances need to be replaced. I would be inquiring a little more at the dealer and also Heartland Customer Service. If all three are bad, I would think you maybe were hit by a power surge, which would not be covered by warranty.
Hope you get your problem resolved soon. Keep us informed as to repairs and progress.
Jim M
I agree with Jim. It would be rare for all these things to fail at the same time.
Do you have some type of surge protection?
One more thing I would do is to plug the microwave into a known good outlet. You would need to use an extension cord for that.
This would verify that the microwave is indeed shot.
Peace
Dave
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Do you have some type of surge protection?
One more thing I would do is to plug the microwave into a known good outlet. You would need to use an extension cord for that.
This would verify that the microwave is indeed shot.
Peace
Dave
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
danemayer
Well-known member
I agree with Jim that 3 major appliances failing simultaneously is probably due to an electrical surge or lightning strike. Ask the dealer what he thinks happened. Also, check your RV insurance policy. If you have comprehensive (other than collision) coverage, it may cover electrical surges. Even if you have to cover the deductible, it'll probably help.
Did you do the simple things first like checking the circuit breakers, and checking the electrical source. Circuit breakers sometimes trip when plugging and unplugging and bouncing down the road. Also use a circuit tester (meter) to check to see if you have electric on both legs of the campground plug. Sounds like one leg of your electrical is out.
Check your plug in the back of your camper. Sounds dumb but the same thing happened with my 2012 Elkridge 36qbck. When you screw the plug in it comes loose on the right side causing it not to make up. Which means your only getting power to one side of your breaker box. All that stuff your describing is on the same side of the breaker box. My fireplace, outside micro, outside tv, and fan would not work. When I wiggled the plug you would here a beep and it would work and when I let go of the plug it went back off. Had to get the dealer to send me a new cord because their was something wrong with end of mine. That trip luckily a guy had an extra cord and let us borrow his. The screw on ring doesn't help either, try and get a Marinco ring with the tabs on it so you can lock it on instead of screwing it on. Hope this is all it is like mine.
This may not be what you want to hear but here's my take. It's been mentioned already but were their and severe electrical storms in places that you camped during your trip to or at the last camp sight where you noticed the problem??? If so maybe you did have a strike and it did ruin three appliances. However how does that relate to the fireplace unless their is an electric circuit board on the ignition part of it that got fried fro a power surge. I find it very disturbing that the repair facility diagnosed your problem without trying to explain why three appliances went bad. If you had no electrical storms or lightning strikes the odds of three going out at the same time are really very, very high. There has to be an explanation for this. The repair facility should have advised you to check your power source before they tried to get approval for the replacement of three appliances. That to me seems wrong and lousy diagnostic procedures. I have worked repairing and teaching mechanical and electrical things for 35 years and know how to diagnose electrical issues. You've been given good advise concerning checking the electrical pedestal at the camp ground for full 2 legs of 110-V power. The repair facility should have suspected that also. My next comment you won't like. Because of how the repair facility diagnosed your problem I would get as far away from them as possible. Now maybe you did fry three appliances but they should still have checked your electrical supply. Here's another thing they should have done. If they came to your sight then they should have checked your power supply. If you took your rig to them then they should have plugged it in to their power and that would eliminate any power problems at the camp sight. The next step would be to plug your micro into a known good power source. Some body already suggested that. If it then worked you know you have a power supply problem. They would then check all breakers, and look for loose connections in your rig. But to immediately tell you that you need to replace three appliances is wrong wrong wrong. They know you're stuck and may be trying to take advantage of your situation.
I don't have the complete story and maybe they did some or all of the stuff that has been suggested to assist them in their diagnosis. If they did then I apologize. If they didn't then get away a fast as possible. Call Heartland and have them suggest a repair facility close to you. Maybe somebody here at the forums knows of a good place near you.
Sorry for your troubles and I hope it works our for you but I really hate to see people taken advantage of and to waste $$$$ on repairs.
TeJay
I don't have the complete story and maybe they did some or all of the stuff that has been suggested to assist them in their diagnosis. If they did then I apologize. If they didn't then get away a fast as possible. Call Heartland and have them suggest a repair facility close to you. Maybe somebody here at the forums knows of a good place near you.
Sorry for your troubles and I hope it works our for you but I really hate to see people taken advantage of and to waste $$$$ on repairs.
TeJay
TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
on our ElkRdige, the fireplace has it's own breaker. We don't have a fireplace, but it is wired for it with its own plug in the cabinet.
Back when we had the NT, We had our converter, the microwave and the fridge go out. We believe that it was due to plugging in (with no surge protection) to a plug that was wired incorrectly. We had to replace the converter and microwave at our expense, but the fridge was covered under warranty (not sure how that worked?).
I agree, something fishy with the way that dealer is working with you.
Erika
Back when we had the NT, We had our converter, the microwave and the fridge go out. We believe that it was due to plugging in (with no surge protection) to a plug that was wired incorrectly. We had to replace the converter and microwave at our expense, but the fridge was covered under warranty (not sure how that worked?).
I agree, something fishy with the way that dealer is working with you.
Erika
1oldcarguy
Member
A bunch of electrical failures on a newer trailer with 50 amp service ,can most likely be the fault of a open neutral before the breaker panel inside the trailer.Most likely,the last campground you were plugged into was the source,but I have seen many shore cords not fully engaged and twist locked, where the shore cord plugs into the trailer.(if your shore card has that type of connector)With out going into a long electrical explanation some facts need to be recognized (1),RV's do not have neutral and ground bonded in the breaker box (unlike a residential house which neutral and ground are bonded) (2) if the neutral path is open ,the appliances that are on will receive 240 volts (when you plug in your trailer ,the converter,microwave, and it seems the control for the fireplace also)
I have brought this series of events up at all the RV seminars I have conducted, and told folks they need to have a surge protector if they have 50 amp service.I have never seen a failure of multiple components that couldn't be traced back to a voltage problem,and it has always been a open neutral.The multiple failure of components is the symptom ,not the problem.
hope this helps
Rich
I have brought this series of events up at all the RV seminars I have conducted, and told folks they need to have a surge protector if they have 50 amp service.I have never seen a failure of multiple components that couldn't be traced back to a voltage problem,and it has always been a open neutral.The multiple failure of components is the symptom ,not the problem.
hope this helps
Rich
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Thank you all for your suggestions. We did have a surge protector, the microwave and fireplace did not stop working at the same time. We did check the gfci plug right away and all of the breakers. None had tripped and we unplugged the microwave and plugged it in to a different power source and got nothing. I also failed to mention that the main light switch was getting hot after only being on for a couple of minutes. I don't know if that ties into everything or not. David, from customer service at Heartland, is working with us to get us on the road again. I will let you all know the final outcome. We are headed back to the dealer on Tuesday morning.
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