Help with AC power. No power in the line to second AC 2017 Sundance 269TS

[DreamBigLiving]

Quick backstory... Mesa Arizona at the end of May this year our only AC quits when it's 105 outside. Ugh. Found a burned wire nut at the AC and fixed that. Still no AC. Replaced the control box and condenser. No Dice.

Took to LaMesa RV for repairs and they installed a new Main AC unit and I had them install the second AC while it was there. Of course the new Main AC didn't work until they did an extra $800 worth of wiring to get power to it.(Makes me wonder) $3600 total we are out the door with 2 new AC's that are both now working.

Now 4 months later the new second AC in the bedroom after working for 4 months quits 15 minutes after firing it up. Nothing exciting, just stopped while it was running and won't start. Got out the voltage checker and sure enough, there is no power in the supply line at the AC. Checked breaker, wasn't even popped. But even after resetting the breaker still no power.

Because we were in the HOT zone, I was able to dissect a power strip for the cord end and installed a plug in onto the AC. Plugged it into the 15 amp bedroom socket with an ext cord and it's working again off of the plug in.

Any Ideas where to look for the loss of power? Do the breakers go bad? Wires on breaker panel? How do I get behind the breaker panel to check there? Is there a common place where wiring breaks, or loses connection? I'm no electrical expert, but have enough sense not to die while poking around on 110v. Just not sure where to start looking.

I could see one AC unit losing power to the AC but to have a second one do the same thing make me wonder what's going on here.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[wdk450]

Hopefully any wire runs to a high current device like an air conditioner would have no splices (and wire nuts) until the wire run reaches the air conditioner. But all bets are off when you have the non-factory rv servicer added wiring. The fact that it worked for 15 minutes and then went dead suggests a bad wire nut connection like you experienced before. Sadly, I would say you need to go back to the RV servicer and get some warranty service on the expensive wiring you paid for. Maybe a tone generator and wireless wire tracer might help you, but these can be tricky to use.

 

[Dahillbilly]

If you are comfortable working with live AC current do these steps. Shut off all power, remove the inner panel of the breaker panel box; switch off all the breakers EXCEPT the one to the AC in question; turn on the main breaker & then power to the panel. Using your volt meter check voltage on that breaker & see what reading you get. Be careful it's a starting point

 

[DreamBigLiving]

Sadly, I would say you need to go back to the RV servicer and get some warranty service on the expensive wiring you paid for.

They will charge me for a wiring "issue" again. The original wiring power failure was on the Main AC. This is happening now on the optional second AC in the bedroom. They didn't do anything with that wiring except connect it to the AC they installed there. And now it has no power to going to that connection.

 

[Flick]

Quick backstory... Mesa Arizona at the end of May this year our only AC quits when it's 105 outside. Ugh. Found a burned wire nut at the AC and fixed that. Still no AC. Replaced the control box and condenser. No Dice.

Took to LaMesa RV for repairs and they installed a new Main AC unit and I had them install the second AC while it was there. Of course the new Main AC didn't work until they did an extra $800 worth of wiring to get power to it.(Makes me wonder) $3600 total we are out the door with 2 new AC's that are both now working.

Now 4 months later the new second AC in the bedroom after working for 4 months quits 15 minutes after firing it up. Nothing exciting, just stopped while it was running and won't start. Got out the voltage checker and sure enough, there is no power in the supply line at the AC. Checked breaker, wasn't even popped. But even after resetting the breaker still no power.

Because we were in the HOT zone, I was able to dissect a power strip for the cord end and installed a plug in onto the AC. Plugged it into the 15 amp bedroom socket with an ext cord and it's working again off of the plug in.

Any Ideas where to look for the loss of power? Do the breakers go bad? Wires on breaker panel? How do I get behind the breaker panel to check there? Is there a common place where wiring breaks, or loses connection? I'm no electrical expert, but have enough sense not to die while poking around on 110v. Just not sure where to start looking.

I could see one AC unit losing power to the AC but to have a second one do the same thing make me wonder what's going on here.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

I think the problem with your two ac’s over the past few months is related. What was suggested is in line with my thoughts, but you need to eliminate possible problems starting at the source. Check voltage at the pedestal on both incoming legs. Check your cord for no visible burns or problems. Then check voltage on both legs of your rv 120v panel. If voltage is good to that point, you’ve eliminated a lot of possible problem areas. I’m assuming you are on 50a service.
Then check voltage on the line side of the 15a breaker for the ac. If you can, wire the non working ac to the other ac breaker to see if it will run. If it does run, problem is at your panel on the other 120v leg.
I think you have a possible problem at your rv breaker panel since your unit runs plugged into an outlet. Be thoughtful about running your ac long term plugged into the outlet. Voltage there could be lower than coming directly from your panel and low voltage could harm your compressor. Be careful and good luck.

 

[DreamBigLiving]

Paid a mobile RV tech to sort it out. It appears that this romex also has a break in it somewhere between the breaker and AC. Seems like a poor design in this trailer that has had BOTH ac lines go bad somewhere within the walls and ceiling between the breaker and AC unit.

I understand that these rigs go through a lot of movement while on the road but shouldn't the builders be forward enough in their production that they can build to that criteria? Sucks to be a consumer of consistently poor construction processes. ugh.

I may attempt to pull a new wire through, or I may just trade it in as is. Not worth $400 - $800 to not have to use the extension cord to run the second AC. It's actually pretty handy if camping at a 30amp park. Just run the cord out the window to the 20amp plug in on the post and viola, 2 air conditioners on a 30amp post. One ac runs off the trailer and the second one runs straight off of the post.

Thanks for your input! It was helpful.

 

[cookie]

Paid a mobile RV tech to sort it out. It appears that this romex also has a break in it somewhere between the breaker and AC. Seems like a poor design in this trailer that has had BOTH ac lines go bad somewhere within the walls and ceiling between the breaker and AC unit.


Thanks for your input! It was helpful.

I have never heard of a break in the Romex wiring going to an AC unit.
Seems odd that you have had a break in wiring to two AC units.

Peace
Dave

 

[Flick]

I have never heard of a break in the Romex wiring going to an AC unit.
Seems odd that you have had a break in wiring to two AC units.

Peace
Dave

Ditto on that unless it’s going thru a junction box. That might be worth securing a second opinion.

 

[DreamBigLiving]

I have never heard of a break in the Romex wiring going to an AC unit.
Seems odd that you have had a break in wiring to two AC units.

Yeah, I can’t get my head around that one either. The techs said there is no junction in the AC power lines, it’s a straight run from the breaker to the AC unit.

They tested and had power to the breaker in the breaker panel. No power at the destination can only mean a break in the wire or a bad breaker switch. They replaced the breaker to eliminate that possibility. When the AC quit working it just stopped without popping the breaker. Strange indeed.

 

[danemayer]

Yeah, I can’t get my head around that one either. The techs said there is no junction in the AC power lines, it’s a straight run from the breaker to the AC unit.

They tested and had power to the breaker in the breaker panel. No power at the destination can only mean a break in the wire or a bad breaker switch. They replaced the breaker to eliminate that possibility. When the AC quit working it just stopped without popping the breaker. Strange indeed.

I'm wondering how they tested power. The wire coming out of the breaker is the hot wire. But you also need a good neutral connection for power to flow. I'm wondering if you have a neutral problem. The neutral wire in the Romex goes back to the neutral buss bar next to the circuit breakers. The the incoming neutral wire from the power pedestal also ties to that buss bar. This is all pictured on page 14 of our Electrical User Guide.

 

[Flick]

I'm wondering how they tested power. The wire coming out of the breaker is the hot wire. But you also need a good neutral connection for power to flow. I'm wondering if you have a neutral problem. The neutral wire in the Romex goes back to the neutral buss bar next to the circuit breakers. The the incoming neutral wire from the power pedestal also ties to that buss bar. This is all pictured on page 14 of our Electrical User Guide.

With this thought in mind, you could try to get a voltage reading at the ac using the ground leg. If you’d have voltage, that could mean a faulty neutral on either end.

 

[wdk450]

With this thought in mind, you could try to get a voltage reading at the ac using the ground leg. If you’d have voltage, that could mean a faulty neutral on either end.

An old trick I used to use for testing cables was to disconnect both ends from power/loads, short the hot and neutral wires at one of the cable ends, and measure across the other end for continuity. Good for Coax, audio, low voltage power (12 volt), and AC power cables.