New Member and New Camper - Looking for advice on Converter issue

[JSD]

Hi everyone,

First off, a brief a introduction, My name is Joel and I just purchased a gently used 2011 Heartland 30BH Trail Runner Edition last October. This is our first time owning a trailer of any kind, and we purchased it to set it up full time in a trailer park where we own a lot.

We have enjoyed owning our new trailer, and have been using it on weekends throughout this summer without any issues until the labour day long weekend where we ran into a problem. When I got to the trailer I noticed that the interior lights did not work when I tried to switch them on, all I heard was a "Beep" sound when I tried to switch the lights on, each time I tried the switch the same beep could be heard but no lights. I assumed we were having a power failure but then I noticed that the TV which is in the rear bunk room had a small red light on in the corner which meant it had power, and sure enough when I powered it on it worked. After more investigation, I found that my fridge, microwave, DVD/Audio system and AC/Heater had no power and were non responsive, but all of the AC 110 outlets in the trailer worked.

So I reviewed the instruction manual and checked the fuses in the power/fuse box and everything looked ok, switched the breakers on and off a few times but no change. At this point one of my neighbours came to help me investigate and we used his volt meter on the box to determine that there was indeed power going to the 110V side, but nothing on the right side of the box which he explained as the 12V side. He said at this point that it was likely my converter which was causing the problem.

I have since determined that my power box is a Wolrd Friendship Co. LTD Power Converter with Distribution Panle Model WF-8955PEC. Since I don't have a vehicle that can haul the trailer around, and the RV dealer in the town where my trailer is does not carry this brand or have experience servicing these units, I am turning to this forum to get some suggestions on the best approach to determine what to do next, and see if any of you have experienced similar issues and how you solved it.

At this point I am open to suggestions and recommendations on how to further diagnose the problem, I am hoping there is a possible reset I could attempt, or replace a sub component of this Converter, as opposed to having to replace the whole thing, since the 110V side seems to work.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time, sorry if this was long winded. Just trying to give as much detail as I can.

PS: Is it normal for the Fridge to not work with the given problem above since it was set to "Auto", I had always assumed that if it was set to Auto that it would switch to gas should there be a power failure, or the power source failed all together. I tried to run the fridge on gas when I was there, and it just flashed a blinking orange light when I tried this. Same with the Heater, I expected it would work on Gas without power, but it was not doing anything when I tried to turn it on.

Joel

 

[jimtoo]

HI Joel,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

Sounds like your 12v is not working for sure,,, there are fuses on the converter it self to protect it. Also your fridge will not work without the 12v. The control board in the fridge is 12v and needs 12v even when on the 120v side. Until you can get more info you can hook a 12v battery charger to your battery to supply the system and there maybe a master fuse or circuit breaker near the battery.

I'm sure you will get more and better help from some of our other members soon.

Enjoy the forum and keep us informed.

Jim M

 

[danemayer]

Hi Joel,

There's a tech support number in the manual for your converter - they may have some pointers. 877-294-8997. And here's a link to the manuals section of the forum with the manual for your converter/panel.

In addition to the frig, the thermostat is also dependent on 12V, preventing the air conditioning from working. Also the furnace, and depending on which water heater you have, perhaps that as well. Some of your alarms may be hardwired to 12V as well - the propane detector for one - so take extra care.

As Jim mentioned, a battery charger may help, depending on what's failed. If the battery is kept charged by the battery charger, there's a good possibility you'll have a workaround until the problem can be fixed.

 

[JSD]

Thanks for the responses, good idea on checking to see if it might be the battery that is causing a problem, I can bring a portable battery charger next time I am up there to see if that solves the issue. Also just wanted to point out I tried to call the 877-294-8997 number listed for tech support, and there is a recording saying the number is not in service.

I only go up to the trailer on the weekends, since it is 90 minutes away, so I will have to wait to troubleshoot, I will post an update. In the meantime, if anyone else has ideas and suggestions, I am all ears

Joel

 

[recumbent615]

Joel,

One thing you can do is disconnect the ground from the battery and then measure across the ground wire ( not the battery ) and the positive side ( still attached to the battery ) with a digital volt meter to see if your converter is working. If you have 12 volts then you have a working converter and your battery is dead - if you have no 12 volts then you have a blown fuse or your converter is dead. a temp solution for a blow converter is a battery charger as has been suggested. You do not need a battery to get 12 V if you have a working converter, so if the battery is dead you can remove it until you get a new one - just take care that you protect the power lead from touching anything.

Kevin

 

[JSD]

Just wanted to post an update for folks who may have a similar problem down the road. I ended up replacing the Power Converter Model WF-8955PEC with a new one, and it solved my issue. I was able to replace the converter portion in about 45 minutes without any troubles with no experience, I am guessing I could do it in 20 minutes if I had to do it again. After replacing the faulty part, I had a look at it, and it did in fact take a power spike, as I could visibly see the damage on some of the electrical components which were charred and some of the plastic melted, surprises me that none of the fuses were affected.

So the good news is I now have 12v power again, and my fridge, AC/Heater, lights and Radio are now working again, the bad news is that the High Pointe Microiwave is not working. I took the Microwave out of the cabinet tried the old "unplug it from the outlet and plug it back in" trick, but it had no effect. Unfortunately, I forgot my volt meter at home and was not able to test if the plug was the issues, or the microwave itself. I will provide another update once I figure this out.

Been a learning experience so far, one I would of preferred to avoid, but I knew getting into RV'ing that things break

Joel

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Joel, it's too late for this microwave but, you really need to have some sort of electrical protection device in your shore power line before it gets to the rig. Mine has saved me more than once. One spot we were assigned to had 230 volts on one leg and 20 volts on other. Had we hooked up without device, that voltage would have fried everything on that leg.

 

[JeromyS]

Yes I can confirm. Get yourself a power protector/Surge Guard. They seem expensive but they will save you money down the line. I had to replace both Microwaves, Blu-Ray, 2 TVs, a Dish Hopper receiver, the Power Converter and the control-board to my fridge because of faulty power (all while I was 2200 miles away from home). Needless to say this cost me more than that surge guard would have. I now have one and won't hook up to another untrusted (aka not my own home) power source without it.

 

[JSD]

Thanks for the additional information and suggestions on the power guard/surge protector, any recommendations on make and model I should look into for one of these? It will be outdoor in the rain during the regular comping season, and unplugged and stored during the winter months.

I did a bit of poking around on the web, I assume I need a 30AMP surge protector, the "Progressive Industries EMSPT30C Surge Protector" got pretty good reviews and runs around $300, any thoughts?

Joel