No A/C, Lighting, but Outlets Work

[jondavis85]

Hey everyone,

I have a 2017 Heartland Mallard (27') and experienced my first problems while camping this weekend. At some point in the night, the A/C, lighting, refrigerator, slide out, and awning lost power while plugged into shore; all the outlets and microwave still work. I checked the breakers on the post outside, the breakers in the trailer, as well as the fuses and all work fine. Additionally, the batteries drained even though we were still on shore power. I am new to the camping world, and even newer to electrical issues, but am wondering if its an inverter issue? Any help/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[danemayer]

Hi jondavis85,

If you have no interior lights, A/C, refrigerator while plugged into shore power, you don't have output from the Power Converter. The Power Converter changes 120V AC into 12V DC to run those 12V DC devices and to charge the battery.

One of your 120V AC circuit breakers supplies power to the Converter, so flip that breaker OFF and back ON just in case it's tripped. It's also possible the Converter plugged has slipped out of the receptacle where it's normally plugged in. If the battery was recently reconnected, it's possible the on-board blade type fuses on the Power Converter could have been blown by hooking the battery up backwards for a moment. Or the Converter may have just failed.

On larger 5th wheels, the Power Converter is often located behind the rear wall of the pass through basement storage. On travel trailers, it could be in a different location. If your circuit breaker panel and fuse box are close to the exterior wall where the power cord plugs in, the Power Converter could be located behind the circuit breaker panel.

As a workaround, if you are near a Walmart, you can buy a battery charger to connect directly to your trailer battery and charge it up until you can have the Converter checked out.

If you just need power to bring the slide in, you may be able to charge the battery enough by connecting the truck and running the engine on high idle for 45-60 minutes.

Our Electrical user guide in this folder may help you understand how all the electrical elements go together.

 

[jondavis85]

Thank you for the quick response. I was able to use jumper cables from the truck to the trailer battery which were a quick fix for getting the slide, awning, and stabilzers in and up! I did see, what I believe, the power convertor behind the circuit breaker panel which is inside the bedroom. And yes, all fuses/breakers appeared to be operating normally. I will contact Heartland and see about ordering a replacement convertor and give the fix a shot as the local repair shops seem to be booked out months in advance.

Again, thank you!

 

[pegmikef]

Thank you for the quick response. I was able to use jumper cables from the truck to the trailer battery which were a quick fix for getting the slide, awning, and stabilzers in and up! I did see, what I believe, the power convertor behind the circuit breaker panel which is inside the bedroom. And yes, all fuses/breakers appeared to be operating normally. I will contact Heartland and see about ordering a replacement convertor and give the fix a shot as the local repair shops seem to be booked out months in advance.

Again, thank you!

I feel your pain. I am now waiting on another replacement converter. They sent me one and the voltage output turned out to be too low. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with a Progressive Tech who walked me through several tests and then he concluded it needed replaced and HL is sending me another one. It is not hard to replace, but can be a challenge to get to it. One tool you will need if it is a progress 9200 series converter is a 5/32 T hex driver to remove and attach the battery cables. I just turned my batteries off, unplugged the old unit, removed the battery cables and AC ground cable and reversed the procedure with the new one. Read the instructions that come with the new one as it has some warnings that you should heed.

 

[jondavis85]

I purchased a new unit (link below) so hopefully it will be a quick fix. Anyone know what causes the unit to go bad? Too hot? Power surge? I would like to do everything I can to avoid anything like this from happening in the future.

https://www.amazon.com/Arterra-0318...pID=417M3KR4L2L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

[pegmikef]

I feel your pain. I am now waiting on another replacement converter. They sent me one and the voltage output turned out to be too low. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with a Progressive Tech who walked me through several tests and then he concluded it needed replaced and HL is sending me another one. It is not hard to replace, but can be a challenge to get to it. One tool you will need if it is a progress 9200 series converter is a 5/32 T hex driver to remove and attach the battery cables. I just turned my batteries off, unplugged the old unit, removed the battery cables and AC ground cable and reversed the procedure with the new one. Read the instructions that come with the new one as it has some warnings that you should heed.

Sorry about that. I didn't realize we were dealing with 30 Amp. Don't know what kind of tool is needed for that converter.