Odd Electrical issue - converter knocks outs 110 & 12 Volt system

[BigE200315]

OK kind of a long description but trying to give as much detail as possible to see if anyone has ideas of what I can check next.

After having some service work done at the dealer I bought my 2013 Elkridge 37 Ultimate I had my 5th Wheel parked in my driveway since the end of February. The RV has a new battery (got from dealer when i picked it up) and the camper has been plugged in to shore power since I brought it home. The RV does have 50 AMP service which I had necked down to a 15 amp cord, but am also not running anything in the camper (I have everything 110 v unplugged). I had been in/out of the camper a few times putting things in, taking things out, etc.. getting ready for the upcoming camping season. I had no problems until this past weekend.
This weekend I was in the camper cleaning and noticed, after a very brief period of time, that the 12v lights were going dim. I tried the 110v light and realized i had no 110v power. I started by checking the power to the camper & even eliminated the smaller extension cord replacing it with a heavier gauge cord (but still plugged into 15 amp outlet). I knew power was getting as far as the camper but couldn't figure out what was going on past there.
I next went to the fuse/circuit breaker panel. No circuit breakers were tripped & all fuses were good. I did turn all the breakers off and then back on again but no change.
My next step was to go to the converter. The fuses were fine but, as I had no 110v power, it wasn't working. I unplugged the converter from the 110v outlet & plugged it back in. The fan would cycle for a couple of seconds and then go off, not to turn back on again. As I tried this a few times (even with the shore power disconnected) it did the same thing over & over again.
I ended up leaving the converter unplugged and hooked a Honda generator up to the battery to let it charge to make sure the battery was OK. The battery seemed to accept & hold a charge. At this point I now have 12v power but still no 110v.
I eventually went back to check the shore power and after disconnecting & reconnecting the 50 amp cord suddenly had power again. I was able to finish my cleaning project over the next couple of days but had still not solved the problem that I assumed was converter related.
I purchased a new converter (WF-9865 65 AMP DC Deck Mount) which was the same model as the old converter.
Last evening I installed the new converter & after making all the 12v connections plugged it into the 110v power. IT ended up doing the same thing the previous converter did in the fan doing a brief cycle and then going off, not to come back on again. Thinking that maybe it was because there wasn't any draw & the battery had a good charge I went into the RV and turned on both 12v lights & 110v lights. After no more than 2 minutes I lost 110v power & the 12v was extremely weak.
I again checked the shore power to the camper, it was OK. I also rechecked the circuit breakers & fuses, all were fine but no power.
Any suggestions???

 

[danemayer]

Hi BigE200315,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

The converter changes 120V AC into 12V DC to supply power to the fuse box and to the battery to keep it charged. And when disconnected from shore power, the battery supplies power to the fuse box for lights, thermostat, alarms, refrigerator control board, water heater control board, furnace control board and other things.

From your description, the base problem would seem to be loss of 120V power, not a problem with the converter. When you lose 120V AC, the converter doesn't supply 12V DC to the fusebox and doesn't keep the battery charged. So the battery will run down. Even if you have "everything" turned off, there are still a few small parasitic drains that will run the battery down.

My guess is that you either have a loose connection where the shore power cord plugs in to the trailer, or the dogbone that reduces power from 50 amps to 15 amps has an intermittent connection. If the shore power cord seems to be secure, I would replace the dogbone.

By the way, if you have the rig plugged into shore power for an extended period, you should check the water level in the battery at least monthly. If the water gets too low, the battery can be ruined.

 

[BigE200315]

danemayer,

Thanks for your feedback. I certainly understand the 12v problem is simply because the loss of 110v power & in turn the converter not working (whether it was broke or just not receiving power). The odd part of the problem is that I had the 110v working and it seems that as I installed the new converter the 110v had problems again.
Nothing changed with the 110v connection after I installed the new converted yet I lost power. Do you think that converter would be drawing enough power that I am experiencing problems because the 15 AMP is not enough to power the converter? I might experiment with unplugging the converter and reconnecting the 110v power supply to see if I maintain 110v power. If I do I will plug the converter back in & see if I lose 110v again. If so it might simply be an issue if needing to use either a 30 or 50 AMP cord in a 30 or 50 AMP service. Any thoughts?

 

[Oregon_Camper]

i doubt it has anything to do with you using 15 amp service from your house. When I bring my Bighorn home from storage (to get ready for a trip) I always plug into a 15 amp outlet (via dogbone of course) and have never had any problems. Everything works on 110v.

As Dan said, check the power coming into the converter. Try plugging in something else to the outlet the converter is using, to verify the outlet is working properly.

 

[TravelTiger]

It could be a problem with your power cord or the dogbone. You may need to check the wires on the backside of the plug that your power cord plugs into. Maybe something is loose there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mlpeloquin]

You are going to have to check every single connection, hot, neutral, and ground, to do with your power cord and internal power cord for a loose connection. Back of the power cord socket, at the breaker panel, in each of the power cord adapters. Don't even trust the power socket in the s&b. If you have a surge protector or a transfer switch, you need to check them as well. If you don't have surge/power protection, you need to put this on your must get list. I would suggest a Progressive Industries hard wired unit. http://www.progressiveindustries.net/hardwired-surge-protectors

 

[danemayer]

Could the Power Converter be causing a power outage because you're plugged into a 15 amp circuit?

Notably, on the larger trailers, the Power Converter is plugged into a dedicated 20 amp outlet/circuit breaker and has a 20 amp plug that can't be plugged into a 15 amp outlet. Although the spec on the largest Progressive Dynamics PD9200 series Power Converter says it uses 1300 watts, or 11-12 amps, I've been told it has a 20 amp plug because it can have peak usage higher than 15 amps.

But if it were drawing more than 15 amps and you're plugged into a 15 amp outlet, it should trip the breaker for that outlet. And you should have to manually reset the breaker.

Turn off the breaker for the Power Converter and start checking power on other things. Try the microwave oven to see if the power fluctuates.

 

[edmar]

Odd electrical issue is one I just faced with my Wilderness 2750RL. SN#5SFNB3025FE291932. the problem came from the Shore Cable receptacle. One of the wire connectors inside the box had broken and was giving an intermittent problem. It required a replacement of the receptacle.

Ed And Mary Stephens