Well, after replacing the fuse, we tried to turn on the system once more before going to bed. The fuse for the bathroom blew again. After we changed it again, we found that it could handle the load of the line warmer, but not the heating pads. Hubs thinks we need a bigger fuse in that slot, one that can accommodate more. However, we know nothing about electrical so we will be doing some research. Any thoughts/suggestions??
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Hi Emees,
You don't want to go to a larger fuse. Unless the factory or dealer installed an undersized fuse, putting in a larger one would be a safety issue.
Let's make sure we're on the same page to start:
The fuses are for 12V DC.
The circuit breakers in the main panel inside are for 120V AC.
The GFCI in the bathroom is for 120V AC, and protects the bathroom outlet, exterior outlets, and other outlets that may be exposed to water. It's very unlikely that the Tank Heating Pads are on this circuit.
The power for the Tank Heating Pads historically has been 120V AC, on a separate circuit breaker.
The power for the Fresh Water Line Heat Tape has historically in 12V DC.
Historically, the switch for the Tank Heating Pads has had 120V AC wired right to the switch, just like a residential light switch.
Historically, the switch for the Fresh Water Heat Tape has had 12V DC wired to it.
The lights in your bathroom are almost certainly 12V DC. You can test this by checking the lights with shore power disconnected or switched off.
On newer coaches, both YETI switches may be wired for 12V DC. In this configuration, the Tank Heating Pads are probably still 120V AC. To bridge this, there's likely a relay behind the control panel. The switch for the Tank Heating Pads is wired for 12V DC which operates the relay. When the relay closes, it acts like a remote-control switch that's wired for 120V AC and sends the 120V AC to the heating pads.
What's the relationship between bathroom lights and YETI? The Fresh Water Heat Tape doesn't use much power. And the relay for the Tank Heating Pads doesn't use much power. So it's possible that the Heat Tape, relay, and bathroom lights all share the same 12V DC fuse. In that case, one of those items may be drawing too much power, or there may be an intermittent short circuit.
There is another possibility that's less likely. The Tank Heating Pads, while historically powered by 120V AC, can also be wired to operate on 12V DC. If by some chance that's what you have, AND the Tank Heating Pads share the same fuse with the Heat Tape and the bathroom lights, that might be too much for the fuse. If that's the case, the solution would be to split the loads across 2 fuses. You may be able to test this thought by disconnecting or shutting off shore power. Then switch on the YETI Tank Heaters to see if a light comes on.
That all said, if you know nothing about electrical, you may have some difficulty running down this problem. You may have to take it to your dealer to get it resolved.