A/C and fridge aren't working

jillie · 07-16-2011, 10:02 AM

We came home in early May and put the Ventana in storage until last Monday, so about two months. It's a storage without electricity.

Monday we noticed that the A/C wouldn't come on with the generator. When we picked it up yesterday, we reset the breaker on the generator, but still no A/C.

Today it's at the house plugged in and neither the A/C or fridge have power but the microwave is working. Have thrown all the breakers and reset. Have to get out on some errands. Haven't checked any outlets yet. Will do when I get back this afternoon.

Thought you all might have some idea of what to check next.

Norm4015 · 07-16-2011, 11:02 AM

You may have lost one leg of the 50 amp power since part of the coach works on 110 volts and part does not. Do both of the air conditioner not work or only one? Since both shore power and the generator don't work I would suspect the Automatic Transfer Switch.

Also, are the house batteries fully charged? The refrigerator and air conditioner run on 110-volts, but the controls need good 12 volts.

bdpreece · 07-16-2011, 11:36 AM

With power disconnected to the coach open up the transfer switch box. Check and tighten all connections. Norm also has a good point about the 12 volts. Someone didn't throw the salesman switch to the off position did they?

jillie · 07-16-2011, 01:38 PM

Let's see if I can answer all the questions.
Q: Do both of the air conditioner not work or only one?
A: Neither comes on. We have a control that works the A/C and furnace. We don't even get a light when we try to turn that on.

Q: Also, are the house batteries fully charged? The refrigerator and air conditioner run on 110-volts, but the controls need good 12 volts.
A: House batteries are charged. It's been plugged in for 24 hours and A/C and fridge still don't work.

Q: Someone didn't throw the salesman switch to the off position did they?
A: Don't know what that is. No one has been near the coach since the last time when it worked.

!. With power disconnected to the coach open up the transfer switch box.
?. Where would I look for that?

!. Since both shore power and the generator don't work I would suspect the Automatic Transfer Switch.
?. That's what I was thinking but that doesn't account for the fridge not working, does it?

Too hot right now to go out and check outlets (no A/C inside the coach). Will get to that when the sun goes down a bit.

harleyman134 · 07-16-2011, 02:59 PM

If you have the Dometic thermostat and it is not working that indicates a 12 volt problem since the tstat works from a 12 volt feed from the front a/c and the a/c won't come on without a signal from the tstat. If refrig won't operate off propane it is probably a 12 volt problem as well. The salesman switch is a battery disconnect switch used to turn off the 12 volt system when the mh is in storage. Find you battery disconnect switch and make sure it's on. I have a 12 volt panel next to the 110 panel in my mh, you might want to check the fuse in your 12 volt panel, I can't imagine both fuses for the a/c and refrig to be blown, but anything is possible.

jillie · 07-16-2011, 03:04 PM

Hubby was in charge of turning the power back on. Guess I better go check his work.

bdpreece · 07-16-2011, 05:33 PM

"Q: Someone didn't throw the salesman switch to the off position did they?
A: Don't know what that is. No one has been near the coach since the last time when it worked."

On my coach at least the salesmans switch kills all 12 volt power to the coach and is located on a panel right next to the entrance door. Mine is labled Batt Cut Out.

With power disconnected to the coach open up the transfer switch box.
?. Where would I look for that?

The transfer switch will most likely be located in the same compartment with your power cord. Mine is in a metal box that has a removable cover and is labeled.

jillie · 07-16-2011, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdpreece

"Q: Someone didn't throw the salesman switch to the off position did they?
A: Don't know what that is. No one has been near the coach since the last time when it worked."

On my coach at least the salesmans switch kills all 12 volt power to the coach and is located on a panel right next to the entrance door. Mine is labled Batt Cut Out.

After checking everything else, I remembered to open that door next to the entrance door. Sure enough, the switch was off. Turned it on and everything was fine. Whoopee! And a big DUH!

BUT after we took the MH back to storage, the switch wouldn't go off. Press, light still on. Press again, light still on. That's not the way it used to be.

Can you sense my frustration here? We had a DP from another manufacturer and we didn't realize how different that coach was from this one. That one was pretty much a plain jane model. This newer one has lots of bells and whistles. Maybe we're just too unmechanical to deal with it.

jillie · 07-16-2011, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdpreece

"With power disconnected to the coach open up the transfer switch box.
?. Where would I look for that?

The transfer switch will most likely be located in the same compartment with your power cord. Mine is in a metal box that has a removable cover and is labeled.

That info will be noted in my notebook for future reference. Thanks.

Dr4Film · 07-16-2011, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jillie

After checking everything else, I remembered to open that door next to the entrance door. Sure enough, the switch was off. Turned it on and everything was fine. Whoopee! And a big DUH!

BUT after we took the MH back to storage, the switch wouldn't go off. Press, light still on. Press again, light still on. That's not the way it used to be.

Can you sense my frustration here? We had a DP from another manufacturer and we didn't realize how different that coach was from this one. That one was pretty much a plain Jane model. This newer one has lots of bells and whistles. Maybe we're just too non-mechanical to deal with it.

What you are dealing with is commonly called the Salesman Switch. It functions a relay located somewhere in one of your electrical bays. The switch doesn't fail, usually, but the relay has a very high failure rate, usually at the worst time when it is dark out and raining. Normally when they fail, you lose all 12 Volt DC power, not a good thing. You should check the switch first to make sure that it hasn't failed.

It appears that possibly your relay has failed in the closed position versus the open position. That can be a Blessing in one way. However, since the Salesman switch to most people is a useless device, I would recommend finding the relay and bypassing it by bolting the HD Red cables together that carry the 12 Volt DC current and protecting the union.

There are a variety of methods to bypass the relay depending on your model. I have included a photo of my defective relay and how I bypassed it by putting both Red Cables on one post.

Dr4Film ----- Richard.

jillie · 07-16-2011, 08:07 PM

What's the advantage of leaving the salesman switch on? On our previous DP, if we didn't turn off all the switches, the batteries would run down because there was still power going to the clock on the radio, etc.

Norm4015 · 07-16-2011, 08:21 PM

On our motorhome that switch is a two way switch. Push down on one side and the 12 volts is disconnected (red light off). Push down on the other side and the 12 volts is reconnected (red light on).

bdpreece · 07-17-2011, 12:02 AM

BUT after we took the MH back to storage, the switch wouldn't go off. Press, light still on. Press again, light still on. That's not the way it used to be.

The switch is a rocker type switch. Push in on the top to turn on and push in on the bottom to turn off or visa versa.