No Inverter Power at PS Front

[1peddler]

We do not have inverter power to the socket just behind the passanger chair. All other sockets are live on the inverter. The socket in question is live on shore and gen only.

Has anyone else had this problem? If so how did you fix it.

[EngineerMike]

On your main breaker panel the top four breakers should be 15, 50,50, 15 amps. The 4th breaker serves the fridge, "entry cab receptacle" i.e. the one by passenger seat, and the dinette light. Per the WRV schematics for an 06 coach, the outlet chains off the back of the fridge outlet which should be visible from outside by taking the fridge access panel off (assumes you don't have residential fridge).

In order for the inverter to power this outlet, you need to move it's feed from the 4th breaker circuit to one of the two middle Inverter Panel breakers. Easiest way to do that is to tie into the dinette outlet or the or the patio outlet (if your patio outlet is an exterior type mounted on side of coach above floor line, the dinette is easier; my patio outlet on an SE is inside the utility door on PS which would be cake).

I can't tell you where the wiring for the PS-front outlet runs. Frank Rouse changed the feed for this outlet to the inverter and posted the info on where he intercepted here.

Per code you figure 180 watts for each duplex outlet, so for a 15A breaker you can legally have (15A x 120V)/180 watts = 10 outlets. The 06 120V schematic shows 6 outlets on the lower 15A inverter breaker, all wired thru the bath gfi outlet (bath, patio, dinette, galley overhead, galley1 & galley2); adding one would be 7 total. You will be GFI interrupted off this circuit, and will have to remember that when it doesn't work. The other inverter circuit has bedroom plugs & bed sconces, plus rear & front TV area plugs, plus kitchen light (fluorescent), for an equivalent of about 8 recept's, so the GFI circuit would be a better place to tap.

[Ted III]

The receptacle you refer to is not wired through the inverter. It is wired direct for AC from generator or shorepower. It was wired that way from WRV. We put a night light in it to show that we have AC power without the inverter interferring.

[chris cross]

E-MIKE: I have the residential reefer. Presently I run an extension cord from the dinette outlet to the area we are talking about. I would like to power the outlet from the inverter when needed. If the solution you already gave is applicable to me could you restate the fix for a layman? thanks

[takepride]

CC:

Frank Rouse's (vagabondman) method is the safest one for your coach. It moves only that outlet to another inverted circuit. If you're sure you'll not be using other greedy electrical items like heaters, curling irons, hair dryers, etc. on the other outlets currently sharing the circuit for your front PS outlet, you can just rewire at the panel and move the entire circuit over to an existing, inverted circuit breaker (share it).

I've found, however that I occasionally overload a circuit when I fail to remember which circuit I'm plugging my electric space heater into (no HH, boo-hoo).

I've been threatening to do the modification as Frank suggests for a couple years now. I wonder if I'll finally get to it.

[EngineerMike]

Chris- do you have the optional ice maker or electric cooktop? mike

[chris cross]

e-Mike: I do have the ice maker not the electric cook top.

[EngineerMike]

I should have been more specific, is the ice maker separate from the residential fridge/freezer?

[EngineerMike]

Looks like the easiest config for changing the PS front outlet to inverter may be the residential fridge models*. It would, however mean pulling the fridge, instructions for which are up to somebody else. The RV fridge models work similarly, tho you may have to pull the under-fridge furnace on models so equipped.

The front outlet is chain-wired thru the fridge outlet on RV fridge models; fridge outlet is visible inside the fridge's lower vent cover from outside the coach looking forward. On ResFridge models power follows same path but bypasses fridge outlet which is on inverter.
Power comes in from basement, and goes up the inside of the fridge cabinet (either to fridge outlet or continuing uninterrupted) and into the back of the dinette-overhead cabinets thru their false back (got me how this works on dinette slide models or 38' units). You can see the overhead wiring with cabinet false back removed in Dale's post #1, 5th photo here.

So OEM front outlet wiring is from panel into basement, up thru floor to (or bypassing) fridge plug, up thru fridge cabinet & across back of upper cabinets, then into wall and down to front outlet.

IIWM, I'd
A) unplug coach, shut off AGS, shut off inverter, and take all other ordinary and recommended safety precautions like hiring a professional who has insurnace and a health plan. Then check power at dinette & front outlets; fix whatever is still sending power to places I'll be working.
1) install 2 new junction boxes, #1 in the back of upper cabinet next to fridge cab (behind false back), and #2 on inside rear-facing wall of fridge cabinet
2) pull feed off dinette recept & route it into #2Jbox
3) cut romex @ upper cab leaving sufficient length & run it into #1Jbox
4) run new romex from #2Jbox to dinette outlet (will be a short piece)
5) run new romex from #1Jbox to #2Jbox* (about 8' more or less including excess for splicing ends)
6) splice romex together in Jboxes as follows:
7) wire nut 3 white, wire nut 3 black, wire nut 3 cu in #2Jbox (3 wire nuts, 3 wires/splice, don't mix colors!!!)
8) wire nut 2 white, 2 black & 2 cu in #1Jbox (3 wire nuts, 2 wires/splice, no mixed colors!!!)
9) wire dinette recept from new romex out of #2Jbox
10) install #3Jbox & push cut end of romex in upper cab (comes from fridge outlet on RV models, bypass of fridge outlet on res fridge models) into #3Jbox & wire nut ends of white & black wires so no exposed copper; remember this romex will be hot when coach is plugged in or gen running so good termination is essential to safety
11) check applicability of various homeowner's & RV insurance coverages & alter as needed for applicable perils
12) turn on inverter & check power to front & dinette outlets, check polarity, turn off inverter & fix what I screwed up; repeat till outlets work normally
13) turn on gen & check all outlets, shut off gen & fix whatever I screwed up; restart gen & check; repeat as req'd; kill gen
14) plug in coach & check... fix... check
15) cover all 3 J-boxes and reassemble coach
B) shedule a long, relaxing trip that will make copious use of the new inveter plug , cuz that was a crazy lot of work for not having to use an extension cord or an alternate outlet.

*for RV fridge models, there is a "floor" to the fridge about 15" above the coach floor & new romex will have to be fished thru this fridge floor. I'm guessing it is easier to push the new romex down with/by the wire bundle that heads up to the upper cabinet, and then fish the upper end w/a fish tape, making use of the lower rear (exterior) fridge cover.
Hope this helps. I talked myself out of it.

[takepride]

Making this job immensely easier on my coach with residential reefer, the reefer outlet is in the outside bin below, mounted to the underside of the floor. It allows unplugging the reefer without pulling it. Maybe 1p's is the same.

I'm hoping my front outlet routes down or can be routed down. If not, I plan to mount a new outlet to the computer desk (some will have an endtable) and route it below. I'm hoping to save a day's worth of cussin'! Then I can either tie into the reefer outlet or just continue it to the inverter subpanel, though it will have to share a breaker since I'm not in the mood to add a bigger panel right now.

[EngineerMike]

FYI- The refer is supposed to be on its own circuit per code. Theory being some other gizmo could malfunction, tripping the fridge breaker, and stuff in the fridge would defridgerate.

[takepride]

That's what I was thinking, too. Also it's not a good idea to run electronics on any circuit that has a motor, or a motor on a circuit that has another motor.

Since I'm just planning on running a laptop and printer on the new circuit, I'm hoping the draw will be small enough to share a breaker. I fear the laser printer may draw a bit, I'll have to check.

[dgerstel]

Takepride,

I tied that outlet into my entertainment circuit while I had that area and the back of the cabinets open. If I hadn't had all of that open, I would have done it at the circuit breaker boxes, they are usually next to each other. I would remove the Romex for the outlet from the (breaker in the) main box and move it to the inverter box. I would connect it to one of the breakers in the inverter box, based on my planned use of the two circuits involved.