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Coach Home · 09-12-2015, 06:18 AM

We are on our first long trip--Tiffin Allegro Open Road 34 TGA, yesterday the power to the plug for our microwave ceased to have power--check fuses and nothing tripped. This morning, we are awakened to the co alarm, and the entire inside of the coach is dark--no power to anything. We are plugged into a 50amp service--our 120 wall plugs still have power, but the heater and anything else normally powered is not working. Looking for some advice here as this is just our first week in on a three week trip

homeless · 09-12-2015, 06:24 AM

If the Houses batteries are dead maybe you have an inverter/converter out? If that is the case you could use a portable battery charger to run from working outlets to charge the batteries as you find another inverter/converter!

l1v3fr33ord1 · 09-12-2015, 06:55 AM

Just curious- If you go to the outside power pedestal and shut off the 50A breaker, do the coach 120VAC outlets still work? With the same breaker shut off, does anything (even 12VDC) work, and if so, what?

You could perform the same test (almost) by shutting off the main breaker at your coach's electrical center, but it's the "almost" I'm interested in.

Oh, and do you have a surge protector (a.k.a. "EMS") with a display? If so, what does it say?

I almost forgot: If your air conditioners are on, shut them off (by using the switches or breakers) before throwing the pedestal or power center breakers. There's no use having an incoming current surge should power come on suddenly.

Mark

l1v3fr33ord1 · 09-12-2015, 07:05 AM

One more thing. You mention the carbon monoxide alarm. I've seen battery-powered and AC-powered ones. Which is yours? If AC, where is it plugged in? When it alarmed, what did it say on its display (if any)?

It already occurred to you, I'm sure, that you want to make sure that the CO alarm is not alarming because of a dangerous carbon monoxide level, instead of an electrical fault.

Mark

luvlabs · 09-12-2015, 08:32 AM

Sounds like an inverter needing a reset. Something has tripped the inverter and therefore you will get no 12v charging, no pass through 110v voltage to your microwave or the TV sets. Your 12v system has drained the batteries which is what tripped the CO/LP detector and caused the lights, thermostat, and so on not to work.

Drag out your inverter manual and see how to do a reset. Once you've accomplished that, turn your shore power back on and give it a while to get some charge back into your house batteries before you try a few things.

If you can't get the inverter reset, call Tiffin on Monday and have them point you to the nearest dealer or RV Service place where you can get it repaired. Tiffin is very flexible on warranty repairs and will even reimburse you for mobile repair techs if needed.

Coach Home · 09-12-2015, 04:32 PM

The coach started right up, were able to pull in the slides and hit the road. Arrived in Montana--did our normal set up and EVERYTHING WORKED as desired. Everything is working so now I am at a complete loss as to why except the idea that the coach batteries somehow got drained and things stopped working. Once we got the motor running, it appears the batteries got charged and our task panel now shows the volts steady at 13.6 which i hope is the proper reading.

Thank you everyone for reaching out--it was comforting to see helpful hints when at 0400 and an alarm is going off---you really aren't sure (this is my case anyway) what to do. I did act towards safety first--opened some windows, had my wife and dog prepare to leave the coach, but once we determined it was a battery issue with this strings help---we calmed a bit. As luck would have it everything works right now. I do now have a battery charger and if I see the house battery voltage dropping I plan to either start the coach or to put the house batteries on a charger. I have also found my owners manual for the inverter for my nights homework. Many thanks again

wa8yxm · 09-12-2015, 05:25 PM

My Guess: You lost park power.. Your inverter may have continued to power things (like Microwave) If you have one or if you do not then it did not. Finally the batteries ran down and assorted alarms will sound when that happens (Most common is the explosive gas but on some coach Smoke and CO detectors are also hooked to batteires)

Your new park,, You plugged into an outlet, Flipped the breakers to ON and it became LIVE, so now everything works.

deasnealy · 09-13-2015, 05:09 AM

Keep an eye on your battery meter and if it starts to drop while you are plugged in you may still have the converter problem. Your engine will charge the house batteries while you drive, so you may have gotten them charged up and you may have the same issue. We always turn off our inverter when we are plugged in or do not use to avoid having the batteries run down when an unexpected power loss occurs. Hope it was just the park power.

Melmoses · 09-13-2015, 10:03 AM

I would strongly recommend that you purchase a Progressive Industries EMS or similar. That is cheap protection from bad pedestal power. Progressive will let you know the voltage entering the coach so you know if it there is low or no voltage coming into the coach. Ours has saved our coach electronics from low voltage, spikes and other problems twice.

You would have been able to view the readings and know immediately if you had lost power at the pedestal. If not then move to the next possibility which was low batteries in your case. Check to see if your coach has an inverter or converter. Inverters usually have battery chargers that keep the house batteries charged. You may have a blown fuse on the inverter.

garykk · 09-13-2015, 11:30 AM

You don't mention what you have for an inverter or power management. If you have the magnum power panel, check to make sure your charger and inverter are on, they can be shut off inadvertently on that panel. If the Charger is off, the inverter will kill your house batteries in short order but will be recharged when you run the engine which would start up easily as its on a separate battery.