Community Forums

Roger G · 01-11-2014, 03:32 PM

Last week we were on our first extended trip in our new 36LA and had a strange thing happen. We had been out to dinner and when we returned, the TVs would not work. Upon further investigation, the residential fridge wasn't working. I checked the breakers and nothing was tripped but I reset all the breakers with no success. We were on 50 amp shore power and had been there several days with no problems. I then went outside and checked the surge guard protector and all lights showed normal. I then got my circuit tester and I had power at all 120v outlets, the microwave, and the inverter but nothing at the refrigerator nor any of the three interior TVs nor any of the entertainment system. My wife then walks to the door and turns the 12 v disconnect switch off and back on. When she switches the 12v back on, everything starts working? Explain that! I don't understand how the 12v disconnect switch could have anything to do with 120v circuits?

dezolen · 01-11-2014, 03:56 PM

Fridge runs off 12v if you have the non residential type or off another inverter if you have the residential unit. I'm guessing tv's might be powered by the inverter which supplies 120v to the tv's.
Powering off the 12v at entrance must kill the inverters.
I'm just speculating.

wa8yxm · 01-11-2014, 05:03 PM

Sounds good to me and there is another possible issue as well.. Some 50 amp rigs have managers for when they are limited to 30 amps.. And I suspect some of those eat 12 volt and if they are not happy shut down EVERYTHING.

Dr4Film · 01-11-2014, 05:12 PM

Roger,

Find the solenoid(s) that is activated by the Battery Disconnect (Cut-Off) switch and bypass the solenoid.

You will never have another episode like you experienced.

Mine has been bypassed for over 9 years now and I have never missed using that switch for one second.

Those solenoids are a HIGH failure device so it doesn't help by replacing them as it will happen again and again and again.

Bypass and be done with it forever.

Oops, almost forgot to answer your question about how 12 VDC would affect some 120 VAC devices. I would suspect that you have an EMS system that will shed devices when on 30 amp service. That specific EMS board requires 12 VDC to power up. There are various 120 VAC devices that are powered through that board. This may or may not be the reason as it's only a guess.

I would have to see your specific rig to answer your question.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Roger G · 01-11-2014, 05:18 PM

Surge protector was showing power on both legs at the pedestal. All the electrical outlets had power, just not the fridge and entertainment systems. I was under the impression that when using shore power, all 120v comes direct from the transfer switch and pedestal and not from the inverter.

firedoc · 01-11-2014, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger G

Surge protector was showing power on both legs at the pedestal. All the electrical outlets had power, just not the fridge and entertainment systems. I was under the impression that when using shore power, all 120v comes direct from the transfer switch and pedestal and not from the inverter.

Did you check breakers ON the inverter. Your refrigerator and RVs would be prime items to be on an inverter circuit. IMHO.

Roger G · 01-11-2014, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firedoc

Did you check breakers ON the inverter. Your refrigerator and RVs would be prime items to be on an inverter circuit. IMHO.

Yep, they were not tripped but reset them anyway. Nothing had any effect until she switched the 12v disconnect off and back on again. I'll discuss it with Tiffin, I have to take it back for some paint repair anyway. It may very we'll be an inverter issue, that's really the only thing that makes sense. It only happened the one time.

Melmoses · 01-12-2014, 07:14 AM

All power passes thru the inverter even on shore power. That manages your load so if you are on 30 amp it can shed loads as needed.

luvlabs · 01-12-2014, 07:15 AM

Roger,

I can't remember if you got the residential frig or not. If you did, then an inverter shut down sounds exactly like what you were seeing - TVs and Frig off, everything else working. I don't believe Tiffin routes the gas frig through the inverter but if they did this might be the source of the problem - the heating element for the gas fridge draws a pretty heavy load and may have caused the inverter to shut down.

Either way, if it happens before you get it to Tiffin (or Sherman) check the inverter controls and see what it is doing.

Your rig doesn't have a load management system when you are on 30 amps so I wouldn't worry about those comments.

Roger G · 01-12-2014, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvlabs

Roger, I can't remember if you got the residential frig or not. If you did, then an inverter shut down sounds exactly like what you were seeing - TVs and Frig off, everything else working. I don't believe Tiffin routes the gas frig through the inverter but if they did this might be the source of the problem - the heating element for the gas fridge draws a pretty heavy load and may have caused the inverter to shut down. Either way, if it happens before you get it to Tiffin (or Sherman) check the inverter controls and see what it is doing. Your rig doesn't have a load management system when you are on 30 amps so I wouldn't worry about those comments.

Yes we did get the residential fridge . I'm taking it back to Sherman in a few weeks to have a few things done to it and I will talk to Benny about it. How is your coach doing? Hope you guys are somewhere warm.

luvlabs · 01-13-2014, 07:31 AM

Roger,

The coach is fine and so are we. We are in Florida for the winter but we have had our share of cold weather as well. The only problem we had was a leaking fuel hose clamp on the generator. The town we are in had a transformer blow and it took out the RV Park. Since it was really cold, we cranked the generator up and ran that most of the day. I discovered a little pool of diesel under the front end. Simple fix.

Everything else seems to be working as intended so no need to visit Sherman or Red Bay yet.

kab449 · 01-13-2014, 07:18 PM

Most likely you had an inverter control issue. If you open the drivers side front compartment you will see it fastened to the wall. There are settings you can make to supply inverter power all the time or to just pass the campground power through to the circuit it is connected to or to turn it off. This circuit does power the residential refrigerator and the entertainment system.
Look for the slide switches aside of the small lights. There are also settings to set the charging current for various battery types you may use. In your information binder there is a booklet that explains how it works. on the more expensive coaches you can make the changes from a remote readout.
When your wife shut off the dc power and turned it back on it most likely reset the inverter control board.

Bruadair · 01-13-2014, 08:39 PM

Roger,

We have an identical floorplan however it's a 2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35K so our set up might be different. We do not have a residential refrigerator. No matter if we are plugged in to shore power or not, the refrigerator and audio video equipment run off only the inverter. Thus the wiring used to power the tv, bluray and refrigerator is only power by the inverter and never powered by shore power, the two are totally separate circuits. If we turn off the 12v disconnect we disable 12 volt power to the inverter thus no 110vac goes to the tvs or refrigerator, we will still have 110v at all the outlets, water heater and the like as long as we're on generator or shore power. From your description it sounds like you are wired as we are.

Dr4Film · 01-14-2014, 08:01 AM

Now that makes total sense as to his problem.

However, it's obvious that the Fleetwood engineering staff has no common sense when it came to designing that electrical set up.

If one were to have a problem with their house batteries or the 12 VDC wiring, regardless of whether you are hooked to shore power or have the generator running, your fridge won't work.

What a waste of brains and food when it all spoils if that occurs.

If it were me, I would change that at least for the fridge and run a dedicated 120 VAC line to the rear of the fridge that also works off of the inverter.

Just my two cents worth of common sense.

Dr4Film ----- Richard